I have been reading the amazing story of Joseph and his amazing journey of faith. He was cruelly sold into slavery by his own family, he was accused of attempted rape by his boss's wife and imprisoned and he was forgotten by the cupbearer in prison for two years. And yet he carried with him the promises of God throughout his tough life. At the age of thirty he walks into the public eye and is instrumental in saving mankind from starvation. In Genesis 45 he finally 'fesses up to his brothers that he is Joseph and weeps uncontrollably. The verse that really struck me was verse 5:
"But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me into this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives."
Joseph has not removed their responsibility in them selling him into slavery, but he is saying that God planned it to lead them to their own future salvation. Now that is awesome. God took an extremely evil act of a bunch of jealous brothers and said, "I will use this evil act to ultimately save their lives!"
What is the relevance to us? Well, there was a man who was sold for a bag of coins to be put on trial and unfairly executed. Then when put on trial, a whole city shouted for his immediate death with no evidence of wrong-doing. The man was taken by some ruthless soldiers and whipped to within an inch of his life. He was then made to carry the method of his execution on his bleeding and torn back. Then, there on a hill, he was lifted high on a cross to die an agonising death. He then cries the words that we will never have to cry out if we are found in him:
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
This man, Jesus, is cut off from his Father in heaven because of my sin and your sin. My evil actions and yours, led the King of Glory to death and separation from his amazing Dad in Glory. And yet on the cross he forgave those who killed him and even led a criminal into glory! And what he says to us now is similar to what Joesph to his brothers:
It was God who sent me here to preserve your lives!
To His disciples, Jesus' death was the end of an adventure. To Jesus, it was just the beginning. As the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, so the shroud of sin was torn from top to bottom by the mighty hands of a loving Father. The Holy Spirit became freely available to all who would believe and the glorious church of Jesus exploded onto the pages of history. And that my brothers and sisters is what we are part of today.
What grace and mercy there is in Christ our King. Who would want to be anywhere else but in the presence of our amazing Jesus and our incredible Dad. I could keep writing but I need to stop. God is taking us on an incredible adventure and I am totally clueless to what will happen next...which is probably a good thing!
God bless you all as you read this. Stay in His presence and keep the fire burning.
Neil
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