Wednesday, April 10, 2013

faith and grace

There are three main character sketches in the book of Genesis that teach us important spiritual truths.  Abraham, Jacob and Joseph each take up about 1/4 of the book and their lives illustrate two important concepts that deal with the the God/man relationship.  Abraham's life illustrates what faith looks like and how a man can know God through the trust attitude that faith is.  Jacob's life illustrates what grace looks like and how it shows up even before a man has a faith relationship.  Jacob also shows what it looks like when a man learns that he isn't the "mover and shaker" that makes his life happen.  Joseph's life illustrates an ideal picture of what it looks like when faith and grace combine in the heart of a man who has established his faith-trust early and learned to allow the grace of God to rule his life.  The story of Joseph is the last story, I believe, because this is the picture that God would have us remember as the ideal.  The sooner we learn that God is the ultimate reality and God is the ultimate authority and the sooner we place total trust in Him, the sooner our lives will display and contain the peace and purpose that are intended and that we desire.

Blessings,
Rob Smith

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