And the love of our Savior, who poured out His life, even unto death, on our behalf.
Lord, grant us that we might get a new vision of this Lamb, this precious One of God, given to us in sacrifice, that we might be set free, that we might be made whole, and that we might be brought into the glories that God had intended for man from the beginning.
Lord, touch our hearts with Your Word this morning. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, we are in Genesis 22 in the life of Abraham. The last time that I shared, I shared out of this chapter. I will share today out of chapter 22, and next week out of chapter 22, because it is so full.
As I shared last time, we have come to a significant place in Abraham’s life where he was asked to do the unthinkable: to offer up his only son, the son of his love, the son of his passion, the son of his heart—the son that God had miraculously given to him.
He was requested to take this son and return him to God as a living sacrifice on an altar, on Mount Moriah.
We come to a special place in Abraham’s life, that turning point which, so to speak, brought his faith into fullness.
I particularly wanted, last time, to show us all and remind us all that God is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Just as He worked in Abraham’s life to bring him to this point of faith, where he was willing to give up all for the sake of Christ, so He desires, as the Author and Finisher of our faith, to bring us to that place in our lives where we willingly offer up everything in our lives back to Him.
Abraham had a rough, rocky road. But, you know, one of the secrets of Abraham’s life was that he responded to God. I think of Lot, and I do not see Lot responding. Lot represents the carnal Christian.
But I see in Abraham’s heart that he always seemed to respond. Even when he had failed, God would touch him, and he would respond. He remained a teachable brother, so to speak, all of his life. He remained teachable, pliable in the Lord’s hands—not fixed and hardened, not ignoring the Lord, but rather responding to the Lord.
I think that was a great secret in our brother’s life. Even in failure, by faith, he could look back to the Lamb. He could look back to the Lord, rise up in faith, and go on.
I think it is a great lesson for all of us as Christians that we need to learn. God is the Author and Finisher of your faith, and He is determined to bring you to glory—the glory of inheritance in Christ. What an amazing plan the Lord has for our lives.
Anybody want to answer? Might be the Lord God. Anybody want to respond?
Well, today, as I look at the twenty-second chapter, there is something else on my heart out of this chapter, and that is this matter of testimony.
We have been dealing with this issue recently of lost testimony in our lives. We can lose the testimony of Jesus—not that Jesus is completely gone, not that He has abandoned us—but something of the freshness in the Spirit, the testimony of Jesus so alive and real, can be lost.
I just wanted to re-emphasize that it seems to me that God always has a testimony of Himself, of His character and nature, on this earth in a people. Let me explain.
Not only in a people, but in His creation. This creation is a testimony to the glory of God. The Word of God makes that very clear: this creation that He has created is a testimony of His glory and of His handiwork.
When men come before His throne and say, “Well, I just did not know Who You were. I did not recognize You,” He will say, “All you had to do was look at My universe. Look at My creation. It declares My glory.”
And, oh man, you are without excuse. “I have put something in your heart that says there is a God, and that thing in your heart should respond to the testimony of God in My creation.”
So, man, you are without excuse. The whole earth is a testimony. If you have been looking at the pictures from the Hubble telescope, you must be absolutely amazed at this universe.
It is amazing just to look out and look around. Actually, I was quite flattened by the creation a week ago when all the pollen hit me. But it is amazing—even this pollination process—how God is determined to keep life going on this earth.
I look at some of those pictures from the Hubble telescope, and I see this thing way out there, and it says it is spitting out new stars. God is a God of creation. He said, “All you have to do is look. You do not even need the Hubble telescope.”
You reject My testimony in creation; you reject Me.
God has always desired to have a testimony of Himself, not only in this universe and this creation, but in man himself. Man is the only one created in His image and after His likeness. Of all the beasts of the field and all of His creation, man is the only one created in His likeness and after His image.
He desires that we carry the testimony of Jesus on this earth in a way only a man can do.
As an example, we talked about Abel. Remember? What was the testimony in Abel’s life—the thing that God did in his life that has rung through history and still speaks today?
That testimony in Abel is the shedding of his blood and his bringing to God an acceptable sacrifice. Cain’s sacrifice was unacceptable; Abel’s was accepted. It was the blood of a slain lamb. It was a testimony to God’s way to restore man, to redeem man.
It was a testimony on this earth, worked out in the life of Abel, and he himself was slain. His blood, it says, still speaks.
But in Hebrews it says there is One whose blood is far greater than that of Abel, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. So we see that God worked out this testimony of an acceptable sacrifice in the life of Abel.
Then we had Enoch. Enoch—what is the testimony? A life lived walking with God. The result of a life lived walking with God is that Enoch was raptured. The testimony of rapture is in the life of Enoch.
That testimony came from a man who walked with God. I remember sharing on this: the real problem we have is that we want God to walk with us. But are we walking with God? Is that testimony in our lives as well?
Then we had the life of Noah. There is this matter of the ark that we learned as children, most of us. The ark, we know, represents Christ.
Because Noah and his family went into the ark—in Christ—they were abiding in Christ. They were saved from the judgment of this world and from the world itself. That was a testimony: a life of abiding in Christ. Do we have that testimony in our own lives?
Then I think of the life of David. This one is so hard to comprehend to me, but I think it will become evident. Let me read some of Psalm 22. This is David’s cry:
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
Why art Thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not;
And in the night season, and am not silent.
But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him:
Let Him deliver him, seeing He delighted in him.
Many bulls have compassed me:
Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint:
My heart is like wax;
It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd;
And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
And Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me:
The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me:
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones:
They look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them,
And cast lots upon my vesture.
Prophetic words—an exact description of what happened to our Lord Jesus as He hung on the cross of Calvary.
The point I am making is that the Lord worked that testimony into David’s life. How much of the testimony of Calvary is in our own lives, brothers and sisters? How much has the work of Calvary affected our lives?
This Word is no good unless it is worked into our hearts and lives, unless it becomes the testimony in us and through us. That is what is on my heart this morning.
I want to show us, as we look at this twenty-second chapter of Genesis, that God has worked out a testimony in our brother Abraham. It is a testimony to the Lord’s pathway to Calvary. It is something we should not overlook.
Let me begin with Genesis 22:
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;
And offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Let us go to verse 4:
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son;
And he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father:
And he said, Here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering:
So they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham:
And he said, Here am I.
And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:
For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.
There are some verses here that particularly struck me, and I spoke on them last time. I think they are key to what I want to share this morning.
The very first one is in verse 1: “After these things.” In Abraham’s life, those words kind of summed up his whole life of faith to that point, where Calvary was in view.
I really believe that it points to Romans 5:6, which says:
For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly.
At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. There was that point in history—it was the right time—that God came to Calvary and died for the ungodly.
But, brothers and sisters, those words, “at the right time,” summarize a lot of history. From eternity past, God had something on His heart. He loved His Son, Jesus, so much, and He had something on His heart.
What was on His heart was this creation and man, made in His image and after His likeness. This man would join with Christ as His helpmate in this creation throughout eternity.
It was God’s purpose for His Son. That is the purpose for creating this universe. This is why you and I are alive today. He has created you and me with a purpose, and His desire is that we would be a companion to His Son.
It is so simple. Even to Adam, after Adam looked at all the animals, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” It is not good.
So we are created for His Son. We are created out of purpose, and out of the purpose in God’s heart. It was His pleasure to create this universe, His pleasure to create man, and it was to be His Son’s inheritance—a companion.
He created man in His own image. He created man with a free will, just as God has a free will. I think that is amazing. He gave man the right to choose.
We have hydrogen bombs, atomic warheads, and a lot of powerful things in this world. But I do not think there is any greater power than the right to choose, because choosing always determines where you are going. It is a powerful choice. Choosing is a powerful thing.
He gave man this choice. He took the clay of the dirt of the earth and formed it, and He breathed into it, and man became a living soul.
Man at that time was innocent, but not complete. He had a spirit that communed with God, a soul that could commune with mankind, and a body that was in communion with this earth—spirit, soul, and body.
But he was not complete, because he had not yet partaken of the life of God itself, which his spirit really needed to live and survive.
God provided the tree of life, but there was also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This powerful tool called choice, He gave to man and tested man to choose.
If man had eaten of the tree of life, he would have grown and matured spiritually and come into that place of companionship with our Lord Jesus. But we know man chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It strengthened his soul greatly—his mind, his will, and his emotions—but unfortunately it is not under the control of the spirit. Once man fell, the spirit became dead to God. It could not commune with God, could not come under the authority of God, and lived in its own power and strength.
Brothers and sisters, there are some powerful people out there. Soul power is a tremendous force in this universe. Think about millions of Muslims praying to Allah, praying that you and I would be destroyed, praying that Christianity would be destroyed. It is a tremendous soul force, a tremendous spiritual warfare going on in the heavenlies today over who is Lord.
And it is Jesus Christ, we know. But I only mention that to say that soul power is such a tremendous thing.
You say, “Well, I am not quite sure what you mean.” I just mean that man has abilities far beyond what most of us really realize.
You remember Pharaoh, when Moses went to Pharaoh to let the people go and he would not? At one point Moses turned his rod into a snake by the power of God. Well, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to do the same thing. It does not say in the Bible that they were fake or an illusion. They were able to do it, and there was a satanic force behind it.
Soul power is tremendous power in our lives. But God wanted us to live by His life, not by soul power, no matter how great it can become.
Man sinned and fell short of God’s glory. In fact, his very nature was altered. At that point, he actually became a sinner. Not only did he sin, but he sinned because he was a sinner—that sinful nature. He was transformed inwardly.
Not only that, a curse came upon God’s creation because of it. Even creation is under the fall of man.
But praise the Lord, God had a plan. He had a plan in His heart. He was determined that His purpose would be carried out. He is always faithful to Himself and to His purpose.
He understood, even in eternity past, that when man was given this choice, man would make the wrong choice. The first Adam would make the wrong choice, and all mankind would fall because all men come out of Adam.
But He did have a plan. How was He going to redeem fallen mankind?
Would He just say, “It is okay. You have fallen, and it is all right. I love you. It is okay. We will just go on. I will try to help you out now, help you with your problems. I know you are a sinner, but I will help you make it through”?
That was not His plan at all, brothers and sisters, even though I think much of Christianity still believes in that concept.
Unfortunately, the great failing in the Methodist Church came because somebody came to the conclusion that God is love—which He is—and said there is no way that a God of love could allow His Son to be killed on Calvary’s cross.
So today, in those places, you do not hear mention of salvation or mention of the blood of the Lamb. There is not mention of it.
Well, it is a sad course that man has fallen. Let me not get off course myself.
God had a plan. He said, “There is going to be a second Man. I am going to have a second Man. Man will be perfect. He will be born of a woman, He will come, He will live on this earth, and He will go under all the temptations that can possibly be given to a man.”
At the time appointed, He would become the acceptable sacrifice.
“I cannot just let it go. I am a righteous God. I have a righteous nature, and man has sinned. The wages of sin—the result of sin—is death.” It required death.
He said, “This second Man will be perfect, without sin. I will lay upon Him all the sins of the world, and He will be sacrificed in death. He will be the acceptable sacrifice. It will take care of this problem of man’s sin and his fallen nature.”
“I will redeem man, but he will actually become a new creation in this second Man. The second Man is going to start a new generation, a new creation, of the Spirit and out of the Spirit.”
He would come, He would live on this earth, and He would offer Himself as a sacrifice. All who are willing, by faith, to take Him as their substitute in death for their sins will be born again into this new creation.
They will experience a spiritual birth. “I will touch their spirit, and their spirit will become alive once again and become a new creation in Christ, born again—able to commune with God, able to have union with God, and able to become the companion of Christ.”
But, you know, when man fell, it was not yet time in God’s eyes. Yes, God did provide skins for Adam and Eve. Most think they were lambskins, though it was the skin of animals. An animal had to be slain.
But it was not the acceptable sacrifice that God was after. It was a kind of holding action, as you might say—something that God did that would awaken man to his need for a Savior.
It would awaken man to understand that it was only through an acceptable sacrifice that he could be saved and redeemed. These coats of skin were man’s reminder, and they looked forward to the day in which Christ would come and die on Calvary’s cross: the acceptable sacrifice.
But mankind was not yet ready in God’s eyes.
You remember the story. I will try to keep this as short as I can, but there is a lot of history in “at the right time.” We need to know that.
Remember the generations after Adam. We just read about it in Genesis. It says they became more and more evil. God had shown them that there was an acceptable sacrifice, that there was an offering that needed to be brought to God, but man turned from God.
Man, in his sinful state, rejected God’s testimony in Abel, and he continued on. They rejected the testimony in Enoch’s life. Enoch knew for three hundred years that judgment was going to come on the earth if mankind did not turn.
Noah preached another one hundred and twenty years concerning God’s judgment if man would not turn.
In the end, brothers and sisters, think about this: God let man go his own way. In the end, there were only eight people out of all the people on the earth at that time who recognized there was a God, who loved God, and who had a relationship with God—only eight.
The rest of the world alive at that time had rejected God and did not want Him in their lives. It says their thoughts were continually evil. Boy, we seem to be coming back to that day.
Well, God was merciful. He cleaned the world up, so to speak, with all but eight left. It was Noah and his family.
Noah had three sons: Japheth, Ham, and Shem. The sons of Japheth inhabited what we know as Europe today; Ham, the nations of Africa; and Shem, the Asian nations.
But there was a problem. The sin nature still had not been dealt with. It was not long until we see Nimrod rising up and building that Tower of Babel.
You know what that is, brothers and sisters? That is humanism. That is saying man can do it. Man does not need God. Man can solve his problems himself.
If man is powerful enough, strong enough, and intelligent enough, the problems of mankind can be solved, and we can build a tower to man—to the heavens. We do not need God. That is humanism.
Then God waited for another three thousand years. Finally, on that marvelous day, Christ was born in a manger. The second Man, the King of kings and Lord of lords, was born in a lowly manger at the right time.
The Holy Spirit touched the womb of Mary, and the life of God, at that instant, was joined with humanity. He became fully human and fully God—Christ incarnate, incarnate God; fully man, fully God.
For three years, He walked on this earth and was tested in every way. We remember the testing in the desert, how our Lord went for forty days without food and was tested. The enemy could not find anything in our Lord.
It is very obvious that He became the perfect Lamb of God, without sin. He came preaching the kingdom of God, but man rejected His message, and man rejected Christ. They crucified Him on Calvary’s cross.
Brothers and sisters, it was at the right time. Calvary occurred at the right time. But I want you to sense the history that preceded Calvary.
The first words out of our Lord’s mouth on Calvary were, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
After three hours, darkness came. Creation itself became darkened. At that moment, our Lord Jesus began to take on the sins of the world.
Brothers and sisters, He tasted—it says He went into hell. I do not know what He went through there at Calvary, but I know that all the torments of hell fell upon our Lord Jesus Christ during those three hours.
God had to turn His face from His own Son because His Son had become sin. Sin is repugnant to God, and He had to turn from His own Son.
In judgment, the crushing hand of God came upon a sinner. But He took your place, and He took mine there.
With the shout, “It is finished,” the work of redemption was done. What had been contemplated from eternity past—this plan of God—had been completed.
But there was more. The soldiers came and pierced His side. There is more to Calvary than just redemption; there was also recovery.
The soldiers pierced His side, and out came blood and water, which John—the only apostle who witnessed our Lord’s crucifixion—testified to and was very adamant about seeing.
The blood was for man’s sin. The water was for life—for man, this new life in Christ. But these were also the basic elements of the church, the bride of Christ, His companion.
In other words, it was out of His side that came the things from which His companion would be made and built.
We have said it before, but this also was previewed when the Lord took something from the side of Adam and created Eve. That, too, was a preview of this marvelous work occurring at Calvary’s cross.
God’s purpose was going to be recovered. It was the right time.
God had gone through eternity past, the creation of the world and man, three thousand years of man’s history, and thirty-three years of watching His Son on this earth. At the right time, the acceptable sacrifice was given.
God’s righteousness was satisfied, and in love He could redeem man because His Son loved you and me. It was the right time.
Now let us look at Genesis 22. Abraham lifted up his eyes. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.
Last time I mentioned that Abraham had three days to consider what was going to happen. Think of God the Father. Think of His heart. Through all of eternity, He waited.
Through all of eternity, He had to consider what was going to happen to His Son, this One who was so precious to Him. Remember, three times God broke through the clouds and said, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Oh, the union between Father and Son—such love. Yet the Father had eternity to consider what was going to happen to His Son. How do we know that? Because it says Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth.
That is a long time to consider. Abraham also, during those three days, had to consider the cost.
Think of the cost that our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus, had to consider. He had to consider that there would be a time in history, even though only three hours, when He would have no communion with His Son. There would be no fellowship. It would be completely cut off.
His Son would become sin, something so repugnant to God’s nature. Yet He would have to allow His Son to do this. That is part of the cost.
Think of the cost of the Father having to watch the abuse that mankind poured out on our Savior: as they spit on Him, whipped Him, and rebuked Him; as they drove those nails into His hands and feet.
Do you think the Father was not in as much pain as the Son? He had all the power in the universe to come in. He could have wiped out not only mankind, but the whole universe. But He held His hand.
He had to consider that this One whom He loved so much, and the One who loved Him and trusted in Him so much, was going to be allowed to go through such a thing as this. I do not think anything could be more painful to a father’s heart than that.
And, brothers and sisters, Gethsemane. Remember our Lord Jesus at Gethsemane? He goes to the Father and says, “Father, can this cup pass from Me? Is it possible?”
The Father had to say, “No, Son.” He goes back again to the Father and says, “Father, is it possible for this cup to pass?” And the Father shakes His head.
The third time, the Son goes back and says, “Father, is it possible? Is there another way? Is it possible?”
I almost think the Father, at that point, was in silence. There was nothing He could say.
And our Lord Jesus says, “Father, not My will, but Thine, be done.” And it was settled.
I do not know how the Father went through Gethsemane. I really do not. Was the cost too great? Was there another way?
There was not. God’s plan needed to be carried out for your sake and my sake, and for God’s eternal purpose to be achieved. There was no other way.
Brothers and sisters, there was no other way, because it would have violated God’s righteousness and it would have violated God’s love.
Thank God for those words from our Savior: “Not My will, but Thine be done, Father.”
In Genesis 22:9-11, it says that they came to the place God had told Abraham of. Abraham built an altar, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, laid him on the altar, and stretched forth his hand to take the knife to slay his son. Then the angel of the Lord called out of heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the lad.”
Isaac was spared. Our Lord Jesus was not.
Man beat our Lord Jesus. Man whipped Him. Man spat upon Him. Man mocked Him. Man drove in the spikes. And God the Father had to look on with grief in His heart—the man that He had created being so cruel, His creation so cruel toward His Son.
Then His Son took on the sins of the world, became more and more defiled, more and more repugnant. The torments of hell tormented Him. The Father’s hand crushed Him.
I do not know what kept the Father’s heart from exploding. I really do not.
I think for some of us who are older, we have had times in our lives when we have hurt so hard inside that we felt like our heart was exploding. It is a horrible feeling.
I believe this was far more intense than anything I have ever experienced: the agony of seeing His Son in such a place.
You see how the Father has paid such a great price. The cost is great. He paid a great cost because He loves you and me.
Brothers and sisters, when I came this morning, I said, “Lord, I just do not appreciate Your love like I need to.”
He could have judged us. He could have judged mankind. He could have wiped us off the earth, but He did not. He redeemed you and me at a great cost. He had His own Son take our place.
Now we have the opportunity to become the companion of the Lord Jesus Christ, to become His bride.
Not only was there a great plan of redemption, but there was a great plan of recovery in Calvary.
But what of the Son Himself? Isaac went out willingly, but he did not know what was going to happen until he got there.
Our Lord Jesus knew from the foundation of the earth. When the Father called the council of the Godhead together and said, “I am going to create man for My Son, but man will fall. This is the plan for redemption and recovery. It is going to require a Lamb to be sacrificed—that perfect Lamb.”
The Son said, “Father, I am willing.” From eternity past, our Lord Jesus has known that He was going to be the Lamb.
He confirmed His willingness, brothers and sisters, at the beginning of His ministry, when He was baptized. Remember the baptism? The Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove, and then the Father broke through the clouds and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Baptism speaks of death, burial, and resurrection. That is why our Lord was baptized. Remember, John the Baptist said, “You do not need to be baptized.” He said, “Oh yes, I do,” because He was committing to Calvary. He was committing to take your place and mine.
At the end of His ministry, He confirmed it again, as I have already spoken, at Gethsemane, when He said, “Not My will, but Thine be done.”
All of His life had the shadow of the cross over it. What a cost that our Lord paid.
Just as Isaac did not resist his father once he found out what his father was going to do, our Lord Jesus did not resist.
Isaac had a choice. If you remember, Isaac was twenty-five years old. Abraham was one hundred and twenty. Isaac could have easily said, “No, Dad, this is not going to happen,” and walked away. Abraham would not have been able to do anything. I doubt he could have caught up to him.
But Isaac made that choice. That is amazing. Isaac’s willingness amazes me, but the Lord’s willingness amazes me even more.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, our Lord made a choice. Moses and Elijah appeared to Him there, and what they were talking about was Calvary—His departure from this world. It says that His raiment became bright as the sun.
Peter was thinking, “What is going on here?” He said, “We need to make three tabernacles for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.” And God spoke and said, “This is My Son.”
The point is that our Lord could have departed at that point. The glory that was inside was coming out. His physical body—the flesh—shielded the glory of God inside, but it was coming through.
He could have departed, but He chose, brothers and sisters, to stay. He came down that mountain and continued on the road to Calvary.
Genesis 22:6 says:
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son;
And he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;
And they went both of them together.
Our Lord Jesus, remember, brothers and sisters, took the crossbeam of the cross and carried it on His back. That is the way crucifixion was carried out. They did not carry the whole cross; they carried the crossbeam on their back.
The crossbeam, I believe, represents God’s will. Only Christ could carry out God’s will as He carried that crossbeam toward Calvary. God’s will had to be done.
Of course, the fire represents the judgment that God would have to execute on the One who bore all the sins of the world.
And they did it together. Jesus Christ was not alone as He went up that pathway to Calvary carrying that crossbeam. The Father was there, not able to intervene.
He saw His Son carrying His own will to Calvary’s cross. There, together, He would take on the sins of the world—the Son totally trusting the Father.
Last time I shared about having to put my little dog to sleep. The thing that tore my heart so much was that I knew that little dog trusted me no end. When I got him up that morning, he thought it was going to be just another day of happiness for him.
He trusted me, but I knew that this was best. It had to happen.
Our Father had to allow His own Son to go to Calvary. That was difficult.
Brothers and sisters, you need to know that Calvary is God’s plan, but Calvary is not God’s purpose.
God’s purpose is that His Son would inherit all things; that one day everything would be summed up in Christ; that one day His Son would have this marvelous bride, who is a reflection of the Lord Himself, a helpmate to walk with Him throughout eternity.
I do not know what we will be doing, but it will be something marvelous. Look at this creation. When they look through the Hubble telescope, they are just finding more and more universes out there. It is amazing.
I do not think we are going to be laying back on a cloud, whistling and singing songs. I am sure we will sing songs to the Savior, but I do not think that is going to consist of our life. I do not know what the Lord has in view, but it has to be something marvelous.
But the point is, brothers and sisters, Calvary was not necessary. It only became necessary for God to carry out His purpose. Adam made the wrong choice, and Calvary became necessary.
It was our sins that required Calvary. It is God’s plan of recovery—redemption.
Let me say it another way. The love of God and Christ—the love that They share together—has been extended to sinners like you and me because of Calvary.
The Word says, speaking of God the Father:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
But have everlasting life.
After the sins of the world had come upon our Lord Jesus, after He had experienced all the torments of hell that we would have experienced, at the end of that—after the three hours of darkness—He uttered a little word: “I thirst.”
“I thirst.” This is before He says, “It is finished.” He says, “I thirst.”
No doubt He was thirsty from all the agony and what His body had suffered there on the cross of Calvary. Even as you read that description in Psalm 22, you see that His mouth and His jaws were locked, and He was dried up, it says, as a potsherd.
But I believe there is more significance in that word, “I thirst,” than just the physical thirst He experienced.
I think He thirsted for God. If you read Psalm 69, you will see there the words of our Lord Jesus, or the thoughts in His heart during that time. You see that He is saying, “I am waiting on God.”
He was thirsty to once again experience that union with the Father, that communion with the Father. There is no doubt in my heart that this was primary in His thirst.
But I believe there is also another thirst. He said, “I thirst.” He was giving those who had maligned Him, spat on Him, and crucified Him an opportunity just to be a little compassionate and give Him a little bit of water.
But they gave Him vinegar instead. Oh, the cruelty of man. But the Lord was reaching out: “I thirst. Just a little water is all I ask. Just a little one.”
Brothers and sisters, in that word, “I thirst,” the Lord is saying, “I love you. I know you are a sinner, but I do love you, and I am reaching out. A little compassion, a little response to My love on Calvary’s cross.”
I also think, brothers and sisters, that He was thirsting for the companionship of His bride, which was yet to come. That thirst had not yet been fulfilled, and has not yet been fulfilled.
A thirst for His bride, for the companionship of His own—the ones who love Him, but are not yet ready. And that includes you and me.
“I thirst.”
Lord, we come back to Thee today. What a testimony You have given of Your pathway to Calvary in Abraham’s life.
Lord, I would pray today that we ourselves would carry something of this testimony of Calvary in our own lives and in our hearts. That, Lord, when we share, it would not just be a story that we are telling, but, Lord, it would be something torn out of our hearts.
Yes, Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free.
Lord, never allow us to forget Calvary. Lord, I am so grateful that there are still scars in Your hands and feet. We will kiss those scars, Lord, because of Your great love for us and the Father’s love for us.
Thank You, Lord, that You have brought us into something far greater than we will ever find on this earth. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.