Genesis 45:16-46:7
“How Do You Get To Jesus?”

Introduction
1. God is always in control…even and especially when the circumstances of life seem to have
twisted His plan beyond recognition. The Plan Remains! What seem to be those
uncontrollable interruptions to that plan turn out to be an integral part of the plan itself. God
is! Therefore, He does knit all the things of life into a pattern of grace beyond our
comprehension. That applies to your life! God can take that mess and bring glory to Him.
This is seen all through the story of Joseph.
2. Have you ever been in a corn maze that was so large that you thought you would never get
out? In the old days Mario or Pac Man…maze after maze to save the princess. How
frustrating. How futile!
3. How do you get to Jesus? What ritual? What ceremony? What experience? To the lost your
eternal destiny is at stake. To the believer your assurance, power, provisions, and satisfaction
hang in the balance.
4. Genesis 45:16-46:7 Jacob is going to Joseph. Joseph is a picture of our Jesus. Pharoah is a type of God
the Father. He is the One who exalted Jesus and gave Him a name above every name, and at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Through Jesus there is life…all that you will ever need that pertains to life and godliness., but you must
come! As you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk ye in Him. (Col 2:6) We will discover Steps
to Jesus:

How do you get to Jesus?
I. THE PREPARATION IN COMING 45:16-24
All is ready. All has been accomplished.
A. God’s Provisions 16-18a
1. Load your beasts…take your house and come to me. “I will give you and you will
eat.” 18
2. Take wagons…This is a down payment for a future possession. Upon believing you
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the earnest of our inheritance
(the Holy Spirit is our down payment) until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of His glory. (Eph. 1:13, 14)
3. All that we will ever need to satisfied has already been provided. This is our Source!
B. God’s Plea 18-19
1. “Come to me” This is our invitation.
2. Bypassing this invitation will lead to barrenness and dryness of soul. This is our
invitation. Come to Me.
C. God’s Plenty 20-21
1. Regard not your stuff. Do not concern yourself with your goods.
2. No need to clutch what you have…all that you will ever need is mine to give!
3. And the children of Israel did so…Trust and obey! How many of us clutch our stuff
and slow down our spiritual progress?!
D. God’s Problem 22-24
US! See that you fall not our by the way. “Don’t quarrel on your journey.”
1.Don’t get side tracked from your mission by petty disagreements or jealousy along the way.
2.O Father make them one as we are one. (John 17) Satan’s ploy from the beginning has been to take men’s eyes off what God has done and who God is and lock us up in petty feuds that detract us from our mission.
3.Verse 22 Even jealousy over seemingly unequal blessing where Ben received 5 times what he gave the others. Let God be God!

How do you get to Jesus? Come… all you will ever need or want is in Him.
II. THE PROCLAMATION IN COMING 45:25-28
A. The Word Reviewed 25,26a
1. Came and told Jacob…Joseph is alive! He rules over all.
2. This is our message of Jesus: Jesus is alive and He is Lord.
*To the Lost: Make Him Lord… That if thou shalt confess Jesus as Lord and believe
in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)
*To the Saved: Jesus is alive…He is Lord (allow Him to be Lord of your life). He is
the answer to discouragement, despair, defeat, darkness. This Jesus who is alive…
allow Him to be Lord (give Him the controls).
B. The Word Rejected 26b
1. Jacob’s heart fainted…for he believed them not.
2. God has given us great promises and provisions…to ignore them and walk in our
strength is miserable…misery becomes our life and we soon faint!
C. The Word Received 27
1. He said…He saw. His eyes were opened.
2. The spirit of Jacob revived. So it is with us…dusty, dry, parched, anemic
Christianity is our norm…then our eyes are opened. So it is with the Lost…their
Eyes are opened. It’s not in me…It’s In Him! IT’S ALL OF GRACE!
D. The Word Recited 28
1. He’s Alive!
2. So will be our testimony when our eyes are opened!

How do you get to Jesus?
III. THE PRESENCE IN COMING 46:1-4
We never go alone…God always has a purpose.
*As Jacob prepared to go to Egypt, he no doubt was in a quandary. Until now, each time he
had made an important move, God had spoken to him directly.
* He sacrifices at Beersheba. Beersheba is near the southern boundary of the land (this is a
know place of blessing). He is at the ‘point of no return’. God appears in a vision the
eighth and last time.
A. With His Power God assured him that El (the strong Creator and Sovereign of men)
would protect him and bless him.
B. With His Promises God promised He would bring him back out of Egypt when it was
time to do so. (It took 400 years…in God’s time!) It’s all of grace: “I will”.
C. For His Purpose God’s purpose was to make them ‘a great nation.’
*So it is with us We Go: With His Power…El With His Promises…He works in His
way and by His timetable. With His Purpose… He is calling out a people…making them
into His image.

How do you get to Jesus?
IV. THE POTENTIAL IN COMING 46:4-7
A.Joseph began the journey of a lifetime. It affected his whole family and everything he had!
B.So it is with us. We begin the greatest adventure in our lives…following Jesus. You will never be the same. It will affect your whole family and everything you have!

Follow Jesus, and you will never be the same!!!
Again, Jacob had to die in order for life to spring forth!