“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love — Isaac — and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”
Genesis 22:1-3 (NIV)
In the first message of the new sermon series, “Living a Powerful Spiritual Life”, I included an aside concerning Abraham and his trek up the side of Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac there. Of course, the original Genesis narrative includes only the basic facts of that event as we see from these verses above. We get only the briefest of details. The text doesn’t mention how Abraham felt about such a command. Nowhere does it mention the fear Isaac felt as he was bound by his father and placed upon the altar about to be slain. It is a frightening scene.
We just read that Abraham heard and obeyed. Immediately. Next morning he had saddled up and was on the road. Abraham was faced with one of two choices. One to dismiss what God was saying because it was, humanly speaking, ridiculous. The second was to obey God and lose his only son. What must Abraham have been thinking? What was going on in his heart as he nears the top of the mountain? We don’t know, the text doesn’t say, but we can imagine … or try to. I think it would be illogical to assume that Abraham (and Isaac, too) was emotionless and detached about what was happening.
In part one of the new sermon series I mentioned Abraham’s response as a way of illustrating what it means to eat from the fruit of the tree of life. Abraham, I feel sure, was pretty emotional about what was looming on Mount Moriah, and right there he could have given in to soulish desires. He could have reached out to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and do that which seemed good to him, ignoring what God had commanded. He had no idea that God was testing him at the time.
What was God testing? He was testing Abraham to see which tree he would eat from when he was under extreme pressure - the tree of life, or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All the way up the mountain Abraham fights down the urge to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He continues to eat of the tree of life, by faith, and fights down soulish demands and reasoning. At the very last moment Abraham’s hand was stayed by the command of the angel of the Lord, and Isaac lived. God’s response to Abraham?
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Genesis 22:16-18 (NIV)
And we know from history itself, that God indeed blessed Abraham mightily, and his descendants over hundreds and hundreds of years.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil so stimulates the soul that it becomes puffed up with pride and therefore disregards what God says – and does its own thing thinking it knows better, or can do better. Eating from this tree smothers and eventually renders our spirit insensitive to sin and unable to relate to God at all. That’s what a dead spirit is. However, the tree of life stimulates and nourishes, increases and empowers our spirit so that it is master of soul and body as God’s divine order intended. For Adam, to eat of either tree was not a test but a choice. He chose soul instead of spirit – and his spirit “fell” into soulishness confusion thus losing its distinct ability to function in communion with God. This is something the soul thinks it can do, but it cannot – it cannot function as spirit. The choice of soulishness or spirit with Abraham was a test – and he passed. Though tempted, he ate from the tree of life, by faith in who God is … and this moved the heart of God to exceedingly great promises for Abraham. Selah!
Abraham proved that by faith one can eat from the tree of life when the soul is screaming to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He proved that, by faith in God’s Word, the soul could be denied unto obedience.
Romans 4:3 (NIV)
What does Scripture say? "Abraham believed [trusted] God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
The main point in all of this is that those born again are enabled through their regenerated spirit to eat again of the tree of life – to participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) which was God’s plan all along and come to the fullness of that. Genesis 3:19 suggests that people were created mortal but were not meant to stay mortal. The evidence of the ancient narrative itself is the tree of life. Immortal people have no need for a tree of life. The provision of one suggests that they were, indeed, mortal - but God wanted them to grow into human fullness and immortality (eternal life) as they ate of the tree of life, as they participated in His divine nature and life.
He still does! He is willing that none should perish …
The cross of Christ restores our spirit functionality through righteousness - achieved by the blood of the Lamb - and we are free to choose life … or death.
You are wonderfully, amazingly loved.
Ps. Milton
To watch the new sermon series on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9Bo7oZy44