i went to see Angel Studio’s “His Only Son” movie this week. Now I need to go see it again. At one point as Abraham knelt in humility and heartbreak before the Angel of the Lord, the theophany of God, His hand reached out to him in what appeared to be a gesture of empathic understanding and, honestly, I believe the hand of God was scarred. It was Christ’s hand! ….God revealing the truth of Himself as Jesus Christ, just as Jesus had said, “Before Abraham was, I Am..”. John 8…. Jesus’ most definitive teaching, it seems, on His identity….. and the movie expresses this reality of Christ and Father as one in timeless unity with one another.
In the movie one feels the depth of pain of this father, required by obedience to offer a sacrifice of his son. Abraham was allowed to know and experience the heartbreak of the Father in offering his only son of the promise as a sacrifice to God and the Son of God Himself was with Abraham in order that Abraham and Isaac might attest to the goodness and faithfulness of God to both covenant with man and to also bear the full weight of the burden for keeping the covenant, since man cannot. Isaac, too, trusted in the goodness and faithfulness of the God of his father and humbly obeyed.
In the more accurate translations of the Hebrew texts notice this in Genesis 22:1-3:
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him.”
As I have read and re-read this, the word “offer” is the key word in the beginning of the text that gives us a clue to Abraham and Isaac’s confidence in God and God’s plan as it actually was revealed. I had read Carol Kent’s book “When I Lay My Isaac Down” about her own struggle with what appeared to be the loss of her only child, her wonderful, successful, beloved son after he committed murder and faced the possibility of capital punishment. She was at a loss to understand the circumstances God had allowed and struggled in her faith to come to grips with it all. Eventually, however, she came to see that her son had been a cherished idol in her life and, like Abraham, she was called to offer him to God. It is the Isaac Principle at work….. God calls us to offer all for His glory, even the things we value most. It doesn’t necessarily mean He will remove them from us, but it does mean we must be obedient when He points to it and asks us to offer it.
We are called to surrender anything to God that we hold in greater esteem in our heart than God Himself, anything without which we believe we cannot live. Her upstanding military officer and gentleman son, a Christian, a model citizen was sentenced to life in prison instead of the death penalty for premeditated murder of the father and ex- husband who he believed was a threat to his three step-daughters and his wife. He would later become a source of great comfort, inspiration, teaching, and example of God’s redemptive work through Christ in the lives of the men in prison with him. Carol Kent and her husband moved to be near him in the prison in Florida where he will live out the rest of his life, an imprisoned servant of God!
I have learned the Isaac Principle in my own life as God has required me to offer some things to Him. The alternative to failing to offer them with open-hands, freely, and trusting in His goodness, sovereign power and love is to risk having them removed altogether for the sake of God’s redemptive glory, one’s own good, and the gain of others who may witness the resurrection power of the Isaac Principle at work.
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him.
In Old Testament scripture The Angel of the Lord, in my understanding, is the physical appearing of God which is manifested at times as the person of Jesus Christ. Other times God chose to appear as a pillar of smoke or fire. Time and form have no bearing on the when and the where or the how of God or God In Christ’s appearing….as elements of fire or storm, as Jesus’ human appearance, or the fire or wind or flowing water or beauty of the Spirit in all His Triune Glory, exists outside of constraints of time, space, and matter. “Is anything too difficult for God?”
Interestingly, both Abraham and Isaac repeat this word in the movie, father and son’s testimony to their understanding of the sovereignty and infinite power of God!
Did the young Jesus’ hearing of the Abraham and Isaac story from his own earthly Jewish father prepare him for his own submission in obedience to the Holy Father’s will or did the Eternal Christ who appeared as the Pre-Incarnate God in Jesus Christ come to give humanity a peek into the depth of faith possible and a model of perfected love transcending fear through the lives of Abraham and Isaac? This is the Circle of eternal life…. Only Christ is the Eternal Resurrected One Who Was, Is, and Always Will Be. …. The Great I Am! And He brings the invitation to the Eternal Heavenly Wedding Feast in the Father’s House to us personally and invites all who receive it to be His “Bride”, joined together with Him in Spirit and soul as His own Body forever.
Our Almighty God is a good and loving Father who teaches us obedience and disciplines His sons and daughters when necessary. He is the Humble Suffering Servant who takes upon Himself the most dire consequence of our disobedience which is death. And He is the Resurrected Redeemer Christ who , even though reluctant in His humanness to leave His spiritual children, by returning to His Divine Throne made a way to send the Fire of His Own Holy Spirit to be multiplied, like the infinitely abundant and sufficient loaves and fishes, to share the fullness of His grace and truth with all who will receive His love in and through Jesus Christ’s Gift of Himself so all the nations of the world would be blessed through the line of godly obedience and faithful fellowship that began with Abraham and is fulfilled in Christ Jesus!
addendum: A morning devotional from Susie Larson a few days after this reflection;
Sometimes we cling too tightly to the very thing God is asking us to lay before Him. Why are we afraid? Is it because He’s not good? Do we fear our best days are behind us? If that’s you, it’s time for a reset. Whenever we cling to anything but Jesus, we’re the ones who lose. May He pour out fresh grace to trust Him more. May He stir up the faith you need to let go and let God. May He tilt your chin upward so you will dare to hope even before your eyes see the good land up ahead. Open your hands and trust Him. He’s a good, good God, and He loves you so very much. Breathe deeply and rest well this weekend.
Psalm 28:7 AMP ~ The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield; my heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.