This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Love of the Father” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 26, 1992.

This morning we begin our scripture reading in the Epistle of James, Chapter 2, beginning at verse 14. But let it profit, my brothers and sisters, if a man says he has faith but does not have works. Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” yet does not give them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being alone.

Yes, a man may say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, O man, that faith without works is dead?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made complete? And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see then that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Then turning to Genesis Chapter 22, verses 1 and 2: And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham,” and he said, “Behold, here I am.” And He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

Lord, we who are older, on behalf of those who are younger, even on behalf of the children, pray that as your word has become life for us and that we delight in it more and more, so may they also learn the treasures of your word and delight in those treasures—reading the word, hearing the word with joy. May it please you, Father, to bring our children to full maturity through the faith you grant them, in keeping with your promise. And, Father, may they one day stand as those who have made a full confession of the Lordship of Christ, taking their place in the assembly, in the congregation known by the name of your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.

You will note in the bulletin this morning that I intended to continue our series on Philippians, but as the week progressed, it became clear to me that there were still matters that needed to be addressed in this story concerning the offering of Isaac by Abraham. It is necessary that we take more time with this story, for it is one of the most significant stories in the Old Testament. In fact, it stands out from the page as one reads through it, and it remains deeply embedded in our memories and in our consciousness as we reflect on the many stories written for our benefit in the Old Testament. Previously, we have considered this story in terms of its broad biblical and theological significance.

We saw Isaac as one like Christ, the only begotten, well-beloved Son, set before us as the submissive, passively obedient sacrifice, then received back from the sentence of death as if by resurrection. Thus, Isaac is well placed before us as one like unto Christ, one who anticipates Christ. But we also saw that Isaac is one like ourselves, and like us, called to obedience even though that obedience leads to death. Faithfully entrusting himself to his father’s wisdom and care, while knowing that because of his own sin he is worthy of death, he ultimately finds that a substitute is provided for him in the Lamb of God. Isaac, then, is one like unto Christ, and also one like unto us. But we further look at Abraham, and we saw that he too is like us.

His faith is an absolute faith, as our faith is to be. His faith was tested, as our faith surely shall be tested, and is tested. His faith was tested with regard to its confidence in the promises, that is, its confidence in the Word of God. And so shall ours be.

At the heart of Abraham’s faith is his confidence in the blessings of the covenant and in mutual fellowship with God—an unending, perpetual, and fully satisfying fellowship with God. We, like Abraham, must be certain that these blessings and this fellowship are truly ours and guaranteed, even if it means that God must raise someone from the dead to grant them. We should also note, as was pointed out to me last week by a member of this church, that Abraham’s faith contrasts with Isaac’s. If Isaac’s faith was passively submissive, then Abraham’s faith was actively expressed. If Isaac’s faith reflects Christ in Christ’s passive sacrificial role, then Abraham’s faith reflects Christ in his actively obedient role. And by way of extension, such faith finds expression in us, since, according to the Apostle James, our faith is not dead but living—a faith that works, with and by and through our works. James 2:21, 22, 26. But even beyond these considerations, this likeness of Abraham to ourselves reveals Abraham as one who is like God himself.

This father, Abraham, with his son, Isaac, reflects and prophesies the revelation concerning the Father above and His Son. The extraordinary act of obedience by Abraham anticipates and foretells the coming act of grace by God. Father Abraham surrenders his only begotten son, his well-beloved son, the one he loves most on earth, for the sake of the one he loves in heaven. Later, God the Father surrenders His only begotten Son, His well-beloved Son, the one He loves most in heaven, for the sake of those He loves on earth.

At its most sublime level, then, these broad, general biblical and theological patterns in the story of Abraham and Isaac compel us not only to be men and women of faith like Abraham, but also to have a love for God that matches Abraham’s, since, as things are revealed in the fullness of time, Abraham’s love for God is measured by God’s love for Abraham.

Thus are the broad and general biblical and theological themes and patterns presented in this story. Yet there remain further depths to this story that we must explore, and these depths lie at what we may call the moral level. It may well be that the beauty of the broad and general patterns and themes presented in this story along the biblical and theological line overwhelms us. But at the same time, we must admit, do we not, that this story, when all is said and done, startles us. In fact, it shocks us. It shocks us when we consider it along what may be called the moral line.

I do not want you to be surprised or even embarrassed by your shock, by the fact that you are startled or stopped in your tracks when you hear this story. In fact, you are not supposed to suppress the shock. You are not supposed to suppress your startlement. For it is God’s intention that this story should shock you and stop you in your tracks. If we are to be shocked and startled, and if that is indeed what God desires from us, if that is the response he seeks, then it is fitting that we are shocked for the right reason.

In order to build up to the right reason, let’s talk about the wrong reason. The wrong reason takes offense at the sacrifice of this child as such. As difficult as it is for us to understand, as much as we may discuss it in abstract terms, we must remember that the Bible does not share the view held by many that humanity, and especially children, are innocent and therefore unworthy of death. That is not the Bible’s perspective. If that is your view, you are out of step with Scripture. Even many who call themselves Christians are shocked by this story because they believe Abraham has been commanded by God to offer up an innocent child. Their conclusion? What kind of God is this?

Even though Isaac is a child of promise and a child of the covenant, he cannot claim innocence, for he was conceived and born in sin. Even at this point in salvation history, it is necessary to recognize that his father and mother were instructing him in this truth, and the Spirit of revelation was working in him, bearing witness.

Isaac himself cannot boast of inherent innocence that would automatically commend him to God or make him unworthy of death by God. All that Isaac can boast of, as he was taught by his parents and by revelation, is God’s grace and the hope of God’s mercy. What will then distinguish Abraham and his children from the pagans around them is not simply the fact that Abraham and his children do not sacrifice their young, while the pagans do.

Rather, the difference is that Abraham and his descendants have had a substitute provided for them by God’s grace, while the pagans are unwilling to recognize any necessity for a substitute, nor are they interested in understanding the depth of their moral problem. This contrast between Abraham and the pagan society around him is clear.

Abraham is the servant of a religion that teaches the inherent corruption of humanity from conception. One might think then that Abraham’s religion is a very dark religion, extremely negative, cruel, and even hideous. Yet this religion of Abraham also teaches, and now this is particularly evident in the story before us in Genesis 22. This religion which Abraham embraces also teaches the principle of the reality of substitution and the provision that God will ultimately make in His Son, one who will bear my judgment for me, as He bore Isaac’s judgment for him. Ironically, the pagans, in contrast to Abraham, are servants of a religion that teaches the inherent innocence of humanity from conception.

One might then think that such a religion is a very bright religion, extremely positive, loving, and even beautiful. Yet this religion knows nothing about the principle and reality of substitution in the face of rightly incurred divine wrath. Furthermore, and most strikingly, this pagan religion provides for and even demands and practices the execution of children, despite its commitment to a doctrine of human innocence.

Here is the mystery: Abraham’s God knows the depravity of the child’s heart. He knows the depravity of Isaac’s heart, yet He spares the child. The pagan’s god preaches a message of the child’s innocence, yet the child is slain. The pagans practice child sacrifice.

I ask you now, which is the dark, malevolent, dire, and dreadful religion? You claim the child is innocent, yet you execute the child. This is a moral monstrosity. You claim the child is innocent, yet you slay the child. God, who knows the child to be guilty, spares the child.

Perhaps this was not clear to you here. I know that there are many difficult, logical points in this message this morning. Perhaps you had a particularly difficult Saturday evening and were not prepared for this morning’s worship. The thoughts in your mind may still be unclear. Yet perhaps it was not lost on you that there is a remarkable parallel in all of this to what is happening in the world today.

Is there not a connection between the ancient paganism that Abraham and his descendants faced—paganism that demanded the execution of children—and the modern paganism, even the paganism that exists within the Christian Church, which we face today? Still today, we who hold to Reformed convictions continue to uphold doctrines that the modern world and even the modern Church reject with intense hatred and anger. For we hold to the doctrine of humanity’s total depravity and reject the teaching of childhood innocence.

But we also embrace, as Abraham did, the God who said to Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering.” And we do so. We embrace that God with the same unwavering commitment that Abraham showed in that moment. The very God who would not even spare his own Son, but delivered him up as a sacrifice for us all, to satisfy divine justice. This is an extraordinary God, these are extraordinary doctrines. This God, who reveals himself to Abraham and to us, spares, saves, and delivers.

While these people who stand opposed to this God and His teachings preach a message of human nature, childhood, and especially infinite innocence, they do not hesitate to kill their innocent infants while they are still in the womb. At the moment when they are most defenseless and vulnerable. Is this not strange? Our God, despite His difficult teachings and commands, shows mercy. These people, despite their so-called enlightened teachings and optimistic principles, practice abortion.

At the cost of the violence they have committed against the defenseless child in the womb, do you see how this violence grows? The violence they have directed toward the child in the womb takes advantage of the lawlessness of our time. Within this supposed innocent race and innocent world, they have created the greatest epidemic of child abuse in human history. This is hideous and outrageous, you tell me.

And oh, that the unblinking eye of the aborted child, whose heart still beats, would enter the soul of his killer. And oh, that the unblinking eye of that aborted child, whose heart still beats—though this rarely, if ever, happens—would enter the soul of his mother. The truth is, even for the physician who performs the procedure and the mother who chooses it, a substitute is provided. So great is the grace and love of the God of Abraham. But apart from repentance before Him, there will come a day when the eye of God will indeed enter the soul of both the physician and the mother.

You know, then, where the shock of this story about Abraham and Isaac is not found. It is not found in the offense of God’s command to sacrifice this child. If it is not found there, then where is it found? That is the subject of another message.

For now, let us rejoice that we know the God who, although dark to the world, and although considered cruel by this world, was light and life to us. He has introduced us to the benefits of the covenant of grace, though we are undeserving, through the offering up of His own Son, a substitute, a sacrifice in our place. Amen. Have mercy, Lord, continue in Your mercy toward us, that we may not stand in self-righteousness before the world. But Lord, have mercy, have mercy upon this world. Have mercy on those who are guilty in the name of their gods and goddesses, guilty of the most vile crimes and heinous sins, that by Your mercy they may be turned from the way of sin, that they may be delivered from death and be given righteousness and life, in and through and for the sake of Christ Your Son, the one true sacrifice for sin.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.