See God's forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His Grace in the life of Joseph.

Believer, recall that the Scriptures (Old Testament) serve as types and pictures for us today. See this 1 Corinthians 10:6-

"Now, all these things serve as types and pictures for us—lessons that teach us not to fail in the same way by callously craving worthless things"

Christ Himself gave us one such typology in John 3:14-17: the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness  for the salvation of the Israelites from the sting of the fiery serpent and its deathly effects is a type of Christ lifted up for our salvation from the sting of sin and its deathly effects. Like the bronze serpent, Joseph is a type of Christ:

Joseph was a son beloved by his father, just as Christ is God's beloved Son.

Joseph was sent on an assignment to his brothers by his father, just as God sent His beloved Son to the Jews at Christ's First Coming as the Son of Man

Joseph the dreamer who saw his family bowing down to him in a dream was despised, rejected and sold into slavery by his brothers for 20 shekels of silver. At Christ's first coming as the Son of Man, He was despised and rejected by His brethren and sold for 30 shekels of silver

Joseph was reduced to a prisoner and later elevated by God to Pharaoh's second in command. Christ stooped low and is now exalted at the Father's right hand.

Joseph who was rejected by his brethren became the one who ensured that Egypt and other Gentile nations didn't starve to death for lack of grain during the famine. Christ who was rejected by His brethren is now the "Bread of Life" to the Gentile world.

Joseph married a Gentile (non-Jewish) bride. Today, the church (bride of Christ) is primarily made up of Gentiles.

When Joseph's brothers saw him in his new position as ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh, they did not recognize him as their brother- probably because he'd shaved and was wearing plenty Egyptian make-up:) Today, most practicing Jews are yet to receive the revelation of Christ as the Messiah....but the day is coming!

So much more to say about our wonderful Jesus and our salvation in Him from the life of Joseph. But let's zoom in on something strange that happened after Jacob the father of Joseph passed away. Jacob's brothers thought Joseph was simply waiting for their father to pass on before taking his revenge for what they did to him! See the account in Genesis 50:14-17a-

"After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said. So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.”"

What a sad thing for Joseph's brothers to believe! Recall Joseph here is a type of Christ. Joseph had already utterly forgiven his brothers! See Genesis 45-

"Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. 2 Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.

3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. 4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives." Genesis 45:1-5.

Joseph's brothers heard all of this from Joseph himself but still felt that Joseph still harboured unforgiveness against them; that Joseph was lying. They thought that Joseph was going to unleash his wrath on them after he had given them his word:

"But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives."

Joseph's brothers represent churchgoers (both Jews and Gentiles) who recognize Christ as the Messiah and "Bread of Life" but still believe that their sins are unforgiven and that God is out to punish them for the same sins that Christ hung on the cross and died to free us from. It is sad to see many churchgoers praying for God to forgive them for the same sins which Christ suffered and died to free us from. It is sad to hear prayer meetings open with:

"Let us ask God to forgive us for any sins that may hinder our prayers from being answered."

It is sad to see many churchgoers denying themselves of the life-giving power of the Holy Communion because of sins that Christ's crucifixion has utterly wiped away for all who believe.  Believers, let's take our blessed brains to church as we consider the two elements of the Holy Communion- the Bread and the Wine

The Bread

We partake of Christ's body (the Bread) because we believe that "By His stripes we are healed" and look forward to the physical manifestation of His healing promises in our bodies which we might not yet experience physically. In essence, we partake of the Bread and look forward to the eradication of lack of ease (dis-ease) in our body. 

The Wine

But what about His blood? Why was His blood shed? Is it not for the forgiveness of our sins? Believer, we partake of His blood believing that it has wiped out our entire lifetime of sins and look forward to the eradication of bad behaviour and addictions (sins) in our lives which we might not experience physically. The one who has no sins does not need to partake. The Holy Communion is the Medicine that saves from sin and death (sickness is "death begun.") How can the Medicine for your sickness make you sick?

 It is sad to see churchgoers believing like Joseph's brothers who essentially believed that Joseph, a type of Christ, was a liar.

Beloved of God, the wages of sin is death. One death. Christ died that death ONCE for ALL. No matter how many times you sin in your life, you can only die once. Christ died that death, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour. Many churchgoers think that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ will make people go on sinning sprees, as if Joseph forgiving his brothers made them think of nothing but betraying him all over again. But the word of the One whose ways and thoughts are higher than man's says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

God's sacrifice of His own beloved Son that we might have utter FORGIVENESS/cancellation of our entire lifetime of sins is the ultimate demonstration of His love for you and I, beloved. Christ says of the sinner woman who washed His feet with her tears and expensive perfume in Luke 7:47-

"So I tell you this. Her many sins have been forgiven. She has shown that she understands this by her great acts of love. But whoever has been forgiven only a little loves only a little.”

Many churchgoers feel that they are forgiven little, or that they don't have much sins to be forgiven of. The truth is James 2:10-

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point he is guilty of all."

In reality, we are all in utter need of God's saving Grace to the exact same degree- whether pastor or murderous prostitute. The flesh (humanity) in every man is the same. Christ makes the difference. Time and Chance as well as Satan's sifting which only God controls is what makes people behave how they do so no one can boast in his own morality. There is none good but God. Like Peter before he denied Christ copiously, the reason why many of us feel that we are "not that bad" is because God did not allow us to get tempted to the extent of seeing the utter sinfulness of man expressed in our lives.

Only when we understand how much we are forgiven in Christ (to the UTTERMOST) can we produce great acts of love. But this revelation of our utter forgiveness in Christ is not preached by many church "pastors." In fact, it is often denied. Many “pastors” place on churchgoers the consciousness of sins, as if some of their sins are hanging unpaid somewhere. These are the same "men of God" who act as if everyone except them just wants to roll in sins, as if Peter loved denying Christ and could not wait for another opportunity to commit his sin again after Christ forgave and restored him. As if Judas was somewhere enjoying his betrayal money when  in reality, he was depressed and suicidal because he trusted his arm of flesh/ability to put himself right with God. 

Beloved of God, beware of such preachers who push the flock into Judas' depression and suicide mode with their constant calls for you to save yourself from your sins and put yourself right with God by your own striving as Judas attempted to do. Like Peter, let Christ set you right. Hear the Truth from God's Word telling us even now in Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Believer in Christ, prayers such as - "Father God please forgive me my sins and cleanse me of my unrighteousness and take not your Holy Spirit from me" are NOT prayers that any true believer should EVER utter. Such prayers only display unbelief in God's love demonstrated at the cross through Christ's sacrifice for us. Christ had/has no sin or curse of His own. It was our curse and our sin that He hung and died for. There is nothing like unforgiven sin or generational curse in the life of a true believer.  

In Christ, our prayer IS thanksgiving BECAUSE our entire lifetime of sins have been wiped away with Christ's ONE sacrifice for sins that avails FOREVER, no matter who we are. But many churchgoers are like Joseph's brothers, thinking that their sins are still hanging unpaid somewhere and that God will punish them unless they first send messengers to Him or "prepare themselves" like Joseph's brothers before coming into His presence. See the reaction of Joseph to his brothers when he saw their unbelief in his forgiveness in the same Genesis 50-

"When Joseph received the message, he BROKE DOWN AND WEPT. Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said. But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them." Genesis 50:17b-21.

I put some words in caps for emphasis. 

Joseph's brothers attempted to become his slaves. Slaves have no inheritance. Slaves must give before they get a single thing- a slavery that Joseph endured so that his brothers' lives might be preserved. Likewise, many churchgoers attempt to make themselves slaves with useless "trade by barter" works like fasting for 70 days in a bid to get God's freely-given blessings in Christ or to escape Satan’s oppression. I can’t imagine my kids thinking that I would deny them care and let wolves snap at them unless they fulfill certain terms and conditions like sowing a seed. Their good behavior or lack of it is the result of the kind of training that they receive from us. How much more our Father God who trains us up in the Way that we should go? The way our Heavenly Father is presented by many “pastors” would cause any earthly court to charge Him with child abuse! 

Joseph BROKE DOWN AND WEPT at their hard thoughts towards him. He was grieved at their unbelief and Grace-less hearts, as it grieves Christ when we come to Him claiming to be His brethren yet believing that in Him, God is still holding our sins against us. This is what grieves the Holy Spirit who is the Lord Himself. Acts of sin do not grieve the Holy Spirit. How can the Good Shepherd be annoyed with His own sheep for misbehaving and pooping all over the place? God knows that man's default mode is "sinner" and that without His restraining hand, all of us would be wallowing in heinous sins and flipping sins all over the place. So He sent His beloved Son to save us from our sins - from “misbehaving and pooping” all over the place:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

Also see why Christ gave His life for us in Titus 2:14- "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

The one who can free himself from his sins, be clean and godly (be like God) or muster up good deeds by his own strength has no place for Jesus in his life. No such person exists. The arm of flesh (human effort at being godly) will fail. God's word. But many disagree like Peter who thought Christ was wrong about his then upcoming denials. 

Acts of sin are not the reason for being separated from God's salvation or the cause of falling from Grace. Acts of sin are the consequences of being separated from Salvation (Yeshua in Hebrew) who is Christ the embodiment of Grace and Saviour from sins. Galatians 5:4 tells us how this separation occurs:

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace.”

The hallmark of being born-again is admitting that you are helpless to live a godly life/save yourself from your sins (in agreement with God's word) and are looking to Christ as Saviour from sin and death. Sin is not the issue. If you have sins, Christ is Saviour from sins. Romans 5:6 shows us who can benefit from His salvation, even salvation from sins:

“For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves.” Romans 5:6

Believers, Christ had no sins of His own. God intended His sacrifice for our sins for our good. Believe it- that all of our entire lifetime of sins have been utterly removed by His blood - and you will find rest and care in our heavenly Joseph- Jesus Christ our Salvation who is Grace-personified.

Romans 15:4 says: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

Bible "Hope" is not just a "maybe" or hope according to man’s logical definition of the word. No, friend. Bible "Hope" is a confident expectation of good, from the Greek word "elpis" meaning "expectation of what is sure (certain);"

Believer, don't let any "pastor" throw you in a funk or perpetual state of fear and anxiety akin to the type that Joseph's brothers had for what Joseph would do to them for their sins against him. In Christ our "heavenly Joseph," we are utterly forgiven of our entire lifetime of sins. Christ instituted the Holy Communion so that we can REMEMBER that our entire lifetime of sins are utterly forgiven through His blood (He is our Righteousness) and that He is our Health and Strength, every time we partake. 

Whenever you hear God's Word who is Christ Himself- any verse of the Bible - by Grace, know and believe that He did not come to condemn aka tell us what's wrong with us so that we can "fix ourselves, or else..." He came to save us-

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17

Keep on hearing the Good News about Christ, even from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is Christ hidden. The New Testament is Christ revealed. When your believing is right, right living will follow. Christ does it all.