Take Your Only Son
by Terry Wane Benton
The test for Abraham was a type of the test that God Himself would undergo. In Abraham’s case, offering his only son, Isaac, was a test of his love for God. Would he trust and love God above his emotional attachment to his only son?
Even though the command made no sense, since God had promised to build a great nation through Isaac (Genesis 17:16), Abraham figured that God would keep His promise, even if it took raising Isaac from the dead. He trusted God would work it out, and he loved God enough to pass the test (Genesis 22:1ff).
Little did the Israelite people know that as Moses shared this story with them about their father Abraham, it was also foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, the ultimate sacrifice of God. God was demonstrating that He would undergo a test of His love for humanity.
Would God love man enough to give His “only Son?” There was an inward struggle in Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, but He took His great love for mankind in hand and went to the very hill on which Isaac had almost been sacrificed, and laid down His life for us. The ultimate test of God’s love was displayed for us to see and remember.
How much did God love me? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16 NKJV).
There is no doubt that I do not deserve this kind of love. But, it would be a disbelief to think I am not worth it to God. When you put yourself down as worthless, you are saying that you do not believe in God. You are saying that God made a mistake in making you, and you are saying that God was wrong in valuing you enough to give His only begotten Son for you. While you should be feeling mighty important, unbelief has a way of undermining the truth within us.
The test for us is to believe God does not make junk, and He took His only Son to show us how valuable we are to Him. Do you believe God knows better than you what value needs to be assessed in you? Do you realize that unbelief is the reason we put ourselves down? You can be on your way to eternal life if you start believing the evidence of God’s love for you. Why not believe God and obey the gospel of Christ?
