Lessons From The School Of Grace Series

LESSONS FROM THE SCHOOL OF GRACE

Genesis 45:1-15

Introduction

This is the moment of truth. Joseph has been working with his brothers. He has brought them to a place of conviction, compassion and confession. He has been testing them to see whether or not they have truly changed their ways. He sees that they have and he reveals himself to them.

This is a tense moment for the brothers of Joseph. Can you imagine the fear they felt as they stood before the brother they wronged and sold as a slave all those years ago? They know who he is and they know that he has the power to send them to prison, or even to their death, if he so chooses. What happens next is a great picture of grace.

The brothers of Joseph have entered the school of grace. They stand before Joseph deserving and expecting judgment, but they receive love and grace instead.

These events have some to teach us as will. I would like for us to examine the lessons of these verses as I try to preach on Lessons from the School of Grace. I would like for you to see The Lesson of Revelation; The Lesson of Reconciliation; and The Lesson of Responsibility.

I. THE LESSON OF REVELATION (vv. 1-4)

A. Joseph knew who his brothers were, but they did not know who he was.

• In their eyes, Joseph is a mighty, mysterious ruler, who holds the power of life and death over them.

• One moment they are standing before the Prime Minister of Egypt, the next moment they are looking into the eyes of the brother they sold as a slave twenty-two years earlier.

o It must have been a strange sensation for those brothers.

B. Here is what I want you to see: Joseph could have kept them in the dark.

• He did not have to reveal his identity to them.

o He could have judged them and made them pay for what they had done.

o No one would have faulted Joseph if he had done just that. Instead of judgment and justice, Joseph chose to deal with his brother on the basis of grace alone.

o He chose to open their eyes and to deliver them from the sentence that hung over their heads.

• Instead of judging them as they deserved, Joseph says, “Come near to me, I pray you…” v. 4.

o That is grace in action.

C. In this choice, Joseph strongly resembles Jesus Christ.

• We have heard it so many times that we should know it by heart, but in our natural born condition, we are separated from God by a sea of sin.

• We are dead to Him, His Word, His Gospel and anything else that has to do with God.

• We are lost and separated from Him, living our lives as we please, with no hope in this life or the life to come.

• We are lost sinners and we deserve to be judged in our sins and sent away in to Hell for eternity.

• But, in His grace, Jesus has chosen to reveal Himself to some of us!

• He comes to where we are in our sins.

• He quickens our dead spirits.

• He shows us our condition and He reminds us of where we are headed.

• He literally opens our spiritual eyes and makes us aware of what we need.

• He points out our sins. Verse 4, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into slavery.”

• Then, He draws us to Himself. He says, “Come unto Me”, Matt. 11:28.

• That is grace!

• It is love too!

• Listen what Joseph says, “I am Joseph your brother…”

• Joseph looks beyond the sins of the past.

• He sees them through the eyes of perfect love and forgiveness.

• Thank God, that is how the Lord sees us.

• He loves us in spite of our sin and our fallen condition.

• He knows what we deserve, but He is determined to give us what we do not deserve.

• Thank God for the grace and the love of God!

D. God would be still be just as holy, just as just, just a right, if He never came to us or called us to come to Him.

• But, praise His name, He has come to us!

• He has opened our eyes!

• He has called us to come to Him!

• He knows what we deserve better than we understand it ourselves, but He does not deal with us on the basis of what we deserve; He deals with on the basis of what we do not deserve.

• He deals with us on the basis of grace, Eph. 2:8-9!