A Greater Story - Sermon for Highview Baptist

A Greater Story

Hope for Tomorrow, Trust for Today

Question: What do you do when the pieces don't look like the picture? When the process doesn't look like the promise?

Illust: Legos. I was helping my son this week on putting together a Lego truck. Hundreds of little tiny pieces all coming together to form a cool little truck. We could look at the picture and see what it was going to be, but throughout the process it looked like a mess! It didn’t make any sense, and there’s no way I could have done it alone! We could have been overwhelmed by the picture and all the work that needed to be done and never even started.

But what happens when you’re only given a bag of pieces and some simple instructions. You see, maybe it's in pieces on purpose.

Big Idea: God is in control of the big picture and He is working things out for the good to those that love Him. There is a bigger picture happening in your life. A greater story that is bigger than anything you could possibly imagine. Trust God with the pieces.

The challenges you are facing today are only preparation for where God is taking you tomorrow. Don't miss it! He is in control and you can trust Him.

Passage: Genesis 50:15-20 (Say it 3x)

Pray: (Pause 3-5 seconds)

Background: Quick Recap of Joseph’s life…

Joseph was the favored son of his father Jacob. Now Joseph’s brothers hated him. His dad gave him a fancy coat which fueled the brothers’ hate toward their brother. And one day Joseph told them a dream where they would all bow down at his feet. This was the last straw. His brothers conspired to kill him, but eventually sold him into slavery.

While in Egypt he gained favor with Potiphar, the captain of the guards, and he was put in charge of Potiphar’s whole household (Genesis 39:4). Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of trying to rape her and he was thrown into the prison, where the warden put him in charge of the prisoners (Genesis 39:22). While in prison Joseph interprets the dreams of a cupbearer and a baker. The dreams come true and the baker dies and the cupbearer lives and is reinstated to his position.

The cupbearer eventually remembers Joseph when Pharaoh starts having dreams. Joseph is brought before Pharaoh and he properly interprets his dreams. He tells Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine in the land. Pharaoh is so impressed with Joseph that he makes him second in command over all Egypt.

This is where we finished last week in the story.

Now let’s continue on in the story of Joseph.

3 Main Points:

1. Glorious Providence (Genesis 45:4-8)

   1. Gained favor with Pharaoh (second in command). God has positioned Joseph in a unique and powerful position to preserve the life of his family and ultimately the lineage of Abraham.
   2. The ups and down, highs and lows, and constant changes in Joseph’s story were not a matter of happenstance. These weren’t situations of bad luck and good luck. He wasn’t living through a series of random actions and decisions that led him to his destiny. Joseph was caught in the glorious providence of God.
   3. Illust: loggerhead turtle. Large turtle. After having a baby was disoriented after having a baby. Needed a detour back to the water. Flip over and hook her up.
   4. Providence is described as the “protective care of God” or “timely preparation for future eventualities.” We started and concluded with the passage in Genesis 45:5 when Joseph says that “God sent me here.” It was not the brothers who were in control, it was not the dad that set the scene, it was not the Midianites that purchased him, it was God.
   5. Life happens, seasons are hard, trials are inevitable, but God is bigger, God has a plan, and God is always at work.
   6. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

2. Generous Provision (Genesis 45:17-20)

   1. Illust: Woman shouting “Praise the Lord”

      1. “Each morning, a woman walked to her front gate and shouted, "Praise the Lord!" And each time the atheist next door would yell back, "There is no Lord!" One day she prayed, "Lord, I'm hungry. Please send me some food." The following morning, she discovered a big bag of groceries on her front porch. "Praise the Lord," she shouted. Suddenly, her neighbor jumped from behind a bush. "I told you there was no Lord," he said. "I bought those groceries for you." "Praise the Lord!" the woman said. "He not only sent me groceries, He made the devil pay for them."

         2. God takes the sins of the destroyers and turns it around and makes it the means of their salvation. Is this not true even in our own lives?
         3. It was my sin that Jesus bore on the Cross for my salvation. I did nothing to deserve it, yet He lavishes His grace on me.
         4. You see, God’s plans are not dictated by people’s actions. He is in control over all.
         5. Illust: His hand is bigger than mine.

      2. “A young boy went to the local store with his mother. The shop owner, a kindly man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. Uncharacteristically, the boy held back. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him. When outside, the boy’s mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy and wouldn’t take a handful of suckers when offered. The boy replied, “Because his hand is much bigger than mine!””

         6. Often times we want to take control and get as much as we can. Cling to what we have. Grab whatever we can get. When God wants us to surrender it all. Palms up. His hands are bigger. His provisions are greater. He is a generous God.
         7. We know this from the cross. He gave us the greatest gift, most generous provision when He sent His Son to die on a cross for our sins!

3. Greater Purpose (Genesis 49:8-10)

   1. Question: Where is Jesus in all of this?
   2. The story of Joseph does give hope in times of suffering, but it's so much more than that. The story of Joseph is of a faithful man that preserved the way for the coming of the Messiah. But not in the way you might have thought.
   3. God had chosen Judah to be the ancestor of Israel’s line of kings. This is what the passage is saying when it says “the scepter shall not depart from Judah.” The brother that sold Joseph into slavery and defrauded his brother is the chosen one? This may have been a result of Judah’s character change in Genesis 44:33-34.
   4. Judah’s line would produce the coming Messiah, Jesus.
   5. We too are living in a time where the Messiah will come again. Where we still face various trials, temptations, and defeats. But let us not miss God’s precious intentionality in our lives. He is showing His love to us in our sufferings, some of us just can’t see it yet.

   6. Greater story at play (If… he never…)

      1. This chain is from David Guzik’s Enduring Word commentary on Genesis 37.
      2. · If Joseph’s brothers never sell him to the Midianites, then Joseph never goes to Egypt.
      3. · If Joseph never goes to Egypt, he never is sold to Potiphar.
      4. · If he is never sold to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape.
      5. · If Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape, then he is never put in prison.
      6. · If he is never put in prison, he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh.
      7. · If he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he never interprets their dreams.
      8. · If he never interprets their dreams, he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
      9. · If he never gets to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, he never is made prime minister.
      10. · If he is never made prime minister, he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region.
      11. · If he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region, then his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine.
      12. · If his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine, the Messiah can’t come forth from a dead family.
      13. · If the Messiah can’t come forth, then Jesus never came.
      14. · If Jesus never came, you are dead in your sins and without hope in this world.

Back to the Big Idea: The challenges you are facing today are only preparation for where God is taking you tomorrow. Don't miss it! He is sovereign. He is in control and you can trust Him.

In the pit, prison, and palace Joseph trusted God and showed extraordinary character in the face of many trials and temptations. God was with Joseph and was preparing him for something greater than he could imagine. All along He had a plan for Joseph, and the plan was good.

Altar Call/Walking Point:

Question: "Do you believe that the pain and suffering that you are experiencing now God can use for His good?

Years later, after their father died, Joseph was able to say to his brothers “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

God brought good out of the pit, false accusations, being forgotten, and seven years of famine. Joseph believed this because he knew that God was with him. God can overrule people’s evil intentions to bring about his intended result.

The Apostle Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

“But what is God’s purpose? We often quote that verse as a way of hoping that everything will “turn out alright.” But that’s not God’s purpose. His purpose is in the next verse: that those who are in him would be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). God’s biggest purpose in your life isn’t to trade out every bad event for a better one; it’s to conform you to look more like him.” – JD Greear

He is your refuge and your strength, He is a loving Father, trust Him today. Rest in His promises and lean in to His presence.

Will you trust him today? Will you surrender it all for His glory?

Let’s pray.

Illust: Legos. What do you do when the pieces don't look like the picture? When the process doesn't look like the promise? Maybe it's in pieces on purpose. - Steven Furtick

Illust: Shadonkeh Johnson in prison.

Part of experiencing God’s healing for our past involves facing up to the fact that people have sinned against us. It’s just that the discussion doesn’t stop there. God overwrites that evil for his plan and for our good." - JD Greear