The True and Better Isaac

What is faith? This is one of the most “Christian” words we use, and a key idea in the Bible, but one we rarely define. Faith is most easily defined as “trusting what you have good reason to believe.” As Christians, we have faith in God when we trust Him to keep His promises by forgiving us of our sin, filling us with His Spirit, and ultimately rescuing us from sin and death.

One of the best examples in the Bible of trusting God is the story of Abraham sacrificing his only son Isaac, found in Genesis 22. God commanded this sacrifice to take place in order to test the genuineness of Abraham’s faith. Until something is tested, we do not know how strong or real it actually is! The New Testament teaches us that God tested Abraham (Hebrews 11:17) to see the genuineness of his faith, and to see if he trusted God to deliver on His promise. Those promises included making Abraham into a great nation (Genesis 12:2) with more children than the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5)—outlandish promises. And Abraham answered the call! He took his son up on the mountain that God had appointed, and was prepared to sacrifice him, but God provided a ram to be the sacrifice in the place of Isaac (Gen 22:13). Yet, while this story is an incredible example of trust in God’s promises, it is not the clearest example.

The clearest example of trust in God’s promises is found in the story of Jesus. He too found Himself on a mountain, facing His own sacrificial death. However, unlike the story of Isaac, there would be no deliverance from certain death. Jesus was arrested, beaten, and then killed on a Roman cross. But, He rose again! And in raising again, He defeated sin and death and made a way for God’s family to be more numerous than the stars in the sky. God’s people are not only the physical descendants of Abraham, but anyone who has faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:9)!

Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who dies to provide the way of salvation for many.

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:17-18)