God's Big Picture: Genesis 37-47
Notes
Transcript
CIT: The story of Joseph gives us a clear example of what a life marked by faithin God’s sovereignty looks like.
CIT: The story of Joseph gives us a clear example of what a life marked by faithin God’s sovereignty looks like.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to faithful living.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to endurance in suffering.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a proper perspective in success
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a forgiving attitude.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to faithful living (Gen. 37-39)
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to faithful living (Gen. 37-39)
Jospeh trusted that God was calling him to be a leader, and that he must act like one
Gen. 37
Joseph’s visions showed that God was calling him to be a leader, but Joseph was arrogant with that at first. His initial reaction is a “what not to do” in leadership, the rest of his life is a “what to do” in leadership
Judah fell short of faithful living
Gen. 38
Judah’s sexual immorality, therefore unfaithfulness, is a contrast to Joseph’s sexual morality, therefore faithfulness, in the next chapter.
Joseph remained faithful to his master and to God
Gen. 39
Josephs consistent faithfulness to his master is evidence of his consistent faithfulness to God
The decisions we make to live faithfully or not reflect if we have faith in God or not
Eph. 5:1-5
What decisions are you making? With your friends? By yourself? In what you watch, listen do, say, and do. Do your actions reflect the faith in Christ you proclaim?
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to endurance in suffering (Gen. 40)
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to endurance in suffering (Gen. 40)
Even though Joseph had done nothing wrong he was thrown into prison
Gen. 39
Joseph’s faith in God’s sovereignty led him to being faithful even in prison
Gen. 39:21-40:23
God had destined for Joseph to become successful in this prison.
And Joseph trusted that this was part of God’s plan so he remained faithful to act how he should act as a follower of YHWH.
Even in times of suffering we can trust that God is still sovereign
Job 1:21
Job recognized that God can give all that he wants and can take all that he wants, we can trust that even the worst parts of our lives are part of God’s plan
Matthew 26:38-39
Jesus is dreading the cross, the worst thing that would ever happen to him. But he trusted that this was part of God’s sovereign plan.
God uses our sufferings to make us stronger Christians
James 1:2-4
These times of suffering make us stronger believers.
Just like in working out, strength doesn’t come from doing nothing and having an easy time if you walk in the gym. True strength comes from heavy weight that breaks your muscles down to build them back stronger.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a proper perspective in success (Gen. 41)
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a proper perspective in success (Gen. 41)
Joseph succeeds greatly under Pharaoh
Gen. 41
Joseph becomes 2nd in command over all of Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world at the time.
Joseph gave God all the credit for his success
Gen. 41:50-52
Joseph’s children’s names reflect that he recognizes the work that God has wrought in his life.
When we are in times of success we must recognize that it is God who grants success
Job 1:21
Looking back at the story of Job, even though Job had everything ripped away from him, he knew that it was God who gave him those very things in the beginning.
So when we are on a mountain top experience in life, we must recognize that God in his sovereignty has places us there in order that we may have a thankful perspective of all the things that God has given us in this life.
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a forgiving attitude (Ge. 42-47)
Faith in God’s sovereignty leads to a forgiving attitude (Ge. 42-47)
Joseph’s brothers were cruel, manipulative, and abusive to him.
Gen. 37
Instead of retaliating or ignoring them, Joseph forgave and reconciled with them
Gen. 45:4-15
Joseph’s compassion towards his brothers reflects his understanding of God’s compassion towards him.
God has forgiven our sins, therefore we must forgive and reconcile with others
Eph. 4:32
Our culture has adopted this idea that forgiving your wrongdoers is not necessary, and this is a lie. My brother had a brain injury caused by a doctor messing up, lying, then messing up some more. My brother has refused to forgive him. And it has caused the bitterness that he has towards that doctor to overflow into many of his other relationship. Because unforgiveness is like a wound that is never cleaned and covered, it gets infected and spreads a disease throughout your entire body. It destroys relationships, it destroys community, and it destroys our faith. Why? Because unforgiveness is rooted in an unbelief that God can and will forgive our sins in Christ. But Scripture tells a different story, Scripture tells us that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Scripture tells us that God, in his sovereignty chose to forgive sinners by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ, that he grants us success to make us thankful but that he also grants us suffering to make us stronger, and that he calls us to live faithfully in his Kingdom. So, tonight I pray that your faith is not in your own power and might, but that it is rooted so deeply in Christ’s work that you can’t help but be a faithful, thankful, enduring, and forgiving Christian.