God Meant it for Good!

Genesis 50:12-21 

¹² Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them; ¹³ for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Matthew 16:13-20 Peter’s Confession of Christ

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

There was something in both the Old and New Testament readings from the One Year Bible today which really stood out to me. If you are a frequent reader of "nuggets" you will recognize the Matthew 16 text as one of what I believe is a foundational scripture truth for the church today. Jesus says that it is upon the revelation that He is the Christ, the Messiah, upon that revelation that He will build His church. He says that the church built upon that revelation will have authority. Jesus says that the gates of Hell will not overpower the church established on the revelation of Christ. Jesus Himself gives us, to the extent that were are established in Him, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Those keys give us access to all that is there. Jesus says:  "whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” That's why the gates of Hell can not stand against us, we have the authority to bind them and all that enters through them.  We have the authority in Christ to bind up the evil on earth that touches our lives  and to loose the realities of heaven here. The keys to the kingdom are the answer to the prayer, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We need to continue to use the keys He gave us until we fully unlock the door to all of God's promise for us.  

Let's look now at the  Genesis text. I haven't reflected often on the Genesis texts. This text is from near the end of the account of Joseph one of the son's of Israel who had been sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. Joseph's story is a fairly familiar story so I don't want to take the time here to go into detail. Rather, let's look at what we can take from this brief text to apply ro our lives.

After their father Israel died Joseph brothers feared that Joseph would treat them harshly for their actions toward him, selling him into slavery in Egypt. They were obviously still living with the guilt of what they had done. Joseph on the other hand responds to them with these words:

“Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.     God meant it for good. Joseph had changed. The years of hardship had transformed him. Joseph was a living example of the truth of Romans 8:28-29.  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 

That's what happened to Joseph, he became conformed to the image of Christ. He was so conformed to that image, that likeness of Christ, that he is one of what is referred to as an Old Testament type of Christ. One whose life in some way points toward the salvation and redemption of Christ the Messiah. Joseph became a savior and provider to his family, the chosen people of God's promise to Abraham.

What we need to understand about the truth of Romans 8:28-29 which we see here is that it doesn't say that God causes all things. There are many bad and difficult things that happen to us and to others that are not caused by God. God doesn't cause some one to be killed by a drunk driver or to be hurt in other ways at the hands of evil people. God doesn't cause sickness and disease, they are results of the fallen world we live in. What happened in Joseph's life and what we need for our own lives is to fully submit to and become content with the will of God for our lives.   To, regardless of our circumstance, draw closer to God. As we draw near to him we are transformed into His likeness, conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. A critical part of that transforming and becoming conformed to Christ is forgiveness. We need to come to the place where we can like Christ did from the cross, say "Father forgive them."  We have a natural tendency to wait and see how things turn out before we are willing to forgive. The likeness of Christ forgives in the midst of the hurt. I've come to understand, though I am still learning to practice what I know, that the only way I can forgive in the midst of rejection and hurt is to decide to do it in advance. Jesus purpose for coming to earth was to forgive, the forgiveness He declared from the cross was decided in heaven before He was born as a man. When we forgive, when we let go of all anger, bitterness and resentment we can walk fully in the will of God, allowing Him to cause all things, all the good He has caused and all the bad that was allowed, all things then work for our good as we are transformed and conformed into the image or likeness of Christ. When we forgive, we also as Joseph did for his brothers we release others from their own guilt and condemnation. We too, in the likeness of Christ, allow them to walk in the fullness of the redemption and restoration that God intends for them.

Many things happen which we can't explain or understand. Books have been written on the topic of bad things happening to good people. As for me I won't try to reason or explain all of these things. I will simply stand on the truth that I know. God doesn't cause all things. He does though: cause all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose... to become conformed to the image of His Son...

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, may it be to me according to Your word and Your will.   Amen