Tuesday 25 January 2011

Saved by the Grace of the Faithful God

Genesis 50 The brothers think that now Jacob is out of the way, Joseph will start dishing out revenge-flavoured gazpacho on them. But Joseph has seen too much of the hand of God on his life and on the world to even entertain any notion of revenge, let alone follow through on it.

So the book finishes with a partial fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham:

  • His descendants have multiplied.
  • His name (household) is revered amongst the nations.
  • He has blessed the nations (through Joseph).
  • He has been blessed by them, being allowed to settle in the land of Goshen.
God, the almighty, has declared his covenant faithfulness to men. In Exodus, he will reveal himself as the one who keeps his covenant faithfulness to them, even when they are faithless.
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Psalm 23 See here for more.
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Matt 10:1-20 Jesus confers his Kingdom authority on his disciples to do what he has done: to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God through Spirit-filled words and deeds. Far from being loved, Jesus tells his disciples that this gracious demonstration will get them into trouble - a lot of trouble, but their Heavenly Father will not leave them.

We all have a choice we can either know peace with the world and the displeasure of God or peace with God and the displeasure of men. There is no middle ground.
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Acts 15:1-21 Many are trying to mix the old Judaism with this new expression of the grace of God, but it will not and cannot work. Circumcision is superseded by baptism because we are no longer looking for the shedding of blood of the offspring, rather we are living in the benefits of the one great sacrifice of Christ - and are revived, cleansed and anointed by the Spirit for works of service. All the shadows cast by the law of the Old Testament have been swallowed up since the Son from Heaven has dawned on our darkness, fulfilling them all.

What an awesome God. :-)

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