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I’m going to invite you today to Genesis chapter 50. We are in the last chapter of Genesis together, and I told you last week where our outlook of where things were going together after we conclude the book of Genesis, getting ready to jump into this last chapter, the next four weeks, we’re going to be in the Book of Psalms. We spent a time every summer. We spend a few weeks in the Book of Psalms. I have a personal goal that before I die, I will have taught through every chapter of the Book of Psalms. So we’re looking at the long the long haul on that one. But we’re going to go through four weeks of Psalms together, which is a beautiful book that teaches us how to worship the Lord. And then after that, we’re going to go through the book of Revelation, because in this election year and I love crazy, okay, that’s that’s what that means. So we’re going to we’re going to look at that’s not really true. That’s that’s not why I picked it. But but it’s fun. So we’ll go with it. So if you like crazy I like crazy. Let’s do crazy revelation. We’re going to do that together in the weeks ahead. Um, Genesis 50 is a pinnacle chapter in the book of Genesis. And what I mean by that is usually if I ask someone, tell me your favorite book in the book or favorite verse in the book of Genesis.
If anyone knows, some verses in the book of Genesis, typically where they quote from is either the very first two chapters of the Book of Genesis, or often this this last chapter in the book of Genesis, where, where in verse 20 where Joseph says what you meant for evil, God intended for good, and he really paints for us. I think the thesis for what the Book of Genesis is about in that statement. And it’s beautiful when you think about the totality of this story as we’ve seen it together, what God has written for us in his redemption story. You know, God from the very beginning could have been finished with us when he created Adam and Eve. He created them to know him. And Adam and Eve bought into this lie that they they knew better than God. And God was withholding his his best from them. And they they sought after autonomy. They sought to live life for for their glory. And what ultimately led to was destruction and demise. It brought birthed sin, and sin brought destruction to this world. And through that we all pay the consequence of that today. And let me just say, it’s not just Adam and Eve’s fault. We’re all sinful people. But but the truth is, what we find in the book of Genesis is that God doesn’t give up on us. I mean, you think about what it means to gather together today, to seek God’s face, the privilege to know God is a gift.
The idea that we could even read His Word, to know him more together, to seek his face. It is. It is an experience of his grace made known in your life. God didn’t owe us anything, but yet he gave us everything by sacrificing his own life that we might find freedom in him. A true freedom is not discovered to your life as completely surrendered to the Lord, because that was the purpose for which you were designed. Oftentimes I’ll compare it like this. You know, of all the things that exist in this world, it’s not until they they function for the purpose they were created that they find true, true freedom. Right. A train not on tracks is not free. It doesn’t find freedom until it runs on tracks. An airplane finds freedom in the sky. A boat finds freedom not on land, but in the sea. It’s the same thing with with creatures that were made. A monkey is not free in the ocean. A fish is not free on land. It’s not until they’re there in the environment for which they’re created that they find true freedom. And it’s the same for you and for me. We weren’t created for our own autonomy to declare to God that we we are here to live for what we want and whatever makes us happy. That’s not true joy. That’s not true happiness.
That’s not true purpose. It’s not into your life as surrendered to the one who created you for his purpose. That you discover that and are able to live that out. And what you see in this, this book of Genesis, is how God graciously continued to show up to into our lives, no matter how many times mankind rejected God over and over and over again, God was faithful. God was loving. God was gracious. God gave us opportunity to know and to know him when he didn’t owe us anything. And here specifically in the life of Joseph, you see the the demonstration of an individual who lives for God’s glory despite circumstances. I mean, Joseph was one who was given every excuse in the world to to blame, you know, his upbringing or what other people did to live for his own selfish purposes, but rather he was a man that continued to to trust in God. What you intended for evil. God intended for good. That that God is capable. You know another way we could look at this, this this chapter and specifically this, this verse is we could just title this, um, the chapter for Anxious People, The chapter who for people who who wane in trusting in the Lord. But but we’re going to talk about it today as what leads. We’re going to ask the question, what leads to healthy living? What leads to healthy living? And truth be told, we’re really going to hone in, in verse 15 to verse 21, I’m just going to focus on this section of Genesis.
And the reason for that is I can I can just summarize for us very concisely what the beginning and end of Genesis is of Genesis 50 is about the first 14 verses. You’re dealing with the death of Jacob, and Jacob’s carried back to his the Promised land, and he’s buried there. And then you deal with the death of Joseph, and it’s the same thing. And we we refer to this as the tomb of the patriarchs, if you want to, if you want to Google this later and look at this. I think it’s kind of incredible, the archaeology of Christianity, the artifacts that we have are related to Christianity. And here we’re reading a story that’s 3500 years old, and you could still go back and look at the tomb of the patriarchs, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are buried. Um, and here’s what you learn in the burial of, of of Jacob and Joseph is that God is faithful. God is faithful through it all. God was faithful that God promised them a land, and by bringing them back to that land, it’s looking forward to the promises of God again and again. When man was inconsistent, God was faithful. So? So what? What leads to healthy living? Genesis 15. Let me give you point number one. Um, this is just a good reminder for all of us.
This is the really the antithesis of where we ultimately want to go. But but it’s this bad theology destroys lives. Bad theology destroys lives. And I could probably elaborate on this a little bit more to make it more precise in its statement. Bad theology believed destroys lives. You’re introduced to bad theology all day long, but whether or not your heart embraces it is something altogether different. And I hope it doesn’t. But. But bad theology destroys lives. And you see this from the beginning of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, where there’s the truth that God told don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is declaring autonomy from God, but rather take from the tree of life. And God is that live source. And rather than believe God, they choose to rebel against him their own autonomy for their own purposes and their own glory. And what it produces is destruction. And the same is true for for all of us. I don’t I don’t say that to to make you fearful of bad decisions or bad theology, but but I do think it’s important to, to understand that, you know, just because you believe something doesn’t make it true. And just because you don’t believe something doesn’t make it untrue. What’s true is if it comes from truth source itself, which is the Lord, and but bad theology destroys lives, and even after we surrender our lives to God, we can still fall in the temptation of struggling in our walk to believe it.
We can send. We can get distracted. We can become apathetic. We can become overwhelmed. We can doubt. And so it’s not just something we need to recognize for salvation in the Lord, that we come to him to surrender our lives and find ourselves redeemed in Christ. But to understand this is the state of the believer throughout all of their days, that we’re constantly going to be filled with temptations to trust in something else other than for the purpose for which we were created in the Lord, and to find ourselves again and again aligned with God. This is what Joseph faced over and over again in his circumstances, in life, whether he was sold into slavery, sold into prison, or even when he was second in command in Egypt, whether he was on the mountain top or the valley. The question is, what’s going to dictate who you were, Joseph. And for him, I think he understood where bad theology could take him if he would buy into that lie. And here you see in this ending story that Joseph’s brothers are struggling with bad belief, and it produces bad things in their relationships. Relationship with God, relationships with others. In verse 15 it says, When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did.
So they sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you. And now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father. Um, you know, if you remember how the story unfolded two decades previously, when they were teenagers into their early 20s, Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph into slavery. And for two decades, they didn’t know what happened to their brother. They assumed that he was dead. And they come to find him in Egypt, second in command. He spares their life by providing food for them during a famine, and he forgives them, reconciles their relationship. But now that their father Jacob is dead, their concern is now. Now that dad is not playing interference for us, what’s going to happen to us? Even though our brother said he forgave us? What’s going to happen to us? And they begin to operate out of fear. Um, can I tell you the brothers in the story and I’ll highlight this in a minute. They very much mimic what it means to be a human being in this world. They represent fallen humanity, and Joseph represents really. He’s a shadow of what Christ will ultimately be for all of us. But here they’re struggling. And rather than walk in faith through their relationship with their brother, they buy into a lie.
And that creates distance in their relationship to their brother. And it plays itself out in fear. You know, even today, I recognize that when it comes to what God’s Word says and what you believe that that for some of us there could be this place of fear that creates distance and who we are, who we are in light of who God is. That God seems like a distant being, that he may be there just to punish me when I mess up. And and because of that, you don’t really have an intimacy of your relationship with the Lord because you don’t understand exactly what he’s done for you. You don’t understand what what forgiveness and the freedom it brings means for you that there’s new position and identity in Christ. Not because of you, but because of him. And so you see these brothers struggling with that. And fear is playing very much a part of that. And because of that, not only is there fear, then they create a mediator to represent them before their brother and kind of say for you, the Bible tells you that there’s one mediator and it’s not some priest or pastor, that it’s Christ. What Christ has done for you is more than enough that you can go directly to God. And so you don’t need a person to to dictate in your relationship with the Lord.
What you need is the Lord himself in your life. But they pick a mediator, and in that mediator they choose to lie. They want to try to sweeten the deal in order to make themselves look a little more appealing to their brother by making something up. They said, well, before dad, dad died, I know that you were there for most of it, but you missed this really important thing. Okay, dad said this, and then they make up this lie. And can I tell you when it comes to your own walk with God? Um. God’s not interested with you impressing him with who you are. God already knows everything that’s in your heart, and he still loves you. And the way that I know that is he gave his life for you. And to believe something different will play itself out in a means that can destroy your relationship with the Lord. You may struggle with embracing it, but. But acknowledging the truthfulness of it becomes crucial to your walk with God. But nonetheless, this is what the brothers do. And then you see how Joseph responds. Right, Joseph? In the second half of verse 17, he says, Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold, we are your servants. And Joseph’s reaction? I really appreciate here it’s one of of brokenness, right? Because at any moment he could have just gotten tired of his brothers.
He could have been like, you know what? You’re right. I’m sick of you people. You keep doing things that irritate me, right? And just he can just lose his live. They gave him all kinds of excuses in the world. And he could have he could have reacted in that. But instead he wept. And sometimes people would get to the story and they’re thinking, well, why would Joseph weep? What led him to to do that? And I think there’s there’s a few reasons that Joseph is weeping in this story is one, he realizes his brothers are reverting back to their old way. They have this lack of trust in Joseph, and because of that, Joseph knew. He knows what that has led to in the past that led to this distance between he and his brothers. They eventually become angry in that fear towards him, and they sell him into slavery. And yet, no matter how consistent Joseph’s been in his character, here they are back at that position again. They’re struggling in their relationship with him, much like the way that we might struggle in our walk with God. And so the question we need to ask is, what do we do about it? We’ll look at that in a minute. But they’re struggling. So he’s weeping because here they are reverting back to their their old selves that he he encountered some 20 plus years ago. And secondly, I think he’s weeping also because they think the content of who he is as a man was simply based upon his relationship with with his earthly father, Jacob, that the only reason they were preserved is because, well, Joseph was trying to save face with his father.
But now that his father is gone, now they’re worried about what’s going to happen to him. Is that just simply all that that protected us from you? But I think Joseph’s weeping here because they realize his brothers haven’t really gotten to know him fully. And one of the things we’ve seen play out with Joseph’s life over and over again is that it didn’t matter whether he was the most powerful person in Egypt or whether he was the lowest person in Egypt, a slave in prison to, you know, second in command under Pharaoh. He always remained consistent with who he was because he knew who he was before the Lord. And so I think Joseph is weeping one for his brothers in their brokenness, but two, because the lack of trust his brothers have to him, because he he’s a man of of deeper character than just the the temporal of the circumstances. His hope is, is based on something deeper in this world. And so when the brothers doubted Joseph’s consistent character in his word, they began questioning his love and therefore saw no future because love and hope are connected to one another. In fact, Warren Wiersbe says it like this when you doubt God’s Word, you soon begin to question God’s love, and then you give up all hope for the future because faith, hope and love go together.
And so Joseph weeps in this story because of bad belief. But. But then Joseph does something incredible again. He’s very compassionate and gracious towards his brothers. Joseph reassures them. And you see this in the beginning of verse 19, and you see this in the end of verse 21. Look at this. He says, But Joseph said to them, look, do not fear. And rather he’s calling them into confidence in what they have because of who he is and what he’s given them. The same thing is true with you in the Lord. And when it comes to your relationship with the Lord and your future, your future, you should have confidence as secure, not because of who you are, but because of who he is, which we’ll talk about more in a minute. But fear is that is that way of thinking that can play reach such havoc in our walk with God that it creates this distance of enjoying his his presence wherever we go? Do not fear. In verse 21 he says it again, do not fear. I have provided for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. I mean, this is kind of where we we go as human beings when we we don’t know that the our core is taken care of.
You know, we don’t have the the basic essentials of life. We can panic and we can’t focus on anything else because, well, we need to know that we’re secure. But but this is what Joseph is saying is no, no, no, because of the character of who I am that’s being taken care of for for you, I it’s based on me. I will provide for you and your little ones. And thus he comforted them And the reality of your walk with God is the same when you rest in God. That way you don’t have to carry the anxiety of, you know, all the what ifs because you know who you belong to and you know the the desires for your life. But the question I think we should ask is, how does Joseph get to this place where where he’s able to comfort his brothers, though they gave him excuse after excuse to to turn his back on them. Um, you know, when you think about the brothers, you know, related to fallen humanity, they saw Joseph as an obstacle to a better life, right? We need to get rid of him. Our own autonomy. This is what we want. This will make us happy. He’s standing in our way. We know better. And they toss their brother aside, thinking his absence will produce that better life for them. But instead, what they discover is guilt and shame.
They walk for decades with with guilt and shame, and they thought by doing what they wanted, they would get their father to love them more. But rather, what happened is their father spirals in this place of despair and depression, and they didn’t get more attention from their father. What they got was less. And so it brought them to this, this place of continued brokenness. And eventually they’re forgiven and reconciled to their brother. But they still struggle. They still struggle. But Joseph, in the story, he represents Christ. He was he was given authority to rule. But but he was betrayed by his brothers. He was wrongly accused and thrown in prison and in prison. You have that story of of the baker and cupbearer, which I find interesting. They’re sharing about Joseph, but it’s it’s very indicative of the life of Christ. You think in the final moments of Christ’s life when he’s being accused, he takes the bread and he breaks it and he has the cup and he says, this is the new covenant of of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me. And I think that that cup bearer and the and the baker become this foreshadowing of ultimately who Jesus would be. And Joseph was thought to to be dead, but rather he was found alive and not only alive, he was ruling and reigning in Egypt, and he forgave those who wronged him, the brothers who deserved to be punished.
They received new life and new position, and he continues throughout their life to be patient with his brothers despite their their poor behaviour towards him. And God took all of the bad and he turned it into something unimaginably glorious, something far greater than they could even comprehend. And many lives were spared. And so the question is, how do we get that to that place, like Joseph, that circumstances do not dictate who I am, but rather than live in my autonomy, my life is surrendered to him. On point number two in your notes is this good theology brings healing. Good theology brings healing. And we we could clarify this a little bit better and just say good theology believed brings healing. Because just because it’s good theology doesn’t mean you’re going to believe it. Right? But but good theology brings healing. It said in another way, right thinking leads to right living. And so what? What led Joseph to be able to do this, that again and again, his brothers, they they fall again and again. His brothers, they they struggle. What led Joseph to respond this way? And let me give you a letter A under your notes, Joseph knew the person of God. Joseph knew the person of God. He learned who who God was. Knowing God, God acts out of his his grace. And so Joseph, because he knew the person of God, it gave him some confidence that I’ll build on here.
But Joseph knew the person of God, and that dictated what he did in this world. Not his family, not his circumstances. Those things certainly gave him excuses. But ultimately he knew his life was created for more. And he discovered that in knowing who God was and knowing who God was, it led to the steps that that he took. And you see Joseph start to communicate this in a rhetorical question to his brothers. His brothers are worried. Are you? Oh, now that dad’s gone running that buffer for us, what are you going to do to us? And Joseph says this. Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? What Joseph is saying to his brothers, without specifically diving into it, is, look, I’ve learned something about who God is, and that’s what is leading me to respond the way that I am in this moment, not having father here, but the one that’s led my path, rather is the Lord. For I am in the play, or am I in the place of God? He’s saying, I’ve learned some things about the Lord, and if I just if I just shared with us just a couple of thoughts that Joseph is really declaring to us through, through this rhetorical question is one, he’s acknowledging that it’s not his right to step in and react to his brothers. You can’t dictate what what other people are going to do.
Well, maybe sometimes if you’re a boss, but but it’s not a good place in life to try to to to lord over people to determine the steps that they should take. But and Joseph’s saying, look, that’s that’s not my job. I am not sovereign God. And not only that, he’s acknowledging, look, I’m not omniscient. I don’t know everything. I don’t know what’s in your heart. I don’t necessarily know what’s best for the trajectory of your future, but I know who does. And rather than me be the determiner of that, well, Joseph is saying, is I would rather trust it in his hands because he’s better at it than I am. What Joseph has learned is there’s a couple ways that you can live in life. You can walk anxiously as if everything depends on you, and all of it rests on your shoulders as if you were God. Sovereign, omniscient. Or you can recognize that there’s one who is, and he is far better at it than we are, that it’s not ours to bear on our shoulders, but rather it’s it’s his. If I want to walk in a broken world in a way that is healthy, the way Joseph is here, it’s got to start with knowing who God is. God? Who are you? You know, if you were thinking or considering about your own life and realizing you were created not for yourself, but for him, you know? What kind of questions would you want God to answer in order to understand his nature, to be able to trust in him? What is it about God that you need to know? And Joseph asked this rhetorical question here, but if I were just to toss out a few to you.
What about this? Are you good? And if there is a God who created me for a reason, I think one of the first things we want to know is, is this God a good God or not? And in Mark chapter ten he says this. Not only does it declare to us that God is good, but declares to us that God is the only one who’s good. It says, no one is good, but one that is God. So he’s saying, look, you can trust in a lot of different things, but all those things are going to disappoint you at some point because, well, those things aren’t good. In fact, there’s only one thing that will remain consistent. And and that’s because he is good and that person is God. Or in Exodus 34, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, abounding in goodness and truth. God, are you good? And it says in this verse, he is abounding in goodness. Uh, well, it’s it’s one thing to know that God is good, but related to that, then if we’re to follow him, how about this? Does God care about me? How do I know that that goodness transpires to the intimacy of who I am? How do I not know that you know God’s God’s verses are for everyone else? And when he birthed me, he’s like, that guy is the exception, right? How do I know that that’s not it’s not me.
Well, Psalm 34, verse 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Or in first Peter five seven cast all your cares or anxieties on him because he cares for you. God. God cares about your life. I mean, that’s ultimately demonstrated through the cross of Christ that God in Genesis, you see, didn’t give up on us. He gives the prophetic statement all the way in Genesis three that he will come and redeem us. And we see that demonstrated through the cross that God did pursue us, that God gave his life for you. You see the intimacy of his care for your heart and for mine. And this isn’t the only two verses in Scripture that say this. This is repeated over and over again, because this is a constant struggle for us as human beings to to embrace God this way, to to know that he is good and to know that he cares. In addition to that, how powerful is God? Because if he’s good and he cares, that’s great. But if he doesn’t have the power to deliver it, I don’t care. I don’t want to put my trust in something that can’t fulfill what he states.
And so how do I know that God can fulfill what he promises will? In Colossians one, I’ll just read the bottom one here it says, For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And so he’s saying in this verse, both the physical and spiritual world, Christ created it all for his own purposes, his own glory, and he’s the one that holds it all together. It’s his authority, his power. So when you look at his goodness and his care for us, we can also walk in the confidence of the powerfulness of of who God is. And not only that, when we think about our relationship with the Lord, I want to know that God is is a forgiving God and not just once, that that is just the state of his character that he he will forgive. Because I know I’m not going to live perfect from here. I think a couple of verses that help us in that in Romans eight, there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And what does that look like? There is no condemnation for those in Christ. Well, Hebrews 1014, one of my favorite passages when it comes to God’s forgiveness in the Bible it says, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
So through one act on the cross, he is perfected for all time. Those of us who are called together in him. And here’s what it’s saying. This idea of perfected is a word that talks about your past, present, and future. There is one sacrifice. Jesus has perfected all of you throughout the the course of time. Your past is covered, your future is secure, and right now you have the hope of relationship with him because of what Christ has done. It’s not about Jesus did this for you to save you. Now the rest is up to you. It’s about recognizing Jesus holds you in his salvation all the time. You’re constantly being sanctified. You’re constantly being set apart for God not because of what you do, but because of what he’s done for you. Jesus holds you secure in him. Now, this is not saying because of that. Then since you’re secure in Jesus, let’s go live like hell, right? That’s not that’s not what it’s trying to communicate to us at all. But it’s demonstrating the love of God over your life that when the father sees you, he sees the perfection of Christ all over you. It’s not because of what you’ve done, but it’s because of what Christ has done on your behalf. He is a forgiving God.
And not only that, when you think about what else can you know about the Lord? Um, maybe we could ask the question Will his his plans change? Right. Well, we’ll I’ll start trusting this and he rip out the rug from under me. Well, in Malachi it tells you plainly the Lord does not change. Hebrews chapter 13 says this he God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? I mean, it’s acknowledging this verse, difficult things will happen in this, this world, but the Lord will always be constant. The Lord will always be there. Jesus Christ, it goes on and says is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be led by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be straight and by strengthened by grace. So he’s acknowledging this verse. There’s going to be lots of false beliefs that can destroy your soul, and you can embrace those. But rather than listen to that, constantly reorient yourself to the truth of who he is. And when it comes to the the the life of Joseph. This is this is where his journey found confidence, no matter the circumstance he was in. He asked the question, for I am in the. Am I in the place of God? Meaning he knew the person of God.
Um. With that, though, it’s also important not to just rest in what God says, but also to see it play out in what God does. God, do you back it up? I mean, you know, as a human being, our hearts can become jaded by people who overpromise and under-deliver. They might say one thing to you, but not not fulfill it. And related to that, then number or excuse me, letter B in your notes. Joe Joseph trusted in the purpose of God. He learned who God is and could trust what God did. So not only does he know know the person, he also comes to learn his purpose in learning about the character of God. He through that sees the desire and plan of God. Where’s God leading all of this? What is what is his heart for us? And John 1010 Jesus said it plainly like this the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. And Jesus is for our our abundant life. You know, sometimes when it comes to trusting in God that way, um, sometimes we want to have a perspective of how it’s going to work out. Right? Like, um, sometimes when you’re going through hard things to just endure in those hard things, we want to know, how is this going to work out, Lord, if I’m faithful to you. One of the things I love about living in Utah is the privilege.
Opportunity we have to be able to enjoy the outdoors and hike and, you know, climb to the top of mountains and do your William Wallace thing at the top, like your Braveheart or all of those things. But I remember the first time I hiked Mount Timpanogos and I was I did not do much reading before I left. I just knew where the trail was. I probably should have read before I began the journey that it was, you know, depending on which trailhead you went was anywhere from 13 to 15 miles. So I started on this thing, and I remember looking up and seeing the top of what I thought was the mountain. And then I got there and realized, oh, false peak. Right. And you’re like, okay, there’s the new top. I’ll get there. And you walk to that top. And that happens multiple times before you get to the top of temp. And then when you finally get to the top, you get to look back at a beautiful aerial shot. And when you have an aerial shot of anywhere in our of our state, it helps you have this, this beautiful outlook of how everything fits together right, how how the rivers and creeks and and terrain just all fits together to formulate everything you just walk through. When you’re in it. It’s hard to see it, but when you get up above it, you can just see the beauty of how all of it transpired.
And you know, sometimes I think with with following the Lord, we we have this, this desire to be in control. We want to know how it’s all going to play out. But truth be told, we can’t manage in our finite minds how it’s going to be played out. We we think, I think for us as human beings, we couldn’t even bear the weight of understanding how our own personal lives will completely play out. In fact, I think if God were to reveal for you the beginning of your life to the end of your life, and you were to see all the roads that you were going to walk, it would become so overwhelming that it would just crush you and incapacitate you from being able to move forward. But but rather than understanding that sometimes we want that understanding. Right? But, but there are certain situations where if you have the understanding, it’s not necessarily going to be helpful. And what I mean is, um, when it comes to the Lord, we know where the end is and we know who holds the end. But what the Bible calls us to is to trust him for the strength through the journey. You know, if you hand me a pair of blueprints today, um, that would be cool to see, you know, what structure was going to be built. But if you left that up to me, um, we might be watching lots of YouTube videos and spending the next 40 years trying to do the best we could at trying to orchestrate whatever that is.
Um, but but rather if, if you, if you ever go to build something in this world, one of the things you definitely want is to find the best general contractor you can find. You can, you can afford. Right. And if money’s not an option, you just go get the best you can because you you want the best of what can be delivered in that plan. And when you go to find that general contractor, a couple of things you want to know what kind of person are you? Can I trust you and what kind of quality work do you do? And if you can discover those two things, you can entrust those plans into that master builder. And in fact, in Hebrews chapter 11, verse ten, talking about Abraham and his faith journey, he it says to us in Hebrews 11 verse ten that Abraham was looking for a city whose designer and builder was God. One one who knew what needed to be built, and one that was going to complete the construction of that process. The question is whether or not you can trust him. Do you know him, and have you seen the quality of his work? I mean, Genesis 50 for us is communicating the quality of his work so that we as people, as we come to know the truth of what he says about who he is, we can entrust ourselves to him because we see his faithfulness despite our lack of it.
And so if we want to, we want to be a healthy, have healthy living. Good theology brings healing because it leads us to a place of understanding who God is, and it leads us to this place of understanding what God does. In Genesis 50, verse 20 becomes that that thesis statement that puts all of Genesis in perspective when when Joseph says it like this. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. And I love this because he’s acknowledging where evil comes from sometimes. Sometimes we as people might ask the question, well, how can God be good an evil world? Well, he’s saying in this verse that God is good and human beings we do evil. But but through that, he’s learned to discover the faithful hand of God. And Joseph is saying, look, um, God, God’s not helping me through this despite my suffering. God’s not helping me through this after my suffering. Rather, I’m learning the strength of God through the struggle of life, that God is always consistent, that this world indeed is broken. But one day God’s going to reconcile and heal all of it. And I’ve seen his handiwork, and I know who he is, and I’ve learned it’s far better to trust in him than in the circumstance, in my moment, to let that dictate the kind of person I’m becoming.
So rather than react to my brothers, rather than react in prison, rather than react when I’m sold in slavery, I act in faith to the Lord. And the results? Joseph has the opportunity to to experience and to push a little further ahead. So let me give you let me give you the third letter C under the second point there. Joseph experienced the redemption of God. Joseph experienced the redemption of God. Trusting in what God says and what God does brings us to this place. And and Joseph says it in verse 20 at the very end he says his purpose and working all things together for good was to bring it about, that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Joseph is saying, look, because of God’s faithfulness, he’s even pointing this to his brothers. God’s determined who I am. And look how we’ve seen the faithful hand of God. He’s rescued people. And he says in a way that makes it sound like that this rescue isn’t the last rescue, but rather God’s going to continue to rescue. Look at this. That many people should be kept alive as they are today. So he’s saying today is just an example of the greater rescuing that God wants to do. And if you remember anything about Joseph’s life, Joseph was put into position in Egypt to lead Egypt through a time of famine, and because of that, many lives were spared.
In fact, I would say it like this through God working through Joseph, that that it started the story started with Joseph’s life being redeemed. His his character was redeemed when he was challenged. His position in life was redeemed. His relationship with God has certainly been that way. But not just him, his his family, his brothers. Because of the graciousness of God being made known in their life, they were spared through this famine. And not just his brothers. People in the land of Egypt were spared and surrounding countries are spared. But not just that, this becomes an ultimate picture of God’s heart towards all of us. That God’s desire is to redeem us from this broken world. And here’s the result of Joseph’s life because he’s learned to trust in this. God is the sweetness of grace made known. The sweetness of God’s grace is made known because he is secure in the Lord. Rich Christian theology works itself out in incredible sacrificial love, and this is who Joseph was able to be because he wasn’t concerned with the things of this world. It’s as if Joseph was saying, look, rip all my wealth away, but my true wealth is in the Lord. Take all my power and position away. But my true power and position is in the Lord. Threaten my life, but my life is secure in the Lord.
God will work it out for good. I may not get the the mountaintop view yet, but I know the master builder and I know what he desires to do. And because of that, I know I can trust in him for the results. I’ll close with this final story here because I just got a couple of minutes. But on the right of your screen is a man by the name of Ernest Gordon. Ernest Gordon passed away last couple of decades, but 96 years old. He passed away. He was the dean of the chapel at Princeton University. But what’s interesting also is that the guy on the right is also Ernest Gordon. But just a few years earlier. Right. Um, Ernest Gordon, he was Scottish. He served in World War Two when he went into battle. He was not a Christian. While he was in war, he was captured by the Japanese, and he was thrown into a prison camp with thousands of other prisoners. And during his time in the prison camp, they, the soldiers, treated the prisoners horribly. In fact, it was so bad to survive. The prisoners turned on each other and were fighting each other just to to stay alive. And while he was in this prison camp, this prison camp was sentenced to build a railroad on the river of Kauai. And as they were building this railroad at the height of the building of this railroad, it was said for every mile that they built, 500 men passed away.
In fact, if I were to show you a picture, just just kind of the state that they were in, these men were in a terrible state in this as prisoners of war as they were at this camp. And while they’re building this, this train track along the river, uh, Ernest Gordon contracted diphtheria. And because so many people were dying at the time, especially from diphtheria, they just left him for dead. But while he was left there to his own demise, there were some people within the prison camp that came to his aid, and they loved on him, and they cared for him and they ministered to him and he recovered. I mean, he got so bad at one point, he even wrote his farewell letter to his family, thinking he was never going to return home after he recovered. Shortly after he recovered, he noticed one of the men that so graciously cared for him passed away, and when Ernest Gordon asked why he passed away, the response was that he gave his food to you so that you would survive, and the man literally starved to death. And one of the things that shook Ernest Gordon about that man and the individuals that cared for them is Ernest Gordon learned that they were they were Christians. This this experience with Christians in this prison camp happened to him multiple times.
There was another instance where on a work with his work crew for the day, they came back to the prison camp and they turned in all their shovels. And when the soldiers counted the shovels, they counted, and there was one shovel missing. And so the soldiers brought the prisoners before, before them, and they demanded that the thief turn in the shovel, and no one said anything. And finally the soldier said, if you all don’t turn in the shovel, I’m going to kill all of you as a consequence. And finally, one of the soldiers stepped forward and he he he took the blame. He said he was the one that stole the shovel. And that soldier picked up a shovel, and he beat the man until he died. And Ernest Gordon knew the man, that he was a follower of Christ, and that that man wasn’t the one that took the shovel that he had. He had just given up his life for for the well-being of the others. In fact, the next day, when they went back out to labor on the railroads, they counted the shovels before they left, and they recognized that actually all the shovels were there, that the soldiers had miscounted, and the man had tragically lost his life because of it. This experience with Christians happened over and over, and it impacted Ernest and his friends, his his work crew. So much so that didn’t know the Lord that they asked Ernest.
They said to Ernest, Ernest, you, you are the most trained individual among our group. Will you lead us in reading the Bible together? And the story goes that one by one they began to give their life to Christ, including Ernest. And Ernest remarked in those days that the the conditions in the prison camp didn’t change, but their outlook of the circumstances certainly did. And from that day forward, they were able to move forward as men with joy in their hearts. What men meant for evil, God meant for good. How do you live a healthy life in a broken world? It’s not because we’re looking to ourselves, but it’s looking to the one who is greater, who created us for his purpose. To know him. Not just know him, but to know his ways and in so doing, experiencing his redemption. He asked this morning, well, where is that for us? I’m glad Joseph had that. But where is that for us? And the answer is very plain. In Christianity it’s the cross of Christ. A God who gave up everything to take on flesh, to give his life, that you may find freedom in him. He didn’t deserve it. You didn’t earn it. But in coming to know that God and experiencing that grace, it gives us the hope of eternity.