The Bonds of Family & Sacrifice

Written By: Kirk Peterson

Family Ties

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Recently, I was picking a patient up from his emergency room to take him for a Cat-Scan.  It is quite an interesting time in someone’s life, if you really sit down and think about it… You have come to the hospital because you feel horrible and want to make sure everything is O.K.  Imagine the questions that might be going around in your head.  Could this be something serious?  Could this change my life forever?  What does the future hold?  I imagine that it could be quite a fearful time not knowing what your future holds.

When I arrived to take this man for his scan, he looked to be in his mid-60’s.  He was a big and kind man, maybe 6 foot 2 and 230 pounds with gray hair and a beard.  Some of his family was there to support him: His concerned wife by his side, his big huskie looking son maybe in his mid-30’s, who surely took after him because his wife was much smaller in stature, and lastly what must have been his granddaughter who looked to be in her late teens.  They were very much a warm bunch and even in the midst of their concern for their loved one, still found a way to be warm and courteous to me and showed good humor.

What struck me the most about this story however, was as I was wheeling his stretcher out of the ER room, his wife leaned over and gave him a kiss on the mouth and said, “I love you”.  Next, as I continued to wheel him around in the tight cramped space, that big 6 foot 6 huskie man of a son leaned over and kissed his dad, right on the head and said, “I love you Pop”.  As, I was heading out the door his granddaughter looked at me with a warm smile and said, “Now you take good care of him, or else!”  I told her that I would take good care of him and we would be back soon.

As I was wheeling the man to the Cat-Scan department, I told him he is very blessed to have such a great family and that I pray that when I was his age, that my family would love me as much as his family loved him.  That is when he said, “We have been very blessed.  God is good!”  Then he looked back at me and said, “You know what“. “What”, I replied with a smile.  He said, “The Dr.’s told us we couldn’t even have children.  We were looking into adoption, and then a miracle happened.  4 children and 15 grandchildren later, here we are”.  “That is awesome”, I said.  “Your family is very strong and I hope I can lead my family the same way you have lead yours”.

It really is miraculous the bond of family.  The love his son had for him was much stronger than any embarrassment he might have for kissing his father in front of another man.  It showed me, in the real world, what strong family bonds can do and the kind of life it can give you.  My father has always told me that family is one of the most important things in this life and I am grateful for him instilling that value in me as he raised me.

I believe God want’s nothing more than for each and every one of us to be part of his family.  If the family bond we have here on earth can be this strong, imagine the kind of bond we all can have with our Father in Heaven?  I believe God longs for the perfect bond we had with him back in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man into sin.  He has offered us a way to make our bond with him whole again and it all begins by believing in his perfect son who He offered as a sacrifice for all mankind, Jesus Christ.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?... 35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:31-32,35-39. NLT).

Faith & Sacrifice

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Abraham, a man with a faith in the LORD for all the ages, was tested by God.  God had chosen Abraham as the father of many nations and his linage was to bring the old testament of the Bible to the world and eventually Jesus also would come from his line.  God had great plans for Abraham and the truly miraculous relationship he had with the LORD was incredible.

Abraham’s Faith Tested

1Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” 3The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” (Genesis 22:1-5. NLT)

It took a miracle for Abraham and Sarah to have a son.  God fulfills all his promises and even well after Abraham and Sarah could reproduce and had grown old, God gave them a miracle in Isaac.   Having studied the book of Genesis before, it wasn’t until studying it again as a father did I fully appreciate the amount of faith and obedience Abraham showed for the LORD.  The son that Abraham had been waiting for his whole life, the heir for his family that meant so much to him and the culture of Abraham’s at that time, was being asked to be sacrificed by God.  I know I would have faltered if God had asked me to do the same with my two boys; I would have failed the test.  But Abraham, one of the great patriarchs of the Bible, had such faith in the LORD that he trusted him with one of the most important things in his life…his only son.

17It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. (Hebrews 11:17-19. NLT)

Nothing is impossible for God.  Abraham had such faith and obedience in God that he knew that God would provide everything he needed.  He trusted God with everything that he had and was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

6So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. 9When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” 12“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:6-12. NLT)

The Bonds of Family & Sacrifice

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It took Abraham 3 days to travel to Mt. Moriah.  It must have been so hard to travel so long, working hard to bring the one you loved so much to be sacrificed.  Yet, having made that incredibly difficult journey, he still showed the ultimate faith by saying, “The BOY and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then WE will come right back.”

I don’t know how old bible scholars say Isaac was at this time, but I pictured him being maybe 10 or so.  Still so innocent in the eyes of the LORD, but old enough to know what was happening on the climb up the mountain.  Abraham knew that we have a faith in a God that can bring the dead back to life and can do anything, and was so confident that he said “WE” will come right back. 

There are many parallels in this story to Christ and his sacrifice for all mankind.  One of the great parts to studying the Bible is seeing all the layers that God has interwoven throughout his Truth and leads to the authenticity of what we are reading. 

The Bible tells us that Abraham lived a long and satisfying life.  In being the kind of example he was for all of us as the father of many nations, I can only imagine the strong bonds he had with his family.  I hope and pray that my family will love me as much as I’m sure Abraham’s family loved him.