Thank you for journeying with me
through the life of Joseph. I hope you have learned as much as I
did and I sincerely hope that you have been inspired by his life as
much as I have. He was truly an extraordinary man. And what made
him so extraordinary was his unfailing trust in God amidst
hardship. He continued to trust in God even though circumstances
were against him. He is truly an example to us all.
That is why I would like to end off
with the similarities between him and Jesus. Jesus was and still is
our ultimate example and it is so interesting to see the
similarities between Joseph and Jesus. I thought of a couple of
similarities myself, but then I came across the most wonderful
similarities on the website: 'the gospelcoalition.com' and I would
like to share it with you here (
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/wonderful-similarities-joseph-jesus/)
:
- He is the object of his father's special love.
- He had promises of divine exaltation.
- He was mocked by his family.
- He was sold for pieces of silver.
- He was stripped of his robe.
- He was delivered up to the Gentiles.
- He was falsely accused.
- He was faithful amid temptation.
- He was thrown into prison.
- He stood before rulers.
- His power was acknowledged by those in authority.
- He saves his rebellious brothers from death when they realize
who he is.
- He is exalted after and through humiliation.
- He embraces God's purpose even though it brings him intense
physical harm.
- He is the instrument God uses at the hands of the Gentiles
to bless his people.
- He welcomes Gentiles to be part of his family.
- He gives hungry people bread.
- People must bow their knee before him.
Wow, isn't it astounding? Eighteen
similarities! It truly just shows us what an amazing person Joseph
was. He was certainly extraordinary in his dealings and the way he
handled himself and continued to trust in God. But of course Jesus
surpassed him in so many ways. Jesus was in a class of His own,
having never sinned and dying a gruesome death for sinners who
certainly didn't deserve it. Jesus also did miracles that we still
talk about daily. He was and still is the Miracle Worker, our
Savior, and King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the One we
should emulate and follow. His life is the perfect example of how
God wants us all to live. Now of course we can only strive to reach
perfection, but day by day we can inch closer and closer to where
God wants us to be. He has recreated our spirit in the likeness of
His Son, Jesus Christ and He wants us to renew our minds so that we
can become like the spirit He has recreated. He wants us to walk in
fullness with Him, covered with the robe of righteousness that
Jesus freely gave us. What a liberating life, what a privileged
life, to live united with God in all His fullness, having eternal
life pulsating through our veins. We are citizens of Heaven
already, part of His Kingdom, part of His flesh and bones. We can
walk in the reality of it now already. All glory on High!
I would like to end off this series
with a piece that I have received from my father a couple of years
ago. I can honestly say I cannot remember where he got it from, but
it is beautiful and fitting as an ending to our series:
"A place in God's creation
order has been reserved for each one of us from the beginning of
cosmic existence. His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to
Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing
creativity of the universe. God is grooming us for leadership. He
is watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does
that through His apprenticeship programme, one that prepares us for
Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us, He is
preparing us for that place."
We love and praise You Jesus. You
came to give us all and we graciously treasure this gift. Thank you
for everything that we can learn from Your precious Word. We've
learned a lot from the life of Joseph and we know that it has all
been inspired by You. We thank you and we honor You. Help us to
live the life that You have planned for us. We want to walk in Your
ways and make You proud of us. Amen