382. God’s Will Must Be Done

In the “Lord’s Prayer” we pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” For people who like to have their own will done in everything on earth, this is hard.

These two wills are opposed to each other. One is godly; the other is human, sensual, and demonic. You can see how little children scream in order to get their own will. Yet God’s Word says that for the rest of our life we are to live for the will of God, not for our own lusts, and that God’s will is our sanctification.

God tested Abraham saying to him:

“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 that I shall tell you.”

When God said this, He was speaking in Abraham’s heart, since God is not a man but a Spirit. Abraham could easily have brushed the matter aside in unbelief, yet he believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

“So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”

In Abraham’s heart a battle took place that was without parallel. You can imagine him thinking about Isaac, that lovely, innocent boy whom he loved so dearly, and thinking about Sarah, about what she would say. But God’s will was fixed in his mind unshakably fast. This will had to be done, whatever the cost.

So the little company went on its way, and “on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.”

And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

This was the way of the cross, the last part of which led to death. Here the young men could not follow. Abraham and Isaac had to go this way alone. This points toward Jesus Christ, who said to His disciples, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now.” He had to tread the winepress alone; and Abraham and Isaac, who are an example of the Father and the Son, had to do the same.

“So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and the knife, and the two of them went together.”

God did the same with His Son when He laid the cross on His shoulders, while keeping the knife and the fire to Himself. This was the conclusion of the way of the cross; faith had to be tested. God’s will and the will of man were contending for power.

Then something began to dawn on Isaac. He said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” He did not see a lamb, and so he thought in his heart, “Maybe I am the sacrificial lamb.” Then Abraham answered, “‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together.”

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.”

At this stage both Abraham and Isaac understood that the matter was serious. Both had arrived at the altar, and Isaac’s suspicions were realized. During the journey, step by step, Abraham’s manner had led Isaac to believe that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. The point had been reached where Abraham and Isaac were both in agreement about this deed, since Isaac knew that Abraham loved his son and would never do anything other than what God required of him. It was just the same with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. When He had set His face toward Jerusalem, all forsook Him.

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So he said, ‘Here I am.’

“And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’”

Abraham had stood his test of faith, and he received back his son Isaac, as if raised from the dead.

And then the reward and the blessing for obedience and faithfulness came from the Lord:

“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants will possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’” Gen. 22.

We all have our own Isaac to offer in the obedience of faith. The reason people go about childless (not begetting spiritual children) is that they have not offered what God has pointed out in their life.

In Isaiah 53:12 it is written about Jesus, “Therefore I will give Him the great as His portion, and He shall receive the strong as spoil, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” [Norw.].

Pouring out your soul means offering Isaac. Then you receive the strong as spoil.