The Lesson

G-d did not, in advance, fashion Avraham to resemble his future son, Yitzchak. He fashioned Yitzchak to resemble Avraham. In the terms laid out above, G-d altered the disposition of severity to conform to kindness. This is a lesson for every person who is faced with a choice of responding with judgment or kindness—like G-d, we are to choose kindness.