Genesis 22:1-18 KJV
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The martyrism of the saints of God because of the laws of man, the decrees of man. Is man stronger then God, the answer is no, but God allows martyrism for one reason to testify the greatness of obeying God, the problem is the people on this side of eternity sees not the victory of eternity with God and in the return with Christ Jesus and the church until God declares Christ return. What does it mean we live in a time frame of not seeing the result of man killing those that served him in spirit and in truth, obeying the full letter of law. Perhaps that why Paul did not die by stoning, or beating that he received. He often was found guilty by law and yet not guitly of the law because he was Roman.

God tempts Abraham to take Isaac and sacrifice him on an altar. Isaac representing Christ, and yet with the betrayal of Isaac comes an angel to stop the sacrifice and to point to the ram caught in a thicket by his horns by God. God providing the sacrifice. Sacrifice being not a sacrifice for sin, but offering to Abraham to provide what was needed for his sin.

The crowd cried out at the cross let him save himself if he be the Messiah. Despite God's provision man still had to crucify Jesus. Despite the ram being caught in the thicket, he had to offer the ram on the altar. Man thinks they can provide the covering for sin, but they can not and never will be able too. Any sacrifice or offering must be provide by God.

Health and wealthers often preach sow a seed and God will provide the rest of the offering. That God will repay it. I am not a health and wealther mentality, but this lesson makes me stop and think why am I not in that mindset. I see God's blessings more then material and if you sowing money it does not mean what God gives back is the same way you gave. If that was the case God would not of ever crucified his Son it would of been a ram, like in the days of Abraham when he offered up his son, he would of given a subsitutionary gift for his son, and instead he gives a substitutionary gift for the priest's son who killed.

Cain made a sacrifice of Abel, because of his unholy sacrifice to God, his own unrighteousness to God. Cain use the fruit of his labor as sacrifice to God, but it was not choice fruit it was the fruit off the ground. Fruit when falls might not be rotten but it not the first of the fruit. It like picking the first tomato off the vine and eating it, it would not have ripened if still green. Green fruit not fully developed yet, and not yet ready to die and go back into the earth as a seed.

We must remember God gave Christ as our subsitutionary sacrifice, it is not a sacrifice we can provide for ourselves. Those that sacrificed to Moloch(god of child sacrifice), often sacrificed their children and so did those that sacrificed to Asthoreth(female goddess that required babies to be sacrifice). These were two pagan gods. Their children being the sacrifice for sin, or offering to appease the gods. Yet they did not sacrifice themselves, but used a subsitutionary sacrifice by using their children.

Why is this even important to bring out, When Christ died, he went to cross both willingly and by the power of God. Yet we also have to remember people the day before the triumphal entry because of the loaves and fish had gone after him. When Christ declared his kingship to the nation of Israel it came with already a following.

Now what does this half to do with provision of God's sacrifice on the cross. When we stand up for the things of God and the government finds fault in our actions, then yes we are going to pay a price for it. We become maryrters like Daniel in the lions den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abedinego in the fiery furnace, killing of the priest in the temple, and the sacrifice of the jews prophets, and maryrtrism of christian error.

Christ laid his life down so man might see that faith was more then the temple, more then the quiet and meek spirit, but a warrior a champion of faith as he rose again from the grave. Remember Christ died, but had the power to be alive. The power not to remain in the tomb. A greater mystery with the resurrection or a testimony of God's power to go through adversity and rise again still forgiving man despite their sacrifice of humanity. He took his ministry outside the tomb. Teaching to forgive despite the battle scars and giving them hope as he ascended into heaven.

Christians there is a time to carry a sword, but there is a time to lay it down. Even Christ ask how many swords they had, and Peter said two, and Jesus said that was enough. Peter would later cut off the soldier of the high priest ear off and Jesus would heal him. The sheep for years were subsitution for sin, yet sacrifice had become a ritual of faith. Times had changed and sacrifices were done away with. One paid for crime with imprisonment, and with money as if paying a debt. Today that tradition still carries on in our laws and rules of our land. Yet for Christ to lay down his life for us for eternal sin this would have to be an act of God, to break or to show mercy for the trangressor of sin against him. Christ paid for the sin in the world, past, present and future. Without the subsitutionary gift one has to ask, was blood shed by humanity before Christ sacrifice. Our bodies facing decay before the cross. Our bodies facing the cost of our sin, but escape of death is to face death to go through death and to rise again not by our own power but by the power of God. Very few experience eternity without the grave.

What is my point? I sometimes wonder myself at times, how I get to the first point I made, God needs to proved the sacrifice and I dont always have a concret answer in the riddle and God supplies the verse, because the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus my Lord. Christ would be the last sacrifice for remission of sin, remember the vail riped and there was no more separation from God in the temple, the only thing that seperates us from God and the world is the clouds above, and science has broken through those clouds, but they did not find God, only space. Is God still alive. God is Spirit and he surrounds the earth, His word is above the earth and reigns above the earth. We look for a new heaven and earth in space failing to see God is going to destroy what we know and make prepare a new heaven and earth. We get caught up of what can we do and things we can do and make happen, yet do we fail to understand God is in control, the earth is his foot stool and his throne is heaven. We might not see God but he with us and around us. We may be covered by his word, but it does not mean we are saved by his word, not until we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord. Will you receive Christ today as your atonement as your covering for sin. Will you admit you are a sinner to God and need his salvation in your life. Yes there is some sin God does not hold over man, and that is sin because of righteousness through faith in his word and his Son. David found salvation through knowledge of Christ coming to pay the price for our sins. Abraham had that same hope as he laid his own son on the altar knowing God could still provide the sacrifice, and God did through the ram.

Dear Heavenly Father, you are the only one that can cover our sins through your Son Jesus. You are the only one that can forgive us for sin against you. Help us to believe, forgive us of our sins, and come into our heart as we receive your Son as Lord and Savior. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Luke 23:34-35 KJV
34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

Psalm 32:1-5 KJV
1 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.