God Makes Good Out of Evil

by

God took the evil deeds of Joseph’s brothers and used them for his greater plan of providing salvation from the famine.  In the same way, God used the evil injustice of those who put his son, Jesus, on the cross to bring about his master plan of providing salvation from sin and death.

Here are some of my notes from this weeks’ Gospel Project study:

  1. Just like Joseph, Jesus would be betrayed for silver, rejected by his brothers, arrested unjustly, judged by another nation, forgotten by those he helped, stripped of his robe, innocent of crimes of which he was accused, and reckoned to be dead only to rise again to authority.
  2. None of the magicians could interpret because they failed to rely upon God (Gen. 41:8).
  3. In a moment when Joseph could have shined his light, he turned the attention upon God (Gen. 41:16).
  4. Joseph is leveraging his position to introduce the greatest ruler to the greatest God (Gen. 41:25).
  5. In Gen. 41:39 lies the glorious paradox!
  6. Joseph’s children were “made to forget” and “made fruitful” (Gen. 41:51-52).
  7. Judah offered himself as a sacrifice for the sake of his father (Gen. 44:30).  Guess who is the Lion of Judah (Gen. 49:9-10; Matt. 1:2).
  8. Joseph was content with playing his part of suffering for the benefit of others (Gen. 45:5).
  9. What a commissioning (Gen. 45:8)!
  10. God kept his covenant through the suffering of an innocent.
  11. Joseph still honors his father so that he longs to hear his approval (Gen. 45:13).
  12. Resurrection brings revival (Gen. 45:27).
  13. Harboring bitterness reveals a lack of faith in the justice of God.
  14. God is the avenger.
  15. Only God can bring good out of evil.
  16. Joseph accepted his role of suffering to play for God’s renown and the benefit of others.
  17. The situation simply didn’t turn into good – God made it good.
  18. Genesis begins with life and intimacy in paradise, but it ends with death and exile in a borrowed tomb outside the promised land.