Grace That Writes the Ending

[Prayer of Illumination]

Father, we come to Your Word this morning not as spectators but as people who need to hear from You. Open our eyes to see what is here. Open our ears to receive it. And open our hearts to trust that what You have written is true, not only for the family of Jacob but for every person in this room. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Word made flesh. Amen.

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Introduction

God's sovereign grace transforms the darkest chapters of our lives into the beginning of His redemptive story, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the true and better Joseph.

Because of sin, we believe our failures, our suffering, and even the sins committed against us have the final word. We struggle to trust that God's grace is greater than our guilt, or that His providence is bigger than our pain.

This morning, we will look at one of the most breathtaking scenes in the entire book of Genesis. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Genesis 45, and we will read through verse 28.

One thing to carry out the door: the risen Savior who revived Jacob’s hope has not changed. The gospel is still, as Paul says in Romans 1, the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

Grace always writes the end. Grace writes the ending so that God's people will enjoy Him forever.

Benediction:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.