Joseph forgives His Family (4/9/16 Vision Recast: Families Restored #1)

ATTN: I’m so glad that the children could join us on this very first service at this new location. We are going to have a family service once a month where the children get to worship with their parents since much can be learned by modeling. I will try my best to cater this message to everyone but I’m sure I’ll fail at some point, so you pray for me… How many of you know Joseph’s story in the Bible? How many brothers did he have? 11!  Twelve boys total. I would hate to see their grocery bill… but there are adults who forget the story of Joseph, so let me retell the joseph’s story. And as I do that, you children can draw what i’m saying or color, okay?

So, Joseph’s story is in the very first book of the Bible, in Genesis. He was the 11th son of a man named Jacob whose name changed to Israel, which is the same as modern Israel. Joseph was favored by his father and because of that, his brothers got jealous of him and hated him. That should teach us parents not to favor one child over the other… so, b/c Joseph’s brothers were jealous, they sold Joseph as a slave to some foreigners, and then they lied to their father saying that Joseph was killed by a wild animal! Isn’t that really mean? How would you like it if your big brother got mad b/c you have more video games than he does and he took you to port of tacoma and put you on a big ship that was headed for Japan so that you will never see mommy and daddy ever again? But that’s what Joseph’s brothers did! So, Joseph was forced to go to a country called Egypt and there he worked as a slave. A slave is someone who cooks, cleans, farms, – basically what your mom does for you – except he was forced to do it rather than out of love like your parents. But Joseph didn’t complain and worked hard, and the owner of the house, liked him very much and put him in charge of other slaves. But something bad happened. Joseph was accused of doing something wrong – he was accused of stealing something or someone very important to the owner of the house – even though he really didn’t. So, he goes to jail. Again, how would you like if you were working really hard on your test, but your friend cheats off you but he gets caught and he accuses you of cheating and so you get detention even though you didn’t do anything wrong? Not fair! But life is not fair. So, Joseph goes to jail. But even in jail, he doesn’t complain and he works hard. And soon, the prison ward puts him in charge of the prison too.

Joseph stays in prison for at least 2 years. And 13 years since he has come to Egypt as a slave. You gotta think he must’ve thought, “God, are you there? Why is this happening to me?” Well, a breakthrough! God finally uses an event to get him out of prison, and that is the king of egypt, Pharoah, had a dream and no one could figure out what his dream meant. Back then people believed dreams mean something and so the king really wanted to know what his dream meant. But no one knew how except Joseph! So, Joseph was called out of prison and he interprets the dream for Pharaoh because God gave him wisdom to do that. Pharaoh was so impressed that he makes him a very high person and puts him in charge of entire egypt! Wow, now he is the second richest man in Egypt after the king and he can have all the video games or lego friends, or that shiny new sports car you always dreamed. And one day, his 11 brothers from home come to visit Egypt. But they didn’t know that Joseph is in Egypt and they definitely didn’t know that Joseph was the 2nd highest man in Egypt! But, after some time, Joseph finally tells them who he really is – that he is their brother Joseph, that they sold into slavery many years ago! How do you think the brothers felt? Happy? Or scared? Scared! B/c remember how mean and cruel they were to him before. But how does Joseph treat them? He asks them to move their whole families to Egypt and there he will give them houses, and food, and clothes and will take care of them! Even though the brothers were mean, Joseph was very kind to them. And this is what he said, “you intended to harm me but God intended it for good!” Gen 50:20

From this story, I’m going to make one truth statement and the give two reasons as to why.

The statement: God lets bad things happen to those who love Him. Why? 1. To mold and shape us. 2. To help us see Jesus more clearly. .

1. God lets bad things happen in our lives.

Now, there are some adults who believe that if they are good and do good, then only good things will happen to them. But we just found out that that was not true of Joseph. As far as we know, Joseph hasn’t done anything wrong and yet bad things kept on happening to him – first he became a slave, and then he went to prison! In other words, Joseph was not being punished for what he has done when bad things were happening to him. God was using these circumstances to really mold and shape him to fit the task that he would give him later.

Adults, it’s not always that because we have done something wrong, God disciplines us. I know when something bad happens to us, our first instinct is, “Have I done something wrong? Is God punishing me for what I have done wrong?” Well, you could’ve done everything right and yet God will still discipline you by letting suffering come your way. Heb. 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” Jesus learned obedience? I thought He was always obedient? Yes He was. To quote John Piper: It means he moved from one degree of obedience to another as he grew. He is learning at each stage the actual implementation of his obedient heart in acts of obedience. His suffering brought him a greater understanding of what it means to obey His Father. See, God’s hand of discipline may be on us not simply to spank us because we have been bad, but to stretch us and broaden us in what we are doing well. . . .

And if God treated his son Jesus that way, how much more us? John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

He will sometimes let us lose our job, fail a test after studying so hard for it, or let us fall and break our leg for no apparent reason so that we can’t play basketball no more…  

You may think, “Okey then, even if we do good, bad things happen to us, then why should we do good?” Here’s why…

1. Why? Why did God let Joseph have a hard time?

Because bad things help shape and mold us to do the task we can’t handle on our own strength. Look at the verse again. Why did God make Joseph suffer? Gen 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

You see, it wasn’t just for Joseph’s good that Joseph went through a hard time. God was molding and shaping him to do something he could never do on his own strength – to save many people. He could never save people from starving to death, but through his bad experiences God was guiding Joseph to the position to save many people. God’s way has always been one person suffers for many to benefit. Have you realized this? This was true of moses. True of prophets. True of David – after a victory with goliath, he fled for his life. And true of Jesus – it is better that one man suffers than many, the high priest said…

So, if you want to be used of God, then prepare to suffer. If you’ve ever prayed, “God, use me anyway you want. Let me be a vessel for you..” what may come is suffering… “Well, I don’t want to suffer! And if suffering is the only way to serve God, then I’m not sure I want to serve God…”  Here why you should serve anyway: Because God gives us the grace to handle it and increase your joy even in the midst of suffering. ILL: It’s like you getting up every morning at 6 am to working on your basketball moves, or ballet moves, and it hurts your muscles and makes you tired, but you get better at it and it makes you feel good that you can do things you couldn’t before!

The Apostle Paul prayed that God will remove his disability but each time God answers back, “My grace is sufficient for you.” In other words, the answer is ‘no’ b/c that suffering is actually good for you and making you better, and not only for you, but for those around you!

III. Jesus is the ultimate point.

But Joseph’s story is not ultimately in the bible to give us a good example to follow. Just persevere and good things will happen – that’s not a unique biblical message. The unique message of the Bible is that the conclusion is always Jesus. His story like all other stories to be a preview of what Jesus would ultimately do for us. Think about how similar Joseph’s story is with Jesus’ story. They were both betrayed by the people closest to them. They both suffered even though they were good. They both were accused falsely. They were both used to save many people at their own cost – but Jesus especially b/c he died on the cross to save others. And they were both elevated to the highest position… joseph to prime minister, and jesus regaining his glory as the 2nd person of the trinity.

Joseph’s story is ultimately to lead us to Jesus who died to save us. Jesus is the better Joseph. So, what is the lesson? The lesson is for us to become like Joseph and ultimately like Jesus. But how? By mustering up our will power and moral fortitude? No. But by recognizing that we were like Joseph’s brothers. We were like Joseph’s brothers who were jealous, hateful, lying, uncaring and selfish, but Joseph was good to them and made them live with him in egypt providing everything they needed. So, does Jesus. When we come to him, admitting our sins, then he will forgive us and let us live with him in heaven.

So, just like the brothers did to joseph, we bow at the feet of jesus, turn from our selfishness, and turn to Jesus and receive his provision of eternal life with him with humility and gratitude and living the rest of our lives to make god look good in our lives – to show that even when hardships come, when unemployment comes, etc, that we rejoice because Jesus is ours.