Transcription by CastingWords

Amen and Amen.

It is a blessing to see you this morning in person, in person.

I can't tell you how hard and how difficult it has been for the last many weeks to come in here and preach to an empty room.

I would concentrate on the fire alarm system back there, that red box back there,

and I would pretend that one red box was the only person here, and I would try to look at that one red box.

And so many times that red box would have to get up and go to the bathroom 15 times,

and that red box began to yawn, and it was just like a regular Sunday morning service.

And so this is the time in our service where we have everybody stand up and hug each other and greet each other.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Right?

Virtual hugs. Virtual hugs.

It is a blessing to see you guys this morning.

And welcome to those of you who are watching live stream.

I think our live stream is working, isn't it? Yes? Amen. Amen.

Hey, this coming Saturday, I know it's an outdoor wedding and you're not invited if you haven't received an invitation already,

but I just want you to be able to celebrate with Jim and Cheyenne.

Jim and Cheyenne, we're still doing it Saturday, right?

We have a wedding taking place on Saturday. Yes. Yes.

So if you can keep your six feet of distance and give them any words of wisdom for the days ahead

or talk them out of it, whichever comes first.

I'm just kidding. Just kidding.

You can approach them today.

Today, we're also going to be celebrating Channing Berquist's birthday.

Yeah? Yeah?

What number is this, Channing?

Ten.

How many of you remember being ten?

Double digits.

Yeah, double digits.

Say what?

Going on 15.

Going on 15.

Yeah, I know, right?

That's why she did the ten and rolled her eyes at me.

Ten.

Yeah, I'm with you.

Yeah.

So, hey, we'll do it virtually and we'll do it here.

Let's all sing happy birthday to Channing this morning.

Is that good?

Chuck, you want to start us off?

Go.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

That's right.

That's right.

Steve and Shannon's anniversary.

Hey, you guys need to talk to them, okay, after this is over.

Shannon didn't even have to look at what Steve was doing.

She knew.

She's like, whatever.

Yeah.

Happy anniversary, though.

In all seriousness, happy anniversary.

Let's open with a word of prayer.

Father, we just come before you in the name of Jesus.

We just praise you and thank you for the communion of saints.

We thank you for allowing us to get together and to open your word.

We pray that your word would come alive to us today and would impact our lives in a supernatural way.

Father, we give thanks and praise for your great love and your mercy.

And we ask that your Holy Spirit would have his way in this place today and everywhere that our voices reach today.

Thank you for the worship team who leads us into your presence.

And thank you for your Holy Spirit that sustains us.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

It is kind of fitting that we have our first Sunday back together and we are going to finish the book of Genesis this morning.

How about that?

How about that?

Yeah.

Well, this has been over a two year journey as we have done an expository look and expository study of the book of Genesis.

You got we've taken a few breaks along the way to do a couple of small series and a Christmas series and some odds and ends.

But it's crazy that a little over two years we are now going to finish the book of Genesis.

This is crazy, isn't it?

And so it's exciting as well, too.

And so I made a promise to foster that I would not go into Exodus next and cover all the plagues that begin to happen in the book of Exodus.

How fitting that might be.

But we're not we're not going to do that at this time.

But we get to chapter 50.

The in today's sermon is tied his entire.

So it's just finally 50 finally 50 and it has nothing to do with the past.

The the the the meat of the the scripture at all it has everything to do with we're finally at chapter 50 and

We finished up last week in chapter 49 and in chapter 49 we have we see where Jacob is on his deathbed.

And he calls all his sons together and to speak a blessing over them. But it's not just a blessing

He kind of tells them what's going to happen in their lives. Some of it's some good stuff. A lot of it's some not good stuff as well

And so we understand that within the sons Reuben had preeminence meaning Reuben was first born and he should have gotten all the inheritance, right?

He should have been the preeminent one

But we understand that as all the brothers were alive, it was actually Joseph that has preeminence

Joseph was the favored son Joseph was the one that got the the mac daddy coat and all the spread special privileges and everything and his brothers hated him for that

So Joseph was the one that had preeminence while all the brothers were alive now going forward

Jacob's going to speak over the sons and it won't be Joseph that has preeminence if you remember who has preeminence now

Judah

Judah will have preeminence and it's very interesting as all this takes place as judah has will be given preeminence

And he's he is being told that there's language in there that's used by jacob over judah

That is that is kingly language

It's different than any other language that's been spoken before and we're told that judah is a lion's cub

And we know that jesus will come from the line of judah and jesus will be known as the lion of judah one of his many names

So we see all of this and some of the language as we read it because we have the entire new testament

We read some of it and some of that language becomes very familiar to us

And we can look at it and say ah I see the new testament unfolding in this there's messianic language in all of this

So all of this comes together. This is why we have studied

Genesis painstakingly for over two years because everything flows from this we'll talk about that this morning

Everything biblically comes from genesis. This is such a foundational book for us in so many different ways

And so we begin chapter 50

verse 1

Then joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him and joseph command this is after this is after I

I should have said this as well jacob has died and the passage ends

It says as well and was gathered to his people at the end of at the end of verse 49 and that gathered to his people

If you missed it our our broadcast in our sermon last week that speaks of afterlife that speaks of of a resurrected life

He has gathered to his people and I don't want to backtrack too much in this

But again, jesus kind of ties the two together

If you remember when jesus is brought in there and the sadducees are trying to trick jesus because they know that jesus believes in the resurrected life

And the sadducees don't believe in the resurrected life and they give jesus this this crazy

Hypothetical situation

They say hey look there was this brother who married this woman and and he died

And so his other brothers tried to marry her to have offspring on behalf of the brother, which was the custom

But there's seven different brothers and they all die marries him

He dies marries him somewhere along the line one of the brothers would have said I ain't marrying her

You know something in this woman is is killing everybody off and so I ain't marrying her

But it's a hypothetical situation, but they're trying to trick him and they say to jesus

So so in the afterlife whose wife is she?

And jesus answers just perfectly he says you are ignorant

He tells the sadducees you are ignorant of the scriptures and the power of god

And he goes on to talk a little bit in that and he says he says do you have you not read that the scriptures say

I

Am the god of the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob not I was

But I am it's present tense

That means that that abraham isaac and jacob have to be alive this day and in the presence of god

And that can only mean one thing they have been resurrected

So there again showing the resurrection power in there

So it ends he he dies he breathes his last breath

and uh

Again chapter 50 verse 1 then joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him and joseph commanded his servants

the physicians to embalm his father

So the egyptians embalmed israel

That's not all of israel. That's just jacob's name. Just so you know that that would take them a long time

Anyway, that's a joke in case you're paying attention 40 days were required for it

for that was uh, how many days are required for embalming and the egyptians wept over him 70

Days we'll get that in a second and when the days of weeping for him were passed joseph spoke to the household of

then i will return and pharaoh answered go up and bury your father as he made you swear so they they mourn for him 70 days two and a half months that's that's a long that's a long period to mourn long long funeral service and um and i don't know if you knew this or not but whenever a pharaoh died it was mandatory that you had to mourn for 72 days so he's given he's given this thing is two days just shy of a pharaoh just shy of a

pharaoh and when you think about it he's given the highest state possible to anybody except for a pharaoh because of the relationship and the love that pharaoh has for joseph and when you when you think about it you know when not joseph yeah for joseph but when you think about jacob's life and when he was running around in padan aram trying to find a wife running from his uncle laban and all this other stuff i mean do you ever think he would get to a point where he has this big grand funeral i mean that was his life back then and his chaos total

chaos but look at all this all that's brought together for this funeral you ever think i'm not trying to be morbid but you ever think about your funeral what it would be like what who who's going to show up what are they going to say i mean you really won't care because you'd be gone just just so you know but um but you know it's it's interesting it's interesting when you when you think about this but but they embalm him because that's what the egyptians do and if you were a pharaoh though at this point you'd be placed into this

limestone uh sarcophagus okay or you'd be put into a a pyramid and so uh and you can actually they actually have in the british museum they have and they put a gold mask over your face if you were a pharaoh and they have that king tut if you go to the british museum i've never been there but i've seen pictures king tut has been mummified okay and he still he still has his hair he still has his teeth and there's still skin on him they have that gold he looks terrible

he looks pretty terrible okay but if you went there you could you could see king tut that was there and then and they have also they have the pharaoh that they say was there that was the pharaoh that looked into moses eyes and said i will not let your people go now that's kind of interesting you know so if you were to go to haran you could probably dig up jacob and you would still find his hair and his teeth and his skin he'd look bad but he'd be mummified but i would suggest that you get permission from the state if you ever go there and try to try to dig him

up though but so they dig him up and they embalm in verse 7 so joseph went up to bury his father with him and all the servants of pharaoh the elders of his household and when it says all the servants of pharaoh that's not saying that every single servant he had and every single elder that's just showing that there's a there's a strong representation that's been sent okay um don't take it to mean every single one out the door okay as well as uh as the household um of joseph his brothers and his father's household

only the children their flocks and the herds were left in the land of goshen and there went up with him both chariots and horsemen it was a very great company and so you have all these representatives of the great families of egypt all the dynastic families of egypt going up to bury jacob and you have to understand this is an amazing picture most of the people when they read genesis they don't have this picture in mind when you read genesis okay and it becomes more graphic

and a little more clear and a little more clear as we read through this chapter but this is not an entourage this great entourage of canaanites going back to bury a patriarch that's not what this is it is a massive entourage of egyptians a massive entourage of egyptians okay accompanying these canaanites to bury their patriarch and so and it mentions in here that the he sends chariots

and horsemen and horsemen in here why why does he do that well first of all for protection you have to understand there's still a famine going on you have all these people going out there this this uh big entourage going out there they would have lots of goods and money and so somebody's got to protect him so he sends this um this uh military entourage pharaoh provides this to go with him but it also tells us how much that pharaoh loves and respects joseph as well too

that he sends all this with him but there's also one other thing that's that's more implicit than explicit okay in this passage pharaoh wanted to make sure that joseph came back

this is my breath this is my breath

Pharaoh's government on one hand at acting out of respect they didn't really know Jacob but they're acting out of respect but also he's making sure that he's got people on the ground and they're going with him but it becomes more interesting as well to verse 10 when they came to the threshing floor of a tod which is beyond the Jordan they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation and he made mourning for his father seven days when the inhabitants of the land the Canaanites saw the morning on

on the threshing floor of a tithe they said this is grievous this is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians therefore the place was named Abel Mizoram which is beyond the Jordan Abel Mizoram that Mizoram is the ancient name ancient title for the nation of Egypt okay Abel Mizoram means the mourning of Egypt okay just so you know in translation but anyway you have these Canaanites

they're witnessing all this they're witnessing all this of the land they're witnessing what's taking place and they don't understand

they don't understand anything that is tied to an Abrahamic covenant identity whatsoever they just see a group of Egyptians a massive group of Egyptians and they've come to do this do this burial

we pick it up in verse 12 thus his sons did for him as he commanded them for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre which Abraham bought with the field from Ephraim the Hittite to possess as a burying place after he had buried his father Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father

so Joseph's responsibility to Jacob is accomplished he has done what his dad asked him to do and then there's the return to Egypt they all go back and again place this within the flow of the biblical narrative and the unfolding of the covenantal promises here okay remember that the land okay Canaan is essentially tied to the promise

it's the land that is essentially tied to the promise the land that God himself had shown to Abraham they said that the land that will be flowing with milk and honey right the land that he told Abraham would belong to you and your descendants as an inheritance and that land that God told Abraham that we'll read later on in scripture that all the nations will come to seek the glory of God in this land listen right now they're back in that land

they're back in that land right now they've gone back for this funeral but now they go back to Egypt they head back to Egypt and chapter 50 helps us to understand that there is more going to be required to witness the unfolding and the fulfillment of the covenant promises there's still more to come there's still more required and at this point right here the last chapter of Genesis really accelerates

verse 15 verse 15 when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him

so they sent a message to Joseph saying your father gave this command before he died say to Joseph please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you

and now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father Joseph wept when they spoke to him

you know when people read the book of Genesis

they probably do not look at the they probably don't see that this book is over laden with emotion

tremendous emotion and the motion becomes more tangible here and it does with Joseph you know here you see the brothers

they are they are wondering if Joseph's kindness to them was merely out of respect to their dad

they begin to think man dad's gone could we be in for it now it could this be the end of us you know

and so they they they have just seen the fulfillment of Joseph's covenant to his father Jacob and the urgent

question now is is he going to kill us is he going to take our life and and also this is the first time

that that that the brothers of Joseph have admitted that

Jacob may very well never have known what his sons plotted and did to his son and there's no explanation that were given that all this was fully explained to him as as as as how Joseph was still alive but it's clear that the brothers fear Joseph now it's clear that they fear him and it says right there and now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father now they make it theological

you know they're they're throwing they're throwing the God card on the table hoping that's going to save their life you know and how many how many times we see people do that in life you know well I'll throw the God card on me maybe they'll let me go let me get off of this thing you know free you know it's got free but they make it they make it theological they declare themselves to be servants now the servants of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and it says that Joseph wept when he spoke to them you know

um male male male male male male weeping in the Bible whenever shows us that there's male weeping in the Bible is a weeping of tremendous grief it's not just out there it's the angst of the soul when the Bible talks about any when any male weeps it's grievous and and um and so Joseph maybe maybe a little wounded in all of this but he is um unspoken

unspeakably grieved by the plea that his brothers make and they go on to say in verse 18 his brothers came also and fell down before him and said behold we are your servants now when it says that he fell they fell down and bowed down to him this is not a bowing like the first time when they first came into his presence and they bowed down to bring into fruition the dreams the realization the dreams that Joseph had that all the all these sheaves would bow down before him and when all those dreams came into fruition

this is not the same thing okay this this bowing down is a bowing down as if dead as if they feel vanquished we we're dead basically we know we should be dead that's what this this bowing down this falling down is

but Joseph said to them do not fear for am I in the place of God as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good to bring it bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today so do not fear I will provide for you and your little ones thus he comforted them and spoke kindly

only to them this is real important because Joseph here acts as a patriarch okay he is he is functioning as a patriarch of the covenant in the in this in this in this this this function here and you mean when you look at the patriarchs of Israel you may only have Abraham Isaac and Jacob but you cannot have the continuation of the story without Joseph this he's so important he's so vital okay

and he says in here as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good and this introduces the logic that is essential to understand in the entire flow of biblical history this is so important guys the idea that God uses evil plots of sinful human beings to fulfill his own covenant promises

Jesus wow he uses our evil to accomplish his good that's the sovereignty of God it unfolds it for us right here and it's it's it's made explicit in this text and it's a principle that we see played out all of through scripture all of through the Bible and the in the whole drama of redemption redemption okay the ultimate you meant you meant it for evil but God meant it for good would

be said in different words in different words in different words okay in different words of Judas okay you meant it for evil but God meant it for good it could be said of Pilate you meant it for evil but God meant it for good it could be said of the crowd in Jerusalem it could be said of the soldiers who crucified Jesus Christ as for you you meant it evil against me but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today and so yes the descendants of Israel are kept in

understanding the foreshadowing of the Old Testament to the New Testament Christ's salvation will not only be for Israel as Paul says of first to the Jews but also to the Greeks then to the Gentiles and so this is the logic in this logic is so essential in understanding the entire New Testament to understand the crucifixion and the passion of Jesus Christ this is so vital okay

and Joseph says do not fear do not fear I mean how many times in the Bible do we have to be told not to fear I mean they say there's what 365 times 364 times that the Bible says fear not or do not fear it says God gives us one for every day of the week right you know do not fear but this fear is a natural response

of sinful human beings of sinful human beings to feel fear if we're really honest it's a natural response because there is every reason to believe that we live in a world of danger that we live in a world of turmoil turmoil today do we not there is every reason to believe that and there's every reason to believe that God has a controversy with us he has a controversy with us because he is holy

and he is righteous and he is righteous and he is righteous and he is righteous and we have every reason to believe that left in terms of our own sin left in terms of our own guilt left in terms of our own iniquity we have every reason to fear but God in Christ but God in Christ comes to us in mercy and this is what

Joseph is foreshadowing and this is what Joseph is foreshadowing here the mercy of God that is extended to each of us who call upon the name Jesus don't miss this okay but God in mercy in anticipation of what he will do for us in Christ he extends mercy to us and so Joseph says to his brothers do not fear I will provide for you and your little ones thus he comforted

comforted them and spoke kindly to them and spoke kindly to them and to just read this is just to severely under read the scripture and what's happening here okay remember there was a point in time when his brothers hated him so much they despised him to the point where the scripture says they couldn't even speak to him that's a strong hatred if you hate your brother so much that I'm done with you some of us

Joseph had family relations that we've had family relations that we've had to we've had to do that with but you understand the severity of it but it but it tells us that that then when Joseph comes and reveals himself to his brothers after a period of time it says the scripture says then they were able to they had a conversation with each other they spoke to each other but now Joseph speaks kindly to them he's in the he's the one in a position of power here

Joseph is Joseph is Joseph is but he speaks kindly to them and in those verses you have the personal and the practical theology of Joseph right there that is God is sovereign and God is providential and it doesn't matter what happens no matter what happens in my life I'm not going to turn away from God

I'm not going to turn away from God I'm not going to turn away from God I'm not going to turn away from God I still believe in the overruling providential and sovereign will of God in my life when all this stuff happens to me Joseph reveals that I still believe in the providential sovereign God

Joseph always lived his life that way didn't he and he says to his brothers man don't be bummed out I don't hate you I love you

and I even love you I'm going to take care of you I'm going to provide for you he speaks kindly to them let's wrap this up so Joseph remained in Egypt he and his father's house I say let's wrap this up but I have two other things sorry about that just want to not get off the edge of your seats and Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation

then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here so Joseph died being 110 years old they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt so Joseph doesn't act ask for a promise like Jacob did to be taken back to Canaan instead he declares his confidence that we're going to go back

he doesn't ask for it we're all going back we're all going back to Canaan one day trust me on this Joseph is saying verse 24 again and Joseph said to his brother I'm about to die but God will visit you and you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob

so when that happens he makes them swear something very different and he expects that this is going to be a long time after he is dead

but it's interesting here but it says that they put Joseph in a coffin in a coffin the word there if you translate it is an ark and so they put Joseph in an ark they put the son of the covenant in an ark interesting isn't it in an ark and part of the literary structure here that takes place in these last chapters it demonstrates

and actually throughout all of Joseph's life to be honest with you all throughout his life that he is a man Joseph is a man faithful to a law that has not yet been given verbally

he has been faithful to a law that has not been revealed with Potiphar's wife he would not commit adultery

he would not commit adultery with his brothers he will not commit a murder

okay he will not covet he will not covet and throughout his whole whole life he demonstrates

an obedience to a law that has not yet been given

it's a foreshadowing of the life we are to live under the law

but it will be given in the very next book okay the very next book

which which this chapter is a transition for this very next book it sets it all up

but there is yet no tablet of law okay

there is no mountain shaking with fire and there is yet no ark of the covenant

for the for the children of Israel right now but there is an ark

there is an ark and the ark right now holds the embodied the embalmed body of Joseph in there okay

and that ark is is ready to be taken back to the land of Canaan to the land of promise

and Joseph is going to be buried in that land and that will point to a very different ark

to a very different ark that will be central to the importance of the life of Israel

Israel and as we conclude our study in the book of Genesis

there is so much in here and and I was going to do next week as a recap from all this

but I think we have had had our fill of Genesis in some in some ways

but it is a reminder that the study of Genesis is never limited to the book of Genesis

you you need to see that a study of the Old Testament for any Christian is never limited to just to just a study of the Old Testament

and even as we come to the to the end of Genesis and the end of Joseph

actually we are driven back to Acts chapter 7 turn with me there real quickly this morning

as we wrap this up this morning in Acts chapter 7

in Acts 7 we are reminded of Stephen's witness as he is about to become the first martyr of the Christian church

okay and Stephen in some ways helps us understand the grand story of of creation fall redemption and consummation

the four great movements within the book of Genesis okay in particular uh showing looking at how the patriarchs

um looking at uh the patriarchs in the events of the Old Testament all of them rightly point to Jesus Christ

all right um this is Stephen's defense this is the defense that Stephen gives

he's about ready to be martyred for his faith okay

and he says this beginning in verse 9 of Acts 7

and the patriarchs jealous of Joseph sold him into Egypt

pay attention to the language in there

but God was with him and rescued him out of his affliction and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh the king of Egypt

who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household

now

and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his kindred, 75 persons in all.

And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died.

He and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem

and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver

from the sons of Hamor and Shechem.

But as the time of promise drew near, which God granted to Abraham,

the people increased and multiplied in Egypt

until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.

Now, it's interesting vocabulary here.

When Stephen is on trial for his life,

and expecting to be killed by those who are the fathers of Israel in his generation,

okay, these are all the people who are leading right now,

he goes back to the brothers of Joseph, and notice what he calls them.

He calls them patriarchs.

Interesting.

He doesn't mean patriarch in the sense of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, okay?

He's pointing to a patriarchal tradition that goes back to the sons of Jacob here,

to the sons of Israel, and he says,

Our fathers did this.

Our fathers did this.

He says, Our fathers sold Joseph into slavery.

Our fathers plotted murder against Joseph, and they sold Joseph into slavery.

Our fathers did that.

Now, keep that in mind, because where's Stephen heading with all of this?

And so, because where he's heading, he's going to say that the fathers killed, all right?

Skip over to verse 51 in the same chapter of Acts 7.

You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears.

You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you.

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one,

whom you have now betrayed and murdered.

You, who received the law as delivered by angels, and did not keep it.

So here we have Stephen, who's a follower and a disciple of Jesus Christ,

centuries later being martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ.

He's pointing back to the Old Testament.

In a very particular way, he's pointing back to Joseph.

And he's saying that the treachery that you guys are now demonstrating against him,

he says that treachery is a small matter,

and this is the treachery that you actually demonstrated against Jesus Christ.

Which of the prophets did your fathers not kill?

So the story of Joseph points to the story of Jesus Christ.

And his brothers, what his brothers plotted against Joseph is what we did to Christ,

is what he's saying in this passage.

The murder that they plotted against Joseph was a murder that was actually carried out

against the very Son of God.

And so when we read Genesis, it's important that we understand that this is the grounding

for the entire biblical story, Genesis is.

It's also the grounding for our entire biblical worldview.

It's the grounding for it.

And then when we get to Hebrews chapter 11, we talk about faith,

and we're told that faith is that which pleases God,

and faith begins by understanding that there is a God and he created the world.

That's the first principle, and that's where we began in Genesis 1,

that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, right?

And so if you don't understand that,

and you think about the contemporary headlines that we have now

and the collision of all the worldviews that we have right now,

it all goes back to whether or not you believe that.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

That statement affirms that God is.

God is.

And that he created the world.

And everything flows from there.

Everything flows from there.

But in Genesis, when you think about, again,

the four major movements of biblical theology,

creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, or new creation, okay?

It's, they're all there in Genesis,

but they're not all fulfilled in Genesis.

Important for us to understand.

I mean, creation is there.

The fall is there in chapter 3, okay?

And without Genesis, we wouldn't understand the reality of sin.

Redemption from the pit that Joseph gets. And we also have the promise of redemption. You know, the covenant promises made to Abraham that through you and your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. But consummation is also here as well. The promises given to Abraham are promises that cannot be fully fulfilled until God himself brings about the kingdom of Christ. That's when everything is fulfilled.

And even in the covenant promises given to Abraham. And even in the covenant promises given to Abraham, they cannot be ultimately fulfilled until the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, when we come to the end of the book of Genesis, we've really only come to the beginning of the story of the Bible. It's just the beginning.

But in one sense, it's all here. It's all here as fact, and it's all here as promise.

Yes. And the book of Genesis, it closes with a great verse in there that says, God will, Joseph says, God will surely visit you.

God will surely visit you. And he's saying, he's saying to the Israelites, to his brothers at that time, you're going to leave this place.

You're going to leave this place. You're going to leave this place. And someone is going to deliver you.

That's going to be Moses. But ultimately, our deliverer is coming. Yeshua. That deliverer will be Jesus.

It's a foreshadowing of all these things. God will surely visit you. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us.

He will visit you. I pray that you believe that this morning. I pray that you believe that with everything in me.

I pray that you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, his son.

And, you know, we made the, we made the, we made the, we made the point a couple of weeks ago that the fulcrum of all this really, it comes down to the point of whether, you know, we all, we all, we're created in the image of God because we have a soul.

Every one of us have a soul. And our soul will live eternally. Everyone. You know, people say, well, do you want eternal life?

Well, you, no, no, you got eternal life because everyone is made in the image of God.

But not everyone is a child of God. And you become a child of God by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

That's how you become a child of God. And so what John talks about is that eternal life comes by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

That ensures that your eternal life will be with your created within whom you are made in his image, repenting of your sins, turning around and trusting in that.

And so that's the question that really bears before us this morning.

And God's made it easy for us. He's made it easy. It didn't, it didn't come without a price. Don't get me wrong.

It came with a price, but that price has already been paid for you and I to be able to stand before a holy and righteous God one day because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

And as the worship team comes up this morning, I'm going to try to keep my six feet from them.

But I want to give you this challenge as we close this morning.

Because I know each and every one of you are sitting there on the edge of your seats and I know you're watching from your TVs at home and you're, you're, um, at your wits in and you're like, well, where are we going next as a church?

What are we going to study next? I promise it's not Exodus. Okay.

And those of you who wanted Exodus, talk to Foster. Okay. I'm just, just kidding, Foster.

Um, but hear me on this.

This is, this is what I, this is what I hope you, you gain from this.

Two and a half years ago, I really felt led that God was leading me to push and for us to study a certain passage of scripture.

And I felt affirmed by that.

And I communicated that to the elder body and they, they were all understood and they were, yes, amen.

So we have gone through

The book of Genesis

Because we believe that Genesis

Is very foundational to everything else

That flows from that

And when you have a good grad

You can go back on our website

You can look at maybe you missed messages

Everything is there

Every jot and every tittle

We have studied through the book of Genesis

It's very foundational

It's very foundational

And now I see

I'm just being transparent with you this morning

Now I see why God had me do this

To lead to this

Because it makes perfect sense

That as we go through the structure

And the foundation

And the biblical world

The theology

And the foundational principles

Of all the covenants

And everything within Genesis

It makes sense

That we would now go to God

And tell God

Increase my faith

That you would strengthen my faith

I understand where it comes

In the beginning

God created

If you can believe

That God created

The heavens and the earth

Genesis 1-1

Then everything else in the Bible

Should be an easy thing

To grab a hold of

What else would be harder

That a God who knows no time

Who had nothing to start with

And just

You believe that?

Then

But I got a problem

With this thing

That he created a miracle

What?

You got a problem with that?

When you believe that

In the beginning

In the beginning

God

Who created God

No

In the beginning

God

So

We are going to begin

To embark

Next week

We'll take a few breaks

Here and there

As the Holy Spirit leads us

But we are leaving

Genesis

Because in the beginning

God created

The heavens and the earth

And this has been

A heart's desire of mine

To walk with our fellowship

And we'll

We'll take as long as it needs

We're going straight into

In the beginning

The beginning was the word

And the word was with God

And the word was God

He was in the beginning

With God

And all things were made

Through him

And without him

Was not anything made

That was made

In him was life

And the life

Was the light of men

And the light shines

In the darkness

And the darkness

Has not overcome it

It doesn't say

That the darkness

Did not

No the darkness

Has not overcome it

Many of you

Many of us

Are facing

A lot of darkness

Right now

A lot of

Unsettled questions

A lot of things

Going on in our life

And I think

We're at a point

Where we need

To be encouraged

We need to be

Encouraged in our faith

We need to be

Encouraged in the value

Of being connected

With one another

What it really means

To love one another

And to be in relationship

With one another

Many of us

Don't even know

Who our neighbor is

And I'm not

Talking literal

I'm just saying

Our neighbor

People

Having a connection

With people

And this whole

COVID thing

Has just given us

Even a

In some ways

In some ways

Just more of a reason

To stiff arm

I'm all about

Being safe

I'm not safe

The pastor said

No I did not

No I did not

But there are

Hurting people

In this community

Right now

There are hurting

Families in this

Community right now

And if the strength

Of our faith

Cannot bridge

Some of those

Hurts

And make connections

And point to the

Lord Jesus Christ

Then we are not

The church

We're not the church

There was a man

Sent from God

Whose name

Was John

He came as a

Witness to bear

To bear witness

About the light

That we might

Believe through him

That we might

Believe through him

But he was not

The light

But he came to

Bear witness

About the light

The true light

Which gives light

To everyone

Everyone

Was coming

Into the world

He was in the world

And the world

The world

Was made through him

Yet the world

Did not know him

He came to his own

And his own people

Did not receive him

But to all

Who did receive him

Who believed

In his name

He gave the right

To become

Children of God

Who were born

Not of the blood

Nor the will

Of the flesh

Nor the will

Of man

But of God

There's Jacob

It's how the scripture reads And the word Became flesh And dwelt among us And we have seen His glory The glory Of the only Son of the Father Full of grace And truth It's gonna be so much fun Studying John with you I pray you come along with us I pray you come along with us What another long series We're in church people

We're in church There are plenty of places You can go And get minuets And little sausage biscuits Throwing at you On Sunday mornings And I'm not throwing anybody Under the bus I'm saying We're gonna study John That's all I'm saying Come with me Come with us Father we just come before you In the name of Jesus And we thank you For the book of Genesis We thank you Lord How it all points To the sovereign Son

The preeminent Son The preeminent Son Jesus of Nazareth And it's in His name That we trust And it's in His name That we give thanks And praise this morning And all God's people Say together Let's stand Let's stand

Let's stand Let's stand Let's stand Let's stand

Let's stand Let's stand Let's stand Let's stand