June 19, 2016 · Genesis 42:45

Family Feud Genesis 42-45

“But there's two things that have to happen. The first one is that there has to be a confession of guilt in order to be released from all that guilt of enslaving their brothers. It had to be spoken out. There had to be an actual repentance and asking of forgiveness and understanding of their blood guilt, and then after that, which takes a lot of character to be able to finally say, I did this. Then comes this response, and this is the place where it gets very difficult where the Holy Spirit of God needs to be involved in someone's life because this is the place where the person extends a hand of forgiveness. Mercy. Who doesn't take the rod of justice and give them what they deserved? They deserve to be slaves. They deserved punishment from the state, and yet the judge extends a hand. Come closer to me. There's a lot of sacrifice. Judah has to be ready to sacrifice himself. Joseph has to sacrifice his right for justice. It has come with a lot of tears and a lot of need for forgiveness. But there's a character that comes here and people have been changed. Family feuds are common. Family reconciliation is a more rare bird. Whether it's in families, whether it's in churches, whether it's in cities, this idea of this supernatural forgiveness, that into the brokenness, God has been working there the whole time. … That's his main theological point. He comes to the end. Somehow, God has taken this mess of a family and he's brought in salvation out of it.”