What is the meaning of Abraham's sacrifice of his son?

The Bible uses many verbal pictures for our learning. One of the most wonderful ones is Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac.

Let’s see the biblical description of it in Genesis 22:2 ! God said to Abraham:

"Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

We see Abraham here as a very good father, who has received a promised and long-expected son and who loves Isaac very much. And God asked Abraham to give his son in sacrifice on the altar. Abraham obeyed God and took in his hand the fire and the knife, and put the wood for the burnt offering on his son Isaac and together they went to the divinely indicated place. Once there, Abraham bound his son on top of the wood and took the knife to slaughter him. Because God knew already that Abraham really was ready to obey, He did not allow Isaac to die. However the Bible says in Hebrews 11:19 that Abraham “considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back”. What a wonderful picture of the best sacrifice of all times!

Please read again the following verses (also quoted in the answer to question 2) to see the meaning of this picture! Jesus said:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:16-18)

Yes, God the Father so loved YOU that He gave His promised and only-begotten Son, in order that He - “bearing his own cross” - would go to Golgotha, the divinely appointed place, to be sacrificed there. He, the perfect Son of God, bore all our sins on the cross and was punished there because of them, though in Him was no sin. His sacrifice was so accepted before God, that He rose Him from the dead and He is alive today and forever! Because of Him and His sacrifice God can offer to us the forgiveness and the eternal life!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,

the old has gone,

the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17