The ire of God killed Jesus, our substitute. Abraham stands for God and Isaac for Jesus. Abraham did not get to kill his son. God, whom Abraham symbolizes in the incident where Abraham was instructed to kill his only son, Isaac, did kill Jesus. It doesn't sound pleasant to say it, but when you analyze this particular story and think about the fact that God is able to take the life of sinners since he is the life giver, it make sense.
The good news is that in spite of killing or letting his only son die, God was able to save mankind.
It's seldom said, but God did not have to resurrect Jesus. He very well could have let him remain dead. Jesus was also the beneficiary of God's forgiving love.
Also, Jesus risked a lot in dying for humanity because he could possibly have failed and then not only humanity would have been lost, but Jesus as well. Had that happened, would God have found another solution? Who would then have to died to save both Jesus and humanity had that become necessary?
The similarities between the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham and what really did happen to Jesus have other dimensions, as well. Isaac almost died and should have died if Abraham would have gone through with it. Paul mentions that Abraham hoped that if he did kill his son, God could potentially bring him back to life. Christ, in fact, did die, but not for very long. In three days' time God brought him back to life. In this regard he is like Isaac who almost died, but was saved just before the knife came down.
There is no feminine principle in the Godhead, but if there were it would have to be either Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. In this story of Abraham and Isaac, the third person, Sarah, was left in the dark lest she influence the sacrifice of her only son. Not much is said in the Bible about how the Holy Spirit felt about Christ's approaching death. We can only assume that he too was pained by it though supportive of it, nevertheless.
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