Where Is The Lamb?

By: Bevan Greiner

I was recently meditating on the story of Abraham and Isaac that unfolds in Genesis 22, and though I’ve heard or read the story countless times before, for some reason this time I entered into its words with a particular interest in the relational compo­nents of the story. That is; a father and a son.

As a father myself, the level of faith required of Abraham to carry out Gods command to sacrifice Isaac is, to me, profound. They spent three days journeying together to a mountain in the land of Moriah. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that they had some wonderful communion and fellowship as father and son in the course of that journey. On the day of the sacrifice, Isaac climbed the hill with his father Abraham and he was even carrying the wood on which he was to be sacrificed not knowing it was he that was to be offered up. I can only imagine as perhaps Abraham glanced over at his son, whom he loved dearly, and saw him walking in complete obedience to his dad’s will, that tears must have been welling up in Abraham’s eyes and heart as he knew what was required of him. And then as they continued their journey to the spot that Isaac was to be offered as a burnt sacrifice, Isaac said “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?” Abraham prophesied, “My son, God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering.” When they arrived, Isaac laid on the altar and at the moment Abraham was to sacrifice his son, God called out to him to not harm his son. God then provided a ram caught in a nearby thicket to serve as a sacrificial substitute for Isaac. This substitute foreshadowed the prophesied Lamb that Abraham promised to Isaac. Abraham and Isaac then returned home. No doubt, with thankful and worshipful hearts.

I believe the heart of any father reading this story can conjure up, at least in part, some of the emotions that must have run through Abraham’s mind during the course of that experience. The anguish, the sorrow, the deep and profound pain associated with the thought of carrying out his duties. I believe this vignette in Scripture fosters those thoughts and directs them toward a greater understanding of what the heart of God the Father had to endure in providing the answer to Isaacs question “Where is the lamb?”

In the gospel of John 1:29, Isaac’s question is answered by John the Baptist when he announced, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” It is Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son who was to be the sacrificial Lamb, the sin offering that Abraham said God would provide. And Jesus, like Isaac, in complete and perfect obedience to His Father, carried His own wood up the hill to the place of His sacrifice and laid down His life under His own volition. The typology between Abraham and God and between Isaac and Jesus, diverges at the moment of sacrifice in that God the Father heard no one call to Him

“Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto Him.” He willingly went through with it and gave up His beloved Son for we read in Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer... and the Lord makes His life a guilt offering,” Someone has said, “God spared Abraham’s heart a pang He would not spare His own.” God carried out His judgment and poured out His wrath on His own Son who bore all our sin on the altar that day. Oh what pain and anguish God the Father’s heart must have endured out of love for us?

Praise be to God the story doesn’t end there. For at the end of the ‘three day journey’, just as in Isaac’s case, it ends in life! And Jesus, the Lamb of God, arose victorious over sin and death.

Dear ones, have you thanked God today for what He was will­ing to do in giving up His beloved Son to be our substitute? Do you manifest a heart of gratitude to Jesus for His willing­ness to climb upon Calvary’s altar and lay down His life in obedience to His Father? Have you enjoyed forgiveness of sin through faith in His sacrificial death and resurrection? Does your life declare to all who come in contact with you, “Behold the Lamb”? And does your life, through word and deed, point them to Jesus? May we lift Him high this Easter season and always to the glory of God.

For family devotions, Martin Luther once read the account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22. His wife, Katie, said, “I do not believe it. God would not have treated His Son like that!” “But Katie,” Luther replied, “He did.”

Little Phillip

Little Philip, born with Down’s syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday School class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in leadership magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully.

The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought L’eggs pantyhose containers, the kind that look like large eggs. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the egg-like container. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table. Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether a flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would ooh and ahh.

Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, “That’s stupid. That’s not fair. Somebody didn’t do their assignment.”

Philip spoke up, “That’s mine.”

“Philip, you don’t ever do things right!” One student retorted. “There’s nothing there!”

“I did so do it,” Philip insisted. “I did do it. It’s empty. The tomb was empty!”

Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class. He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg.

-Unknown‑

Claire’s Corner

The Writings of our beloved Dad

LAMB OF CALVARY
From the lovely hills of Heaven came a spotless Lamb one day
To a small and humble stable and a manger full of hay;
Then He journeyed on a pathway to a hill called Calvary;
And upon a wooden altar He was sacrificed for me.

In a tomb within a garden, God’s dear Lamb was gently laid;
Every sin had been atoned for, my redemption fully paid;
Then a stirring in the stillness as a glory filled the sky;
Over death the Lamb had triumphed! Now He lives and so shall I!

At the throne of God in Heaven, saints and angels start to sing;
Glory to the Lamb for ever, for He is the conquering King;
Then with joy I’ll bow before Him as I whisper this refrain:
“Jesus Savior, I adore Thee, Lamb of God for sinners slain.”

Worthy is the Lamb, Lamb for sinners slain;
There upon the altar He took my sin and shame;
Now in heaven He’s pleading at the throne for me;
Give Him all the glory, the Lamb of Calvary.

Wm. Claire Greiner ©1976

Sick Sheep

A visitor once saw the shepherds in Nazareth as they were bringing their flocks to water them at the well. When the sheep had drunk their fill, the shepherds called and the sheep followed them. The visitor asked the shepherds if the sheep always followed their own shepherds when they called them. “Yes,” said a shepherd, “except under one condition.” “What is that?” “The sheep that do not follow the voice of the shepherd are the sick sheep. If a sheep is healthy, it will always follow the shepherd, but if there is something wrong with the sheep, it will follow anybody.”

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish...” (John 10:27,28)

Ruth’s Reflections

The Writings of our beloved Mom

YOUR LAMB I AM

 Oh, Lamb of God, You died for me,

And now, your lamb I’ll always be,

You took me from the dark to light,

For my blind eyes, you gave me sight.

You lead me safely by the hand,

And when I fall, you help me stand,

O’er mountain high and valley deep,

You walk with me though paths are steep.

You feed my soul, my body, too,

And all my blessings come from You,

And one sweet day, Your face I’ll see,

When with great joy I’ll bow my knee.

Oh, thank you Lord, your life you gave,

To rescue me, my soul to save,

And glory, honor to the Lamb,

Because of you, Your lamb, I am.

-Evelyn Ruth Greiner- 2001

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs
with His arm, and carry them in His bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
(Isaiah 40:11)

Hugs and Tugs

By: Wendy Greiner Lefko

“Shhhh... listen...” I love to hear my children talk, laugh, ask, wonder, speculate and think out loud. But there are times I need to remind them to be quiet and just listen, especially our 4-year-old Daniel. Being quiet does not come naturally or easily for a busy, inquisitive little guy at his age. Questions lead to so much learning, but there are times he would learn so much more by using his ears instead of his voice. Most often this is evident when he’s watching a video or show on TV. He’ll sit and watch intently, but then he’ll start making com­ments or asking questions about what he’s watching, which can be helpful, but often he’ll miss the very answer he’s looking for because he’s so busy talking away. I’ll try to gently remind him to “just watch and listen, and you’ll find out”, but of course at his young age, patient listening is not his first choice of method to gain information. He’s only doing what comes naturally to a young mind, finding out what he wants to know by any means necessary. He often still won’t take my word for it if I try to tell him something is hot or sharp, he has to find out for himself many times with just a quick touch when he thinks I’m not looking. Listening does not come easily to a willful preschooler!

But it’s what we need to do more of as God’s children. We often fail to sit and listen quietly to what He is trying to teach us. We get so busy working, talking, asking, wondering, questioning, even praying that we fail to be still and listen for His voice. We may be asking why or when or how, when the answer might be clearer if we would stop talking and just listen for His still small voice. We might learn much more by listening than by talking. Talking to God, praying fervently, even wondering in our hearts is precious to God and a vital part of our Christian lives, but if we neglect to be still before Him and wait to hear His Word to us, we could miss out on the very things we are seeking from Him. I pray we would take the Psalmist’s words to heart in a very real way...

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Prayer and Praise

Giving thanks to the Lord everyday!

·  Praise to the Lamb of God, the once for all sin-offering on our behalf.

·  Praise for His triumph over death and that the tomb is EMPTY!

·  Praise for God’s anointing in recent meetings.

·  We rejoice for an 11-year-old boy named Paul who came up to us after our service at a youth rally in New Jersey recently, and told us he had received Christ that night. His Christian friends who had brought him were overjoyed that their friend had turned his life over to Jesus!

·  Letter of encouragement: Dear friends, I just had to write the Greiners because your March Hearthstone issue was such an extra special blessing. Your piece “Through a Glass Darkly” was so much the way I have felt at times. Wendy’s Hugs and Tugs, your Mom and Dad’s articles and the beautiful pictures your Dad painted are such a blessing. Thank you for your ministry. (AMB)

·  Pray for up-coming meetings, that hearts and minds will be open and receptive to the gospel.

·  Pray for finances as the cost of gas and insurances can be burdensome. God is completely able!

·  Thank you faithful friends for your continued partnership with us. We carry on by the prayers and support of you, our precious family in Christ.

With humble gratitude, The Greiners

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)

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