“And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” – Genesis 22:13
God provides the sacrifice. Period. To verify the depth of Abraham’s faith, God asked him to do the unthinkable. Would Abraham be willing to trust God’s faithfulness and power enough to sacrifice his long-awaited, much-loved son through whom God’s promises were to be fulfilled? Yes! Abraham did everything required to demonstrate his unwavering faith and God stopped him from actually hurting his son. This was only a test. God never had any intention of having Abraham kill Isaac. God was always going to provide the sacrifice, as long as Abraham was willing to put himself in the place to see that ram caught in the thicket.
However, things were different for God’s own Son. While God didn’t intend for Abraham to actually sacrifice his son, God always planned to sacrifice His own Son, Jesus. God did what Abraham was willing to do but didn’t have to do. God sent His Son into the world to live a perfect sinless life and then die as an innocent sacrifice on the cross to pay off the spiritual debt for our sins. Once again, God provided the sacrifice, but instead of a ram, it was His own Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Rejoice that God always provides the sacrifice! Neither we nor our children must die for our sins, because the perfect Son of God already died for them! #FollowJesus