Genesis 22:1–24 "The Only Son Offered Up"

One of the essential components of the Christian life is cross-bearing. Jesus says to all who claim to follow Him that it requires self-denial and taking up their cross. In the passage today, Abraham takes the wood of the burnt offering and (v. 6) lays it upon his son Isaac as he carries it up the hill to be sacrificed. It would be hard to find a clearer preview in the OT of our Lord Jesus carrying His cross. And by this preview of the cross of Jesus, we are shown how to bear our own crosses in the tests that God subjects us to.