The Journey Church
Grappling with Guilt
The Life of Joseph sermon series.
Locations & Times
The Journey Church
5300 Bunny Trail, Killeen, TX 76549, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Big Idea: Godly Guilt Awakens Happiness in God
Guilt is such a powerful emotion, many of us struggle to overcome it. Why and how does guilt paralyze our lives? Even though God has already granted to us His forgiveness, the weight of past sins can hinder us from living in the freedom that comes with full recognition of God’s incredible grace.
Not just our past struggles but also our ongoing ones can bind us as well and keep us from moving forward in our walk with Christ. It’s difficult to silence the whisper in our own minds that our failures and struggles make us unable or unworthy to serve God.
Joseph’s brothers apparently have lived a guilt ridden life for now thirteen some odd years. When Jacob sent his son’s off to Egypt to secure relief from the famine. I’m sure the flood of guilt and emotions had to come back to them in an overwhelming way. The way Joseph treats his brothers who do not recognize him as their brother Joseph leads them to assume that God is somehow getting back at them for the betrayal of their brother. They could not see God using their evil acts for his greater divine purpose.
As famine consumed the land, Joseph’s father, Jacob, encountered the same decision his grandfather, Abraham, faced so many years before: either purchase food in Egypt or starve in the land of promise. The only difference is that Jacob did not initially move his family to Egypt like Abraham did. Perhaps Jacob remembered the warning God gave his father Isaac against traveling to Egypt during a time of famine.
Benjamin is the Last link to Rachel
Still haunted by the loss of Joseph, Jacob is keeping Benjamin, his youngest son, very close to his side for fear of any harm coming to him. As Rachel’s second born son, Benjamin has not ascended to the position of favorite after the appearance of Joseph’s death.
The Twist of providence in the Story.
In Genesis 37
Jacob sends Joseph to look for his brothers which eventually resulted in Joseph’s enslavement. Now, he is sending his son’s toe Egypt, Jacob unknowingly sent them to Joseph.
Joseph immediately recognizing his brothers understands their actions as a sign of total submission undoubtedly knowing that his first dream was being fulfilled in that very moment.
Joseph and his brothers were harvesting grain when they bowed down to him. Now it was grain that brought his brothers to Egypt to bow before him.
The scene is heavy with irony due to a reversal of fortune.
Have you ever experienced the satisfaction of having something to come to fruition that you had discerned and predicted would happen.
The irony grows as Joseph’s brothers protest that they are “honest men” and Joseph’s “servant’s. The last time we see the brothers they are deceiving their father about Joseph’s faith – convincing him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Now they appeal to their honest character.
All of the sudden the brothers have an appearance of having a conscience and tell the truth. In fact they offer more detail than Joseph had asked for explaining of why only 10 brother came to Egypt. Later Jacob scolds them for being so forthright and honest about having a younger brother. Even in their attempt to come clean the brothers divulge to their father that the Egyptian official forced the information out of them by asking specifically about their father and whether they had any other brothers.
Is this not how guilt works? Even in our guilt ridden state it is hard from us to come clean.
LET THE TESTING BEGIN
Even through Joseph claims to be testing his brothers honesty, his actions can be interpreted in one of two ways since the narrative does not specifically provide a clear motive. Was Joseph simply testing his brothers to see if they had really changed, or was he on a mission of revenge.
Joseph holding Simeon back in custody. (would they abandon Simeon they way they had abandoned him to slavery and imprisonment. Was this an act of testing or an act of revenge.)
Joseph has the money slipped back into his brothers bags. (was Joseph simply testing the brothers character to see if they had changed or desire for revenge)
Joseph’s brothers now saddled with two burdens. (telling their father of the fate of their brother Simeon if they do not return with Benjamin, and being labeled a thief and untrustworthy because of the money in the bags.)
Not just our past struggles but also our ongoing ones can bind us as well and keep us from moving forward in our walk with Christ. It’s difficult to silence the whisper in our own minds that our failures and struggles make us unable or unworthy to serve God.
Joseph’s brothers apparently have lived a guilt ridden life for now thirteen some odd years. When Jacob sent his son’s off to Egypt to secure relief from the famine. I’m sure the flood of guilt and emotions had to come back to them in an overwhelming way. The way Joseph treats his brothers who do not recognize him as their brother Joseph leads them to assume that God is somehow getting back at them for the betrayal of their brother. They could not see God using their evil acts for his greater divine purpose.
As famine consumed the land, Joseph’s father, Jacob, encountered the same decision his grandfather, Abraham, faced so many years before: either purchase food in Egypt or starve in the land of promise. The only difference is that Jacob did not initially move his family to Egypt like Abraham did. Perhaps Jacob remembered the warning God gave his father Isaac against traveling to Egypt during a time of famine.
Benjamin is the Last link to Rachel
Still haunted by the loss of Joseph, Jacob is keeping Benjamin, his youngest son, very close to his side for fear of any harm coming to him. As Rachel’s second born son, Benjamin has not ascended to the position of favorite after the appearance of Joseph’s death.
The Twist of providence in the Story.
In Genesis 37
Jacob sends Joseph to look for his brothers which eventually resulted in Joseph’s enslavement. Now, he is sending his son’s toe Egypt, Jacob unknowingly sent them to Joseph.
Joseph immediately recognizing his brothers understands their actions as a sign of total submission undoubtedly knowing that his first dream was being fulfilled in that very moment.
Joseph and his brothers were harvesting grain when they bowed down to him. Now it was grain that brought his brothers to Egypt to bow before him.
The scene is heavy with irony due to a reversal of fortune.
Have you ever experienced the satisfaction of having something to come to fruition that you had discerned and predicted would happen.
The irony grows as Joseph’s brothers protest that they are “honest men” and Joseph’s “servant’s. The last time we see the brothers they are deceiving their father about Joseph’s faith – convincing him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Now they appeal to their honest character.
All of the sudden the brothers have an appearance of having a conscience and tell the truth. In fact they offer more detail than Joseph had asked for explaining of why only 10 brother came to Egypt. Later Jacob scolds them for being so forthright and honest about having a younger brother. Even in their attempt to come clean the brothers divulge to their father that the Egyptian official forced the information out of them by asking specifically about their father and whether they had any other brothers.
Is this not how guilt works? Even in our guilt ridden state it is hard from us to come clean.
LET THE TESTING BEGIN
Even through Joseph claims to be testing his brothers honesty, his actions can be interpreted in one of two ways since the narrative does not specifically provide a clear motive. Was Joseph simply testing his brothers to see if they had really changed, or was he on a mission of revenge.
Joseph holding Simeon back in custody. (would they abandon Simeon they way they had abandoned him to slavery and imprisonment. Was this an act of testing or an act of revenge.)
Joseph has the money slipped back into his brothers bags. (was Joseph simply testing the brothers character to see if they had changed or desire for revenge)
Joseph’s brothers now saddled with two burdens. (telling their father of the fate of their brother Simeon if they do not return with Benjamin, and being labeled a thief and untrustworthy because of the money in the bags.)
The radical revolution in our country did not take place in 1776 but the 60’s revolution we had a major shift in our cultures way of thinking. Moving from the idea of objective truth of right and wrong to subjective moralistic thinking. This led to the sexual revolution, the homosexual revolution, the feminist movement. We are engaged in a cultural war.
The mantra was now everyone has the right to do their own thing. This is moral relativism which is subjective. No one has the right to tell me what I can and cannot do. This reduces guilt to a subjective feeling.
Romans 3:19-20
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
The mantra was now everyone has the right to do their own thing. This is moral relativism which is subjective. No one has the right to tell me what I can and cannot do. This reduces guilt to a subjective feeling.
Romans 3:19-20
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
1. True Guilt drives us to the Cross where Shame leads us to despair.
One approach to handling guilt is to punish ourselves.
We feel “bad,” and so we drink, or fail at our work or marriages to make ourselves suffer. Somehow we hope that if we suffer enough we won’t feel guilty, even though failing actually will deepen our general sense of guilt and worthlessness.
The idea of what comes around goes around begins to play out in this story. Most of us generally know when our behavior is sinful. Most of sins that we commit begin with a willful decision to violate God’s truth.
Cultural Note: It was common in ancient culture to have a sort of Karma approach to sin. What comes around goes around. As Joseph’s brothers encountered the immense resistance from Joseph, they believed that God must be finally punishing them for the sins of their youth. They most likely never truly thought they had gotten away for what they had done to their brother. They believed in a causal relationship where their past actions had a direct effect on their present situation. Cause and effect relationship. The ancient near Eastern concept of divine retribution.
Reuben’s response brings this into greater focus. The notion that people get what they deserve. For example in the book of Job. Job’s friends believed that what was happen to him had to be a direct result of his sins. According to their understanding of God’s justice, those who do evil suffer, while those who act righteously find reward.
*Our responsibility is to keep up to date with our sins.
This kind of guilt drives us to the Cross. (we must continually take a spiritual inventory)
Instead of wallowing in our shame and despair, we must repent of our sins, claiming for ourselves the promises of God.
“I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember them no more.” Jeremiah 31:34
1 John 1:9-2:1
“If we confess our sin’s, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you man not sin. And if anyone sins’ we have a advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
So what does this mean? Does this mean that we should just expect and anticipate sins’ to happen and then we appeal to the grace and mercy of God over, and over again. No, not at all notice that John say’s as he writes these words to the church in order that they may not sin.
Romans 6:1-2
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Paul is emphasizing that we are to put sin to death daily in our mortal bodies. This is what Galatians 2:20 “For I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
Part of the transformation process that we are going through is to put to death sin in our lives and live in the victory over sin and death. This is what happens’ when we continually take inventory of the sin’s in our lives that are placing barriers to our growth process with Christ.
So why do we struggle so much with guilt over our past and present sins in our lives? What do we do with guilt when it does come?
*You must not let Shame have the last word.
THE DAY THAT GUILT AND SHAME WERE BORN
Guilt and shame were foreign to the Garden of Eden before the fall. No sooner than Eve wiped the juices of the forbidden fruit from her lips than the dark shadow of guilt and shame began to wash over her life. Then as Adam followed in her footsteps the dark cloud began to envelope his life and emotions as well.
Guilt and shame are conceived in rebellion. Even though guilt and shame are twins born in the garden minutes apart they are not the same. When you violate God’s law you experience guilt, but the emotion that almost simultaneously comes after this feeling is shame. No one can share in your guilt but many share in your shame.
The child whose father is imprisoned, the wife whose husband is unfaithful, the daughter whose mother is abusive—they all share in the shame. They feel their self-worth is lessened. Shame wraps its arms around their ankles tightly, allowing them to walk but never to run.
In this way, shame is far less logical than guilt. Guilt is connected to events that can be defined in objective journalistic categories: who, what, where, when, and why. But shame is far less concerned with details.
As Christians our guilt is dealt with entirely when we are made right with God. The Bible this justification. Shame will haunt us long after we have been freed from our guilt.
“We must deal with our shame by constantly by being reminded of our guilt and how God has dealt with our guilt.”
In Christ, God has cast our sin as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). But shame will refuse to acknowledge our new identity. May we not let it have the last word.
ILLUSTRATION
Clothed by God
Human beings generate shame; God covers it with a durable product that requires the shedding of blood. Human beings suffer a metaphysical chill; God warms them with garments they should never have needed
One approach to handling guilt is to punish ourselves.
We feel “bad,” and so we drink, or fail at our work or marriages to make ourselves suffer. Somehow we hope that if we suffer enough we won’t feel guilty, even though failing actually will deepen our general sense of guilt and worthlessness.
The idea of what comes around goes around begins to play out in this story. Most of us generally know when our behavior is sinful. Most of sins that we commit begin with a willful decision to violate God’s truth.
Cultural Note: It was common in ancient culture to have a sort of Karma approach to sin. What comes around goes around. As Joseph’s brothers encountered the immense resistance from Joseph, they believed that God must be finally punishing them for the sins of their youth. They most likely never truly thought they had gotten away for what they had done to their brother. They believed in a causal relationship where their past actions had a direct effect on their present situation. Cause and effect relationship. The ancient near Eastern concept of divine retribution.
Reuben’s response brings this into greater focus. The notion that people get what they deserve. For example in the book of Job. Job’s friends believed that what was happen to him had to be a direct result of his sins. According to their understanding of God’s justice, those who do evil suffer, while those who act righteously find reward.
*Our responsibility is to keep up to date with our sins.
This kind of guilt drives us to the Cross. (we must continually take a spiritual inventory)
Instead of wallowing in our shame and despair, we must repent of our sins, claiming for ourselves the promises of God.
“I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember them no more.” Jeremiah 31:34
1 John 1:9-2:1
“If we confess our sin’s, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you man not sin. And if anyone sins’ we have a advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
So what does this mean? Does this mean that we should just expect and anticipate sins’ to happen and then we appeal to the grace and mercy of God over, and over again. No, not at all notice that John say’s as he writes these words to the church in order that they may not sin.
Romans 6:1-2
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Paul is emphasizing that we are to put sin to death daily in our mortal bodies. This is what Galatians 2:20 “For I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
Part of the transformation process that we are going through is to put to death sin in our lives and live in the victory over sin and death. This is what happens’ when we continually take inventory of the sin’s in our lives that are placing barriers to our growth process with Christ.
So why do we struggle so much with guilt over our past and present sins in our lives? What do we do with guilt when it does come?
*You must not let Shame have the last word.
THE DAY THAT GUILT AND SHAME WERE BORN
Guilt and shame were foreign to the Garden of Eden before the fall. No sooner than Eve wiped the juices of the forbidden fruit from her lips than the dark shadow of guilt and shame began to wash over her life. Then as Adam followed in her footsteps the dark cloud began to envelope his life and emotions as well.
Guilt and shame are conceived in rebellion. Even though guilt and shame are twins born in the garden minutes apart they are not the same. When you violate God’s law you experience guilt, but the emotion that almost simultaneously comes after this feeling is shame. No one can share in your guilt but many share in your shame.
The child whose father is imprisoned, the wife whose husband is unfaithful, the daughter whose mother is abusive—they all share in the shame. They feel their self-worth is lessened. Shame wraps its arms around their ankles tightly, allowing them to walk but never to run.
In this way, shame is far less logical than guilt. Guilt is connected to events that can be defined in objective journalistic categories: who, what, where, when, and why. But shame is far less concerned with details.
As Christians our guilt is dealt with entirely when we are made right with God. The Bible this justification. Shame will haunt us long after we have been freed from our guilt.
“We must deal with our shame by constantly by being reminded of our guilt and how God has dealt with our guilt.”
In Christ, God has cast our sin as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). But shame will refuse to acknowledge our new identity. May we not let it have the last word.
ILLUSTRATION
Clothed by God
Human beings generate shame; God covers it with a durable product that requires the shedding of blood. Human beings suffer a metaphysical chill; God warms them with garments they should never have needed
2. True Guilt brings a clear Conscience where the substitute is a wounded ego.
Another approach to handling guilt is to explain it away.
We look back into our childhood and find reasons why we couldn’t help ourselves; we made some of those bad choices because we had to. Often criminal behavior is explained away as being due to societal conditions rather than the individual’s choice. Denying personal responsibility is a popular way to attempt to rid ourselves of guilt.
Whether it was Joseph’s true intention or not. His actions drew out the true guilt that his brothers had been carrying around for the past 13 years.
NOTE: The pain of sin is a warning sign or an alert that something is morally wrong. Think back in your own life about how you have dealt with guilt. If you sin once you are filled with a sense of sickness in the pit of your stomach. You are literally sick about it because the wight of your guilt feelings is so enormous. And then you do it again, and the second time it is not as uncomfortable. Then you do it a fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth time. Pretty soon you can cruise along in this behavioral patters with little feeling of guilt whatsoever. You can suppress the sinful feelings to the point that your conscience has been seared.
The absence of guilt feelings is the license to continue in sinful behavior. Now consider Joseph’s brothers who had possibly pushed the feeling of guilt so far down that until Joseph brought up their brother Benjamin their conscience had been so seared by sin that that they possibly had rationalized in their own minds what they had done.
OUR CONSCIENCE: That thing that either excuses us or accuses us of sinful behavior. Remember Jimminy Cricket said, “Let your conscience be your guide”. We have to be careful that our conscience has not become so seared that it begins to excuse our sinful behavior instead of accusing us of our sin.
King David: It’s hard to imagine that this man after God’s own heart who wrote such passionate and beautiful Psalms didn’t experience the pain of guilt. His conscience had been so seared that when Nathan came to David telling a parable of his behavior David did not even recognize that the man was him.
John Piper talking about his dad:
My dad has always told me that in his work as an evangelist the big problem is not getting people saved but getting them lost. People who really feel lost reach for the gospel.
But there are others today who say just the opposite. They say that guilt is such a widespread disease in our society no preacher needs to tell people they are sinners. Trying to make people feel guilty is like carrying coals to Newcastle, they say. Everyone is so oppressed with guilt already that all the preacher needs to do is preach good news of deliverance. Now who is right? My dad, who says it is hard to get people to see their true guilt before God? Or the preachers of pop psychology, who say people are already so guilt-ridden you just need to be positive all the time?
The kind of guilt that readies us to receive the gospel of Christ is rare in our culture today. Simply because we see people as basically good. That’s our human ego focused on ourselves. We have failed to see today that what passes for guilt is a bad feeling of a failure to preserve our own self-image in the eyes of others. Our guilt is selfishly motivated on us and how other people perceive us, not on the judgement and wrath of God.
We do something impulsive that hurts someone and feel remorse. But does our remorse come from a deep spiritual grief that we have despised God by not trusting his promises and not waiting for his wisdom and help? Or does it more often come from the fact that we did not preserve our image as cool and self-sufficient? Real guilt is very rare!
Genesis 42:21-22
Notice that the guilt that the brothers are feeling is more directed towards the actions they took towards their brother and the consequences it has brought on them personally not true remorse and guilt over the sin they committed against God and His laws.
It’s much the same way as the kid who gets his hand stuck in the cookie jar and gets caught. We may appear remorseful of our actions, but in reality it is more a self focused guilt of getting caught in the act and the consequences that follow.
Real guilt focuses on what it does to our relationship with God where false guilt moves us toward gazing at ourselves.
Another approach to handling guilt is to explain it away.
We look back into our childhood and find reasons why we couldn’t help ourselves; we made some of those bad choices because we had to. Often criminal behavior is explained away as being due to societal conditions rather than the individual’s choice. Denying personal responsibility is a popular way to attempt to rid ourselves of guilt.
Whether it was Joseph’s true intention or not. His actions drew out the true guilt that his brothers had been carrying around for the past 13 years.
NOTE: The pain of sin is a warning sign or an alert that something is morally wrong. Think back in your own life about how you have dealt with guilt. If you sin once you are filled with a sense of sickness in the pit of your stomach. You are literally sick about it because the wight of your guilt feelings is so enormous. And then you do it again, and the second time it is not as uncomfortable. Then you do it a fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth time. Pretty soon you can cruise along in this behavioral patters with little feeling of guilt whatsoever. You can suppress the sinful feelings to the point that your conscience has been seared.
The absence of guilt feelings is the license to continue in sinful behavior. Now consider Joseph’s brothers who had possibly pushed the feeling of guilt so far down that until Joseph brought up their brother Benjamin their conscience had been so seared by sin that that they possibly had rationalized in their own minds what they had done.
OUR CONSCIENCE: That thing that either excuses us or accuses us of sinful behavior. Remember Jimminy Cricket said, “Let your conscience be your guide”. We have to be careful that our conscience has not become so seared that it begins to excuse our sinful behavior instead of accusing us of our sin.
King David: It’s hard to imagine that this man after God’s own heart who wrote such passionate and beautiful Psalms didn’t experience the pain of guilt. His conscience had been so seared that when Nathan came to David telling a parable of his behavior David did not even recognize that the man was him.
John Piper talking about his dad:
My dad has always told me that in his work as an evangelist the big problem is not getting people saved but getting them lost. People who really feel lost reach for the gospel.
But there are others today who say just the opposite. They say that guilt is such a widespread disease in our society no preacher needs to tell people they are sinners. Trying to make people feel guilty is like carrying coals to Newcastle, they say. Everyone is so oppressed with guilt already that all the preacher needs to do is preach good news of deliverance. Now who is right? My dad, who says it is hard to get people to see their true guilt before God? Or the preachers of pop psychology, who say people are already so guilt-ridden you just need to be positive all the time?
The kind of guilt that readies us to receive the gospel of Christ is rare in our culture today. Simply because we see people as basically good. That’s our human ego focused on ourselves. We have failed to see today that what passes for guilt is a bad feeling of a failure to preserve our own self-image in the eyes of others. Our guilt is selfishly motivated on us and how other people perceive us, not on the judgement and wrath of God.
We do something impulsive that hurts someone and feel remorse. But does our remorse come from a deep spiritual grief that we have despised God by not trusting his promises and not waiting for his wisdom and help? Or does it more often come from the fact that we did not preserve our image as cool and self-sufficient? Real guilt is very rare!
Genesis 42:21-22
Notice that the guilt that the brothers are feeling is more directed towards the actions they took towards their brother and the consequences it has brought on them personally not true remorse and guilt over the sin they committed against God and His laws.
It’s much the same way as the kid who gets his hand stuck in the cookie jar and gets caught. We may appear remorseful of our actions, but in reality it is more a self focused guilt of getting caught in the act and the consequences that follow.
Real guilt focuses on what it does to our relationship with God where false guilt moves us toward gazing at ourselves.
3. True Guilt free’s us from the burden of sin where ignoring our sin leads to destruction.
And yet another approach to guilt is to deny it.
Our feelings of guilt, we say, come from hang-ups that society imposes on us. So we insist that everyone has the right to do his own thing, that there are no absolute moral standards that are binding on us.
We often struggle under the weight of guilt and shame, which isn’t entirely surprising since we have all sinned against others and God.
Yet when we ignore or suppress our sins, we complicate matters by failing to resolve them, which can cause even greater damage.
Romans 8:1-3 “There is now therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”
Playing hide and seek with God doesn’t bring you the freedom that your heart desires.
By the time Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt, they could have forgotten him altogether, choosing to suppress the memories of their treachery against their father’s favorite. Yet when Joseph asked to see their youngest brother, they were overwhelmed with guilt.
All this time, they had been concealing past sin. Consumed by subconscious guilt, they lived in fear of repercussions, holding to a distorted image of a vengeful God (Gen 42:28; see also 44:16).
God knows the depth of our hearts. As the writer of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 4:13 we are all laid bare before God.
Where Joseph’s brothers may have been able to suppress what they had done from the rest of the world it never escapes the notice of God.
Gods invitation is for reconciliation
Hebrews 4:13 might cause us to react by distancing ourselves from God where in reality its a call to reconciliation.
Romans 5:1 tells us that God has made reconciliation possible through His Son Jesus Christ.
Reconciliation (Gk. katallagē), a term indicating a repaired relationship between persons or groups who were formerly at enmity with each other.
Paul describes the human condition prior to reconciliation as weak, ungodly, and sinful (Rom. 5:6–8; cf. Eph. 2:12), but maintains that “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.
All of these events of Joseph and his brothers are leading to Gods plan of reconciliation.
God took the initiative and reconciled the world to Himself. This was done by the death of Christ, and that provision changed the world into a savable position before God. Yet though the world has been reconciled, man needs to be reconciled by changing his position about Christ. Then, and only then, is his condition before God changed.
Joseph’s brothers needed a change of position before God and before their brother. We leave with the cliff hanger for today left with the weight of their sin and guilt chocking the life out of them, brother Simeon left imprisoned in Egypt and seemingly the only way to secure his freedom is by presenting their youngest brother Benjamin. Stay tuned next week as we see the brothers for the first time understanding
And yet another approach to guilt is to deny it.
Our feelings of guilt, we say, come from hang-ups that society imposes on us. So we insist that everyone has the right to do his own thing, that there are no absolute moral standards that are binding on us.
We often struggle under the weight of guilt and shame, which isn’t entirely surprising since we have all sinned against others and God.
Yet when we ignore or suppress our sins, we complicate matters by failing to resolve them, which can cause even greater damage.
Romans 8:1-3 “There is now therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”
Playing hide and seek with God doesn’t bring you the freedom that your heart desires.
By the time Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt, they could have forgotten him altogether, choosing to suppress the memories of their treachery against their father’s favorite. Yet when Joseph asked to see their youngest brother, they were overwhelmed with guilt.
All this time, they had been concealing past sin. Consumed by subconscious guilt, they lived in fear of repercussions, holding to a distorted image of a vengeful God (Gen 42:28; see also 44:16).
God knows the depth of our hearts. As the writer of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 4:13 we are all laid bare before God.
Where Joseph’s brothers may have been able to suppress what they had done from the rest of the world it never escapes the notice of God.
Gods invitation is for reconciliation
Hebrews 4:13 might cause us to react by distancing ourselves from God where in reality its a call to reconciliation.
Romans 5:1 tells us that God has made reconciliation possible through His Son Jesus Christ.
Reconciliation (Gk. katallagē), a term indicating a repaired relationship between persons or groups who were formerly at enmity with each other.
Paul describes the human condition prior to reconciliation as weak, ungodly, and sinful (Rom. 5:6–8; cf. Eph. 2:12), but maintains that “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.
All of these events of Joseph and his brothers are leading to Gods plan of reconciliation.
God took the initiative and reconciled the world to Himself. This was done by the death of Christ, and that provision changed the world into a savable position before God. Yet though the world has been reconciled, man needs to be reconciled by changing his position about Christ. Then, and only then, is his condition before God changed.
Joseph’s brothers needed a change of position before God and before their brother. We leave with the cliff hanger for today left with the weight of their sin and guilt chocking the life out of them, brother Simeon left imprisoned in Egypt and seemingly the only way to secure his freedom is by presenting their youngest brother Benjamin. Stay tuned next week as we see the brothers for the first time understanding
CONCLUSION
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH GUILT?
Sin can can cause a spiritual game of hide and seek. We try to hide things from ourselves, hoping the pain and guilt will dissolve, but we can never hide from God. And we don’t need to hide. God seeks us out, desiring to reconcile His relationship with us. We have only to admit our sins and confess our wrongdoings to the one who died for us while we were still sinners and enemies of God (Rom 5:8–10). In doing so, we can be found and embraced by the one who willing to give all on our behalf.
Joseph needed to forgive. His brothers needed to confess and be forgiven.
And their father needed to forgive, forget, and lay down his favoritism.
This reminds us that we need changing and that God wants to change us, and that God has many way’s of getting our attention and melting our hearts of stone.
What guilt are you carrying around with you this morning? What is keeping you from laying it at the foot of the cross?
Godly guilt Awakens Happiness in God
It drives us to the Cross
Brings a Clear Conscience
Frees us from the Burden of Sin
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH GUILT?
Sin can can cause a spiritual game of hide and seek. We try to hide things from ourselves, hoping the pain and guilt will dissolve, but we can never hide from God. And we don’t need to hide. God seeks us out, desiring to reconcile His relationship with us. We have only to admit our sins and confess our wrongdoings to the one who died for us while we were still sinners and enemies of God (Rom 5:8–10). In doing so, we can be found and embraced by the one who willing to give all on our behalf.
Joseph needed to forgive. His brothers needed to confess and be forgiven.
And their father needed to forgive, forget, and lay down his favoritism.
This reminds us that we need changing and that God wants to change us, and that God has many way’s of getting our attention and melting our hearts of stone.
What guilt are you carrying around with you this morning? What is keeping you from laying it at the foot of the cross?
Godly guilt Awakens Happiness in God
It drives us to the Cross
Brings a Clear Conscience
Frees us from the Burden of Sin