In the sermon this past Sunday, we looked at how Abraham and Isaac’s story continues to point us toward Jesus. As he constantly walked in obedience and trust, Abraham obeyed God all the way to the point of offering his son Isaac as a burnt offering. From the beginning of man’s relationship with God in the Garden, God’s law has prescribed death as the requirement for sin. So, for hundreds of years, the nation of Israel offered sacrificed animals as an atonement for their sins. Later on in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah opens his prophesy by expressing how God is no longer satisfied with the sacrifices of animals. He goes on to prophesy about how God would send a new king, in the lineage of David, to deal with sin in an unexpected way. This new king would become a servant who would be rejected, pierced, crushed, wounded, and killed as a sacrifice and ransom for many. This Messiah King would be like a lamb being led to the slaughter. In the book of Romans, Paul reminds us that Jesus was put forward as a sacrifice to satisfy God’s requirements for our sin. This is why John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus walking toward him, declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
