The story of Abraham is a fascinating one found mostly in Genesis 12-22. These chapters tell of the beginnings of this key character in the Bible. But here’s a quick run down.

Abraham is married to a woman named Sarah, though at this point their names are actually Abram and Sarai, but that gets confusing. Anyways, they are married and they are about 75 years old. They have no children. But then, God shows up and promises Abraham that he will have a child! Through this child their family will grow so large that they will be a nation, and God will give them a land, and God will bless all the families of the earth through this family!

[1] Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [2] And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)

This promise is called the Abrahamic Covenant and it is a key detail in the storyline of the Bible! This is a promise, given by God, to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. So it seems like a ridiculous sort of promise. How will a couple at the age of 75 have a child?! We see God reaffirm this promise in Genesis 15 and make a true covenant with Abraham. God is telling Abraham to continue to trust Him, even though it seems like there is no hope.

Time continues to go on, and there is no child. Abraham and Sarah try to take things into their own hands around chapter 16, but this is not the promised child. God is holding fast to His promise, even as Abraham and Sarah reach 100 years old.

Then in chapter 21, God gives them a baby boy named Isaac. He is the fulfillment of this promise that God gave to them. This is their promised son! They see that God is faithful by doing exactly what He said He would do!

Now, this would be a great story if it ended here! An even better story if this was in fact the one we were told about back in Genesis 3:15 (the first covenant God makes with us). God promised that a savior would come and defeat sin and death, but is this the one they were waiting for?

Genesis 22 reveals something extreme. God tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his son, his only son. This is the son who was born in the promise, who fulfilled the words of God, who Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years for in their old age to have! And now God is telling him to go sacrifice his son!? WHAT!?

Abraham is obedient so he does as God tells him. Abraham and Isaac make preparations and head up the mountain. Then Isaac, the only son of Abraham, asks an important question:

[7] And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

Genesis 22:7 (ESV)

Isaac realizes they have everything they need except for the lamb. And at this point in the narrative of the Bible, I believe that we as readers should also be asking this same question: “Where is the lamb?”

God created the world good, but sin entered the world. Then God made a promise that a Savior would come and rescue us from Satan, sin, and death. This Savior would be the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world! And yet, this is not him. He has not come yet. Has God forgotten His people? Has God forgotten His promises? Where is the lamb?

Now, if you have read the New Testament before, you know that the lamb is in fact Jesus. We know the end of the story because most of us have God’s Word sitting on our nightstand or on a shelf somewhere. And many know the end of this story with Abraham and Isaac as well. As soon as Abraham raises the knife to kill Isaac, God appears to him and tells him to stop. Then God provides a ram for the burnt offering, and Abraham and Isaac walk down the mountain together.

What’s significant about this story is that God has always kept His promises. God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, their family would be incredibly large, and through them, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

And each of these promises came true. Hundreds of years after Abraham and Sarah, in a small town in the Middle East, a baby was born. And this baby was named Jesus. He was in the family line of Abraham and eventually died on the cross as the lamb who would take away the sins of the world!

So this Christmas, will you celebrate Jesus as the fulfillment of every promise of God? Will you celebrate that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sins of the world? Will you celebrate that God is a faithful God who always keeps His promises? This is the true story of the world. We have a faithful God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son down to earth to live and dwell among us. And that Son’s name is Jesus, or Immanuel, which means God With Us. God came to dwell among us and then die for us so we could be with Him! I pray that you will rejoice in the gift of Jesus this season as you trust in our ever-faithful God!