Let's be turning to Genesis chapter 48. Genesis 48. In this chapter, Jacob, he recounts the grace of the Lord for him. And he's speaking to his son Joseph and he's declaring to Joseph the redeeming grace of God, the redemption of the Lord for his life. And after that we see the sovereign choice of God in preferring Ephraim Joseph's secondborn son Ephraim over Manasseh, and we'll see how that is a picture of the new birth, where the Lord, the secondborn, is preferred over the flesh, that which is born again. And then Jacob closes his words to Joseph, declaring the promise of the inheritance in the land of Canaan, which is given to Joseph. And this, of course, has an eye toward the resurrection of the people of God, who shall be visited again when he returns, and we too shall be raised up to our inheritance in him.

And so what we're going to look at this morning from this chapter is the outline of the hope of the believer that is redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ in this outline of seeing redemption, of regeneration, and of our resurrection unto eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's begin in verse one. And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick. And he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim." And so these two young boys were present. They were present when these things are being declared by Jacob to his son Joseph. They're going to hear these things.

I want to comment on this phrase where it was told to Joseph, thy father is sick. And I just want to highlight this because this is the way of all men. This is the way of all flesh. That is all men die. We all die. And it's because of the law of sin and death that we die. We died spiritually in Adam when he rebelled against God and sinned against God and the guardian. And he died spiritually, bringing himself into darkness. And all his seed that comes from him is dead spiritually. Cannot understand nor know the things of God. And so, in like manner, we die physically because of the law of sin and death. And so, by one man, the scriptures say, by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. All have sinned. And so our Lord here, constantly throughout scripture, constantly the Lord is bringing to our sight, to our knowledge, the mortality of all men. Our mortality, our sickness, that we too shall die. Saying, thy father, your old man of flesh, is dying. He's sick. He's sick, and he's dying. He's going to be dead, and you're going to stand before the true and living God. Therefore, hear what the Lord says. He brings us to our knowledge that we would hear the Lord, that we would hear Christ, that we would look to him and learn of him and follow him.

Then it says in verse 2, and one told Jacob and said, behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. and Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed." And so here's this old man Jacob who is sick and dying and cannot lift himself off his deathbed. His flesh is dead, his flesh is passing away quickly and he cannot overcome the enemy that now has him gripped on the deathbed. But then we see the new man called Israel. Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. He sat upon that bed of death. And it's a beautiful picture for us, brethren, how that the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ overcomes, overcomes his enemies in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle John said, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them." Overcome whom? Whom have you overcome? Every evil spirit that opposes the knowledge of Christ. Every evil spirit that opposes the truth of God revealed in Christ. You that believe Christ have overcome all your enemies. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Death shall not have the victory over you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only believe on him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You shall have life everlasting.

Then Jacob speaks. He speaks to Joseph, and it says in verse 3 and 4, And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. Now, Luz is the name of the place that was later called Bethel. And Bethel means the house of God. This is the place where God appeared to Jacob and revealed himself to Jacob as his God, when he fled from the face of his brother Esau, who wanted to murder him. Because he had taken the birthright, first of all, and then he took the blessing that his father was going to give to Esau. He took that blessing, and he received that blessing. And so Esau hated him and wanted to murder him. And so Jacob left. And God appeared to Jacob on his way out of Canaan to declare to him, to reveal to him that he is Jacob's God, that he is his Lord and Savior. And what happened was Jacob laid down to sleep that night and he saw, he dreamed a dream, and he saw in that dream heaven open and the Lord above in heaven. And there was a ladder coming down from heaven to the earth with angels ascending and descending upon it. Going up and down, he saw the angels ascending and descending upon it.

Now that ladder is Christ Jesus. The latter is Christ Jesus. Even the Lord Himself tells us when He was speaking to Nathanael, He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, truly, truly, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

Christ Jesus is that latter which Jacob saw. He is the latter. And what that's saying is that only through Christ alone, through the Lord Jesus Christ, do we know, do we serve, do we worship the true and living God, only through Christ alone. Through Christ, all spiritual blessings are given to us of God. Apart from Christ, there are no blessings. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ are the prayers of the saints heard by God. The angels ascending. Only through Christ, in that sweet smelling savor of Christ, are our prayers heard and received by God. Only because of Christ is that heavenly door open unto us that we may enter in. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now let me point out five things that Jacob says here in verses three and four, which our Lord does for all his people in Christ. This is what he does for his people in Christ.

First, Jacob says, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz. And we know how he appeared. He saw this ladder. He dreamed a dream with the angels ascending and descending upon it, which is Christ. What the Lord is teaching us is that if God is your God, if He is calling you, He shall reveal Himself to you in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's many people who claim to be spiritual. There's many people in the world who claim to know God. They're all liars if their hope is not fixed in Christ alone. They're all deceivers and liars. If God is your God, he will reveal himself to you in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, Jacob tells us, God blessed me. God blessed me. God didn't bless Esau the way he blessed Jacob. Esau had a good life in this earth, but that was it. It ended. He didn't bless Esau, God blessed Jacob. He blessed Jacob concerning spiritual things, eternal things, lasting things that shall not be taken away. If God is your God, if He reveals Himself to you, it's going to be a personal blessing to you. He does this for His children. He doesn't do this for those that are not his children. It'll be personal. We're not saved because mommy and daddy were saved. We're not saved because our parents were believers. We might call ourselves Christians because that's how we grew up. But if God is your God, you too are going to be personally blessed to know, I'm the sinner, Lord save me. You're going to cry out to Him for His grace and mercy. Because all who come to God, come to Him as sinners, seeking mercy, seeking grace, seeking His favor, His forgiveness, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's personal. And He blesses His children. We don't just attach ourselves saying, well, that's what I always did, so I'm a Christian. It's personal. You're going to know I'm the sinner. Lord, save me. You're going to cry out to him. That's his blessing.

Third, Jacob says, God said unto me. God spake to Jacob. God revealed himself by his word. If God is your God, if he will reveal himself to you, he's going to speak to you, he's going to reveal himself to you in his word. And that is the word by whom all things are created in heaven and earth. Nothing was made that is made, except by the Word of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal Son of God, the eternal uncreated Son of God, is the Word of God. And we're told in the Scriptures that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And this word, the Lord Jesus Christ says, my sheep hear my voice. We hear the word of God. We see him. And he says, I know them and they follow me. We follow this word. We follow Christ Jesus.

Fourth, Jacob tells us that God said, I will make the fruitful. I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee." God promises that by Him we are made fruitful. We bear the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of righteousness, of love, faith, joy, peace, gladness, gentleness, kindness, long-suffering. Temperance, we bear fruits of righteousness in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, we see the sovereignty of God here to do as he pleases in his people. He does as he pleases. And therefore, being sovereign, able to do as he pleases, he makes his people fruitful. Just as he said, I make thee fruitful. God is the one who gives his spirit to whomsoever he will. And so he makes his people fruitful in him, making us partakers of his grace by the giving of his Holy Spirit. Paul wrote that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on two good works which God hath before ordained. that we should walk in them, predestinated that we should walk in them. He chose out the works that we should walk. He chose out the path by which we would come and glorify Christ. He ordained all these things. We are trophies of His grace.

And then fifth, God tells Jacob, I will give this land. I will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. God promises to glorify his children in Christ by giving us an eternal inheritance in Christ, which shall never be taken away. It's eternal. It will not diminish. It cannot go away. Its value doesn't decrease. It is eternal and lasting, and it shall not be taken away. And just as Jacob was told, I'm giving it to your seed after you. He believed, he believed the promise of God, even though he didn't take possession of it yet. It was given after. So it is with our eternal inheritance. We're told, when I return again, though you die, though your body die and go to dust in the ground, when I return, you shall be raised anew and receive your eternal inheritance. We receive this inheritance by grace and faith, brethren. And so these five things our Lord does for all whom he calls in the Lord Jesus Christ. He does these things for us. All these blessings are given to us in Christ the latter, by whom we know and come to the Father.

All right, now dropping down to verse 11, verse 11. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face, and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed. I just want to show you a few spiritual things that are in these verses here. This is a spiritual word to you that can hear it, to you that hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Jacob expresses wonder and delight that he is now looking into the face of Joseph, his son. It's amazing to him to see his son Joseph. And so it is, brethren, that you delight and rejoice in God to see the face of your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we know the true and living God. That is a wonder, that is a grace that God should reveal Christ to us who are sinners. us whose life has been dismal and dark and weak and puny, like Jacob confessed to Pharaoh. Few and evil have been the days of my life, he said. Few and evil. And he was 130 years old when he said that.

But brethren, we see Christ. And not only do we see Christ, the mystery of God revealed in the scriptures to show us our righteousness and our salvation in Christ, but we also live to see his seed brought in us. the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ by whom we know the true and living God, by whom we hear and understand these blessed words, by whom we know the mystery of God revealed unto us in Christ, receiving these spiritual things by faith and grace which are given unto us.

Then, one more thing, to you fathers and mothers, you that would see your sons and daughters redeemed by the blood of Christ, confessing Christ, seeing Christ's face, seeing his seed in them, note this next verse, the first half, verse 12, and Joseph brought them out from between his knees. Now I know that what it's saying there is that Joseph and his sons are bowed down before Jacob. They're hearing Jacob speak and they're bowed down before him. But what a sweet picture this is, that you parents, you that have loved ones, even if you're not a parent, you have loved ones, be in prayer for your children. Be in prayer for those that you love and care for. It may be that the Lord hears your prayers which are raised up to him from your knees, and bringing forth your children and those whom you love before God on your knees. That's the sweet spiritual picture there. Be in prayer for your family. Be in prayer for your friends. Be in prayer for your loved ones and neighbors. whom you care for, because the Lord is pleased. He delights to show himself to his people, to reveal himself to them that are in darkness and ignorant of the truth of God. It delights him.

Next, we look at Jacob's blessings upon Joseph's first two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So Jacob said back in verse 5, Thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee in Egypt, are mine." Your two boys, your two sons, they're mine. As Reuben and Simeon are mine, they too shall be mine.

Now, Reuben and Simeon are the first two sons born to Jacob. The very first two sons. They were Leah's boys. Reuben and Simeon. And Reuben means behold, look, see, a son. Leah was excited. I have a son. I have a son. Look, a son. And Simeon, the next born, means hearing. And specifically, hearing with acceptance. hearing with acceptance."

And Jacob adds in verse 6, "...and thy issue which thou begettest after them." Any sons and daughters you have after them, right? Why don't we ever hear of any other children that Joseph had? Well, because they're Joseph's, and they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. They're not going to have a separate inheritance. Their inheritance is going to be found in Ephraim and in Manasseh, which are my two sons.

And so it is, brethren, that everyone who is born of the seed of Christ Everyone that is begotten of God is a son of the true and living God and is heard with acceptance. God accepts and receives us. And therefore, being received of God, being hearing of God, receiving us and accepting us, we too do hear and accept him and receive him, being blessed of him and his grace.

And so the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe him and trust him for all our righteousness and acceptance with God, all right? And so there's the blessing there, all right? Just like Ephraim and Manasseh are his sons, so we too are sons and we hear. We hear the Lord and follow him.

Now recorded here in verse 13 and 14, let's go back to 13 and 14. Joseph took them both Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand and brought them near unto him.

Let me just give you a visual here. Joseph's standing there, right, and he's standing before Jacob and he's got Manasseh, no, he's got Ephraim in his right hand and Manasseh, the firstborn, in his left. And he pushes them towards Jacob.

Now here's Jacob. On Jacob's right hand is Manasseh. And on his left hand is Ephraim. And what Jacob does is he crosses his two hands and puts his right hand on Ephraim, the second born's head, and his left hand on Manasseh.

And we know from the scriptures that the right hand pictures the strength, the blessing, the true blessing, the powerful blessing. It goes on the firstborn son. But he swapped. He switched his hands over. He crossed them.

And so what Jacob did is he adopted these two boys as his own sons. These are his sons. And what one of the things that we see there is he's given Joseph a double portion. Joseph is being treated as the firstborn son. He's getting the birthright. He's being given the double portion. over all his brethren, because he's going to have two tribes in the land. He's getting two inheritances, double the portion of all his other brothers there.

And it says in verse 15, he blessed Joseph. He blessed Joseph with this double portion and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day.

Well, how did Abraham and Isaac walk? They were justified before God. Therefore, they walked by faith. Faith. God reveals all that are justified by him by revealing faith in them. He gives that spiritual gift of faith to those whom he has justified before him.

Now, the angel Verse 16, The angel which redeemed me from all evil blessed the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And so, the Son of God is He which came in the flesh. The eternal, uncreated Son of God is He which came in the flesh. And He is this angel which redeemed Jacob, that He's speaking of here. He's speaking of the pre-incarnate, pre-flesh Christ, who redeemed Him.

In Jacob's eyes, brethren, are not fixed on temporal things of the trouble and the danger that he was delivered from by Esau and Laban and others. If all you can see is carnal things, carnal things, things that pass away, you're missing the faith, the hope of Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, that which they saw. Abraham saw my day, Christ said, and rejoiced to see it. They looked with faith to these things which you now hear, and are comforted in, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the hope of the believer.

What has the blood of Christ redeemed us from? If you want to know what Jacob is speaking of, what did Christ redeem you from? The guilt and shame of your sin. If you are Christ, he by his blood has washed away your sin and put away that guilt and shame. He has removed you out from the dominion, the rule of sin, taking you out from that. He has taken you and delivered you from that cruel and wicked hand of the evil one, taking you out of that strong man's house, which we were in prison and in darkness, under which this whole world lieth in darkness. with the children of wrath and destruction, and the children of disobedience.

And his blood has redeemed us from the condemnation of the law and delivered us from the hand of justice, so that the justice of God is satisfied against us. God is at peace toward us and blesses us in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what the redemption of Jesus Christ has done for His people. He has put away the sin of His people forever and given us light and life in Him and inheritance in Him. That's what His redemption is. And so there's the hope of the believer that we are redeemed by the blood of Christ. We are redeemed, brethren. Our sin is put away. The guilt is put away. It's good news in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joseph saw this, and he tried to switch his father's hands. He said, oh, he was upset about this. It bothered him, even though they weren't his sons. They are Jacob's now. They are Jacob's sons now. And he wanted Manasseh, the firstborn, to have the greater blessing, just like Abraham. Naturally, this is what we think. Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. No, that's not what God purposed. He purposed to bless that which is born second, that which comes after the flesh, that which is spiritual. That's who he blesses.

And so Jacob here is operating under a spirit of prophecy, a spirit of prophecy. And so verse 19, his father refused. He wouldn't let him switch his hands and said, I know it, my son. I know it. I know your struggle, I know the difficulty in seeing this thing, and I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm being led of the Spirit of God to do this thing, to bless Ephraim. And he says, Manasseh shall also become a people, and he also shall be great. But truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

And so some here believe that this prophecy is speaking of the Gentile church, which would be greater in number than the Jewish church. And that may very well be. But what we see here in the Lord preferring Ephraim over Manasseh, preferring the second born over the first born, it's a picture of the blessing of regeneration for the people of God that are redeemed by the blood of God.

If you are Christ's, you are made new creatures in him. You are given life in the spirit, whereby we hear his voice and believe Christ. We are born again, brethren. We are new creatures. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. All that hope and trust and confidence in the form of religion, the dead letter form of religion, is put away. It's childish things that are put away. Those are just elements of the earth. And we embrace the spirit. We embrace Christ. We rejoice in Christ and what he has done for us. Our confidence is not in do and don't. It's in what Christ has accomplished, what he has done. He's my life. He's my hope. He's my salvation. He's my all. And that's how God reveals Himself to us, that's how God speaks to us, that's how God blesses us and speaks to us and makes Himself known to us, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are regenerated.

And verse 20 says, And He blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim, and as Manasseh, and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. All right, so now we see the redemption of the Lord's people, and we see the regeneration. And then very quickly now, Jacob prophesies of the resurrection of the people of God. Pictured in God visiting Israel and taking them out of Egypt and bringing them up and into the promised land, into Canaan, that picture of our eternal inheritance there.

And he says in verse 21 and 22, and Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die. I'm dying, but God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers." The inheritance of the faithful. That is our hope, that though this man die, this man perish, and goes into the ground, yet as I think it was Job who said, but my eyes shall behold, my Lord shall stand on the earth, my Redeemer shall stand on the earth, and my eyes, not another, my eyes shall see him and behold his glory. There is a blessing for the people of God. We have that hope.

Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. Now, there's no mention in Scripture who this Amorite is that he defeated. And what it probably is, is Joseph looking toward his seed when they came up out from Egypt and began to conquer the land with sword and bow to drive out the Amorites, to drive them from their inheritance.

Now, by a spirit of prophecy, Jacob declared to Joseph and his seed the hope of every believer. This is our hope, brethren, you that hope in Christ. This is our hope, that Jesus Christ, the eternal, uncreated Son of God, who came in the flesh, has accomplished, he's redeemed me. He has put away my sin. and that he has given me life. Picture there in the regeneration, that which is second born. I came forth in this old man of flesh, but now there is a second born which is preferred, which the father receives and looks at and blesses me in Christ, in that seed of Christ.

And then The promise that He shall return just as He said, I come again. I will, if I've told you I'm coming again, I'm coming again. And when I come, I shall not come in weakness. I shall not come in sin. I shall not come in suffering. I shall come mighty. And I will call you and raise you up to be forever with the Lord. When He raises us from the dead, the resurrection of the dead, and bring us into our eternal inheritance. That's the hope, brethren. That's the hope, given to you in Christ. In Christ. Amen.