God's Big Picture: Genesis 48-50

CIT: God’s big picture is that through the suffering of Christ we would receive the blessing of Christ.

Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons

Jacob blesses his sons

Joseph declares God’s good purposes

In Christ we are blessed

We have finally reached the end of the book of Genesis! Tonight what we are going to see is how God has put together so many pieces to bring about redemption through Christ. god has a big picture for his plan of redemption and we’ve just seen the beginning of it, but even in the beginning of it we see threads that will be strung throughout the Bible that are consummated in Christ alone. Tonight we see, in the culmination of Jacob, Joseph, adn the other son’s story, that through the suffering of Christ we would receive the blessing of Christ.

Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons (Gen. 48)

Jacob became sick and about to die, so Joseph brought his children to be blessed by Jacob.

Gen. 48:1-6

Jacob blesses the younger over the older

Gen. 48:14-16

Joseph suffered so that his children may be blessed

Gen. 41:50-52

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, put into prison for a crime he did not commit, and forgotten in prison by the man he freed. But now when Jacob is blessing his children he counts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own in the blessing.

Friends the same is for us in Christ. He suffered on our behalf so that we may be blessed in Him.

Jacob blesses his sons (Gen. 49)

Each of Jacob’s sons get a prophetic blessing

Gen. 49:1-27

Reuben’s, Simeon’s, and Levi’s prophecies are not good due to their sin

Gen 49:3-7

Reuben planned Joseph’s selling and Simeon and Levi murdered an entire city.

Judah get’s the greatest blessing, which is fulfilled in Christ

Gen. 49:8-12

Judah, though he is the fourth son, is counted as the first son because of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi’s sin.

This blessing that Judah gets is fulfilled in Christ

Jesus is praised

Revelation 5:11-12

Jesus destroys his enemies

Revelation 20:7-10

Jesus is called the Lion of Judah

Revelation 5:5

Jesus’ throne is eternal

Revelation 5:13

Everyone will bow before him

Philippians 2:9-10

Joseph declares God’s good purposes (Gen. 50)

After Jacob dies, Joseph’s brothers are scared that they will be punished

Gen. 50:15

Joseph tells them that God brought good out of their evil so that their family could survive

Gen. 50:19-20

God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that they would bless the whole earth and that their descendants would outnumber the stars. God keeps his promise through unconventional means with Joseph.

This also sets up the story of Exodus, much of which is a shadow of what jesus will ultimately accomplish in his life, death, and resurrection.

This verse finds its ultimate meaning in Christ however. That the evil that was intended by the Jews and Romans ended up being used for good by God, that is the salvation of his people was accomplished through the most evil deed in history.

In Christ we are blessed

Because Jesus suffered on our behalf we are saved

1 Corinthians 15:2-4

This is the gospel truth, that Christ died for our sins, met death in his grave, and rose to life again. And by this we are saved.

The blessing for Judah, that was fulfilled in Christ, has been given to us

Romans 8:12-17

Through faith in Christ we are counted as sons and daughters of God. We are adopted into his family. and as sons we receive and inheritance alongside Christ the Son.

God’s good purposes in Jesus’ suffering is that we would be blessed.

John 3:16

Just as we saw a few minutes ago, the most evil deed in all of history, a truly innocent man being crucified, was used by God for the good of many, that is, the salvation of his people.

Friends consider for a moment the benefits of faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith we receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life, a hope for a future blessing, and transformation here on earth. How then are we saved, how do we place our faith in Christ? How may we partake in the blessings of God with Christ?

We place our faith in Christ by confessing that we are sinner deserving of punishment, believe that Jesus died for those sins, rose from the grave, and confess him as King over your life, then Scripture says that you will be saved.

Once you have done that you can truly join in with the song that we saw in Revelation 5. That when the angel asked who is worthy to open the scroll we can sing that Jesus is worthy and that his kingdom is eternal. So let’s take a moment to reflect on all that we have learned in Genesis, take a moment to ask yourself if you have truly placed your faith in Christ alone, and maybe take this time to pray to God and confess faith in him for the first time. Then we will sing together.