You know, in our study of the
book of Genesis, we've come across several leading characters, which
we want to kind of always keep before us. And each of these
is a picture of our Lord Jesus, even as Joseph is. If you read
A.W. Pink, he will tell you that Joseph
is a type of our Savior in over 100 ways. And certainly he's
accurate in that. And yet there are others in the
Old Testament, other men who preceded Joseph who were also
types of our Lord Jesus. And the first one that must come
to mind is Adam. In fact, Adam is the only man
of whom the Scripture specifically says, he was a figure of Him
who was to come. Look with me in Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5. Adam was a type, he was a picture,
a figure of our Lord Jesus. Here in Romans 5, note first
of all verse 12, and I'll read 12, 13, and 14. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned, or all have sinned in Adam. He was our representative. He
was what the theologians called the federal head of his race. He represented all of his posterity. Verse 13, For unto the law sin
was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no
law. Now look at verse 14. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression. That is, I think
he's talking here about infants, young babies, young children. Adam sinned willfully. He willed
in his heart to rebel God. And that's where sin was first
found. It was first found in his heart. He willed to eat. He willed to disobey God. He willed to violate that law
that God laid down. Before he ever took that forbidden
fruit and ate of that, in his own mind and in his own heart,
he decided, this is what I'm going to do. He willed to eat. And then here's the statement
in the end of verse 14, who is the figure of Him who was to
come. If there's any man in all of
the Word of God who is a figure, a type, a picture of our Lord
Jesus, the Spirit of God tells us it was Adam. Because Adam
was a representative man and he represented the old covenant.
The covenant of works. God gave him one law. One law to obey. And he disobeyed
that law. And by his disobedience, everybody
he represented became sinners. but he was a figure of one who
was to come that is another representative. As Adam was the representative
of his own posterity, our Lord Jesus was the representative
of his posterity. Adam represented all of the people
who would ever be born of a union of a man and a woman. He represented
all of our race. Well, the Lord Jesus represented
all of His race, all of those God gave Him in the covenant
of grace. And He was our head of the covenant
of grace. He is the figure. Adam was the
figure of Him who was to come. Adam was disobedient. Our Lord
was obedient. Adam's disobedience resulted
in, or I should say, affected everybody he represented. Even
so, our Lord Jesus, his obedience, it affected everybody he represented. By Adam's disobedience, all became
unrighteous. You are unrighteous, you're born
in a state of unrighteousness, me too, and everybody, all the
human race, born into a state of alienation from God, all because
of the disobedience of Adam. In other words, you became a
sinner by something that somebody else did. Therefore, even infants are guilty
through Adam's transgression, though they may not individually
have committed any sins against God. They're born sinners. They're born alienated from God. They're born dead in trespasses
and sins, and therefore they have to be redeemed. Well, our
Lord Jesus, He came into this world and He was obedient. Now here's, the scripture is
very specific when it says this in Philippians, the second chapter.
He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And by
His obedience unto death, the many that He represented were
made righteous. You see, I'll go back and say
it this way. You became a sinner by something
somebody else did. And you become righteous by something
somebody else did. Another representative man. Salvation isn't up to you. It's
not up to me. I had an opportunity today The
Lord opened a door for me to speak with a person about the
things of God, and I asked her where she went to church, because
she wanted to know how we wound up in Ashland, and I told her. And she told me where she went
to church, and I said, could you tell me a little bit about
what your church believes? She said, well, in meaning, in
what way? And I said, what do y'all believe
about salvation? Because she told me she started
attending this church when she was four years old. And I never
guessed the age of a woman. You could get in big trouble
doing that, but she is I'd say in excess of 40, let's say, okay? So she's been there a long time.
I said, you've been there long enough to know what your church
believes about salvation. She said, well, salvation consists
of this. You have to believe in the virgin
birth, have to believe in the perfect life of Jesus, have to
believe in his death, his burial, his resurrection, his literal
resurrection, and you have to believe that He's coming again
one day." And I said, so that's your church's belief of salvation? She said, yes, it is. I said,
well, what's interesting to me in your answer is you didn't
mention anything God does in salvation. And yet the Scripture
says salvation is of the Lord. She said, well, the Lord ordained
that we do those things. in order to be saved. I said
salvation is not by us doing things. Salvation is by the grace
of God to sinners through the Lord Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
could shout this message out from the mountaintops? It's not
you, it's God. It's not what you do for God. It's not what you do with God. It's what God through Christ
the Lord does for sinners, what He's already done. You see, this
business of our Lord putting our sins away and bringing in
righteousness and establishing the justice of God and satisfying
it, that's something that has already taken place. and were
accepted in the Beloved. So the question I asked her was
a valid one. Where is God in all of this?
You tell me about salvation, all these things we have to do.
What about God? And you see, she answered me
according to that which she has been instructed, what she has
been taught. Thank God we've been taught differently. Because as I told her, she said,
well, the Baptists probably believe differently. I said, I'm not
interested in what the Nazarene believe. I'm not interested in
what the Baptists believe. I'm only interested in what God
has to say. What does God say about salvation? And he says through this one
representative man, by his obedience, the many he represented were
made righteous. So the first man in the Bible
who's a picture of our Lord Jesus is Adam. Adam. And of course, the Savior is
referred to as the last Adam. There are only two men in the
Bible, two representative men, and all of humankind is viewed
in one or the other by God. In Adam, men are lost. In Christ,
men are saved. But I've got to move on. The
second representative man or the second man who's a figure
or a picture or type of our Lord Jesus is Noah. The scripture says in Hebrews
11 verse seven, he prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Noah was used of God to save
his household. and for that matter, to save
humanity. Because all that was left after
God sent the devastation of the watery flood, the flood that
covered the whole earth, all that was left was those eight
souls. And God used one man, one man, to deliver them. Even
so. God used one man by whom we're
saved, and that's the God-man. And as Noah prepared an ark to
the saving of his house, our Lord Jesus finished salvation. He finished redemption to the
saving of his house. In fact, He is the ark of our
salvation. and we find deliverance in Him. And then the third man, as we
move along through hundreds of years in the Old Testament, in
the book of Genesis, the third man who's a real good picture
of our Lord Jesus is Abraham. In his very name, for his name
means the father of many nations or the father of many, many people. Even so, our Lord Jesus is referred
to in Isaiah as Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father. He's the Father of many people. He's the Father of many nations. He is that Everlasting Father
and the Prince of Peace. He's the Father of all the people
that God gave Him in the covenant of grace. And He saved all of
His offspring by His bloody death upon the cross and then His resurrection
from the dead. And He'll bring them all at last
into heavenly joy in the presence of God. And as it says in Hebrews
chapter 2, He will say, Behold, I and the children He's the Father. Abraham's the Father of many
nations. Our Lord Jesus is the Father
of many people, a multitude which no man can number. Behold, I
am the children God hath given me. And then the fourth man is Isaac,
the son who is willing to be the burnt sacrifice obedient to the very command
of God to his father. We know God spared Isaac, and
Abraham was told to kill an animal, a ram, instead of Isaac. The ram was the substitute. But
our Lord Jesus, He was our substitute. And He was the willing Son who
offered up Himself for the people that God gave Him in order to
satisfy divine justice. God spared not His own Son. God spared Isaac. But He didn't
spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. So how shall
they not with Him freely give us all things? If He gave us
the major thing, if He gave us His only begotten Son, well surely
He'll give us all the lesser things that we stand in need
of. And then as we continue to move
through the lineage of Abraham, we come to Jacob. He's a type of our Lord Jesus,
a picture of the Savior, in that He endured great hardship for
the privilege to have a bride. Rachel. The Scripture says He
served for her seven years. And Genesis 29.20 says, And they
seemed unto Him but a few days for the love He had for her. And then, of course, he had to
serve seven more years. Our Lord rendered service to
the Father. He endured the humiliation of
stepping down from His throne in glory and being made alike
in the sinful flesh, being made under the law, the civil law,
parental law, Levitical law. And He endured all the horrors
of the cross of Calvary and the hatred of men. And primarily,
He endured the vengeance of God against our sins. He rendered
perfect service in His life. And His sacrifice bought a bride. Bought a bride. Christ loved
the church. and gave himself for it, that
he might wash it and sanctify it, his bride. Which now brings us to Joseph
and Genesis chapter 37, which begins the story of Joseph. And
really the story of Joseph, it consumes the rest of the book
of Genesis with the exception of chapter 49. Chapter 49 are
the words of Jacob on his deathbed as he had various things to say. to his sons. He's a picture,
he's a type of Christ in many ways, far too many to even begin
to mention very many of them this evening, but I do want to
give you three ways in which he was a type of our Lord Jesus,
just to kind of whet your appetite just a little bit. But before
that, let me introduce the man to you. Joseph was the firstborn
of Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel, the second one being Benjamin,
to whom, or in giving birth to him, I should say, she died. More personal details are given
about Joseph than any other person in all of the Word of God, with
the exception of our Lord Jesus Christ. And maybe that's because the
history of Joseph links together the book of Genesis and the book
of Exodus. He is the one who ties them both
together. It's Joseph and the way God used
Joseph that connects the way or tells us the way in how the
Israelites wound up in Egypt. And though they started out very,
very, very small, 70 in number, when Joseph was exalted and Jacob
and his family, they all come out of the land of Canaan and
they go to Egypt to be provided for by Joseph, the Scripture
says there were 70 of them. That was it. That was the whole
nation of Israel. Not a very big nation at all.
Over the next many years, that little bitty family grew into
a mighty nation, hundreds of thousands of people. It is Jacob's or Joseph's life
that tells us and certainly sets before us the remarkable development
of Jacob's family. Let me give you three things
real quick. Number one, the first way he's a type of Christ is
nothing negative is ever said about him. That's very remarkable. Especially when the Word of God
goes into such detail about his life. yet nothing negative is
ever said pertaining to Joseph. Now, that is not to say that
he wasn't a sinful man. He was a sinful man. He was born
with that damning nature. He was born alienated from God. He was born needing a Redeemer,
needing salvation, needing forgiveness, needing righteousness. There's
no question about that. The Savior came and sacrificed
Himself for Joseph and for all of His Josephs. But the unique
thing, one of the unique things about Joseph's life is nothing
is ever said of him that would portray him as anything less
than a good man. Though we know in himself he
wasn't good. And that reminds us of the perfection
of the Savior. With Joseph, nothing sinful was
ever recorded in the book of God. Still, he was a sinner. But the one he pictured, there
was absolutely nothing sinful about him. He was the perfect
man. In fact, the Savior said to concerning
Satan, He said, the prince of this world cometh and hath found
nothing in me. There's nothing evil in him.
There's nothing wicked in him. You see, when Satan or one of
his demons comes to any of us, he will find that the devil or
a demon will find something in us that is exactly the same in
Him. What is that? That's sin. That's sin. You say, but I'm
a child of God. I've been born of the Spirit.
There's the new man who dwells in me. Indeed, that is very true. But the old man still dwells
there too. And so Satan, when he comes to
you or me in temptation, he finds something within us with which
he can work, but not so with the Savior. Our Lord Jesus, it is said, he
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Why, he couldn't
have been the perfect sacrifice if he had been a sinner. either before the cross or while
He was on the cross. He couldn't have been the Savior
if He became a sinner. Ephesians 5 verse 2 says, "...walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself
for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."
His sacrifice was a sweet-smelling savor unto God. His sacrifice
would not have been that Had he been a sinful man? One sinner can't die for another
sinner so as to obtain salvation for him. That's an impossibility. His was the sacrifice with which
the Father was well satisfied. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. Secondly, Joseph was a type of
our savior in that he was appointed to be the head of the father's
family. In the family of Jacob, we know
the firstborn, and this was true of all of these Old Testament
families prior to the introduction of the Levitical law. The firstborn
of every family was to be the head leading in worship, To them,
the father would have given a greater inheritance, and therefore that
person would lead the family in worship. Well, maybe you're
thinking, yeah, but I don't know how Joseph comes in here because
he wasn't the firstborn, Reuben was. Well, you're right. Reuben
was the first one. He was the firstborn. But Reuben
did something awful. Go back to Genesis chapter 35. Genesis chapter 35 and look at
verse 22. And it came to pass when Israel
dwelt in that land that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his
father's concubine, and Israel heard it. In other words, he raped her.
Reuben did. And that cost him. And Jacob, he took away the birthright
from Reuben. Who to give it to? Look over
the book of 1 Chronicles 5. It was taken away from Reuben.
He's not the head of the family anymore. No, sir. He did wickedly. And you know, Rachel had already
died, and now another blow to Jacob was Reuben sleeping with
one of his concubines, and Jacob's upset. Are you there? 1 Chronicles 5 verse 1. Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn
of Israel, for he was the firstborn, but for as much as he defiled
his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph,
the son of Israel, and, or but, I think is a better translation.
The genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright, for Judah
prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler,
but the birthright, who did it go to? It went to Joseph. It went to Joseph. And therefore,
that rare privilege of leading the family in worship was given
to Joseph. It was his responsibility. And
he offered unto God the sacrifices that pictured the sacrifice of
our Lord Jesus. Joseph was the one who did that. Because he was appointed to be
the head of the family. In fact, a double portion was
given to Joseph, which went, and this is how Jacob honored
him, and Jacob honored him in accordance with the purpose of
God, and was brought to pass by the providence of God. Jacob
gave the birthright to Joseph, and then Jacob gave a double
blessing so that Joseph's two boys, his two sons, Ephraim and
Manasseh, the birthright then went to them, to both of them. And they both got the portion
that belonged to the firstborn because Joseph had received double. And what an honor it was to Joseph
that, not that he would be the name of a tribe, but his two
sons, his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The birthright went to Joseph.
But let me quickly point this out. Go back to the end of verse
1. His birthright was given to the
sons of Joseph, the sons of Israel, but the genealogy is not reckoned
after the birthright. In other words, the genealogy
leading to Messiah, it didn't follow Joseph. It didn't follow Ephraim. It
didn't follow Manasseh. Verse 2, but Judah. Judah. You see, the Lord, go
all the way back to Genesis 49. Genesis 49. The Lord led Jacob
to pronounce these blessings upon his sons. And it gets down
to verse 8. And he says, Genesis 49.8, Judah,
thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall
be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow
down before thee. And when it reached Judah, think
of Judah's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Judah is a lion's
whelp, a young lion. From the prey, my son, thou art
gone up. He stooped down. He made himself
of no reputation. That's what our Lord did. He
stooped down. He couched as a lion, as an old
lion. Who shall rouse him up? Verse
10, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet until Shiloh come. Shiloh is the gatherer. Shiloh is that promised one. Shiloh is our Lord Jesus. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Binding his fold under the vine,
and his ass's colt under the choice vine. He washed his garments
in wine, his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be
red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. All of these
pictures of our Lord Jesus. So though the birthright went
to Joseph, The genealogy didn't follow him. God had ordained that the genealogy
follow Judah. So our Lord, He was a high priest,
not after the tribe of Levi, and He wasn't a high priest after
the order of Aaron. He was a high priest after the
order of Melchizedek. Our Lord Jesus came forth from
Judah. From Judah. Joseph then, he was the one to
whom the birthright was given. And our Lord Jesus, our Lord
Jesus, he's been appointed to be the head of God's family.
Just like Jacob said to Joseph, you're the head of the family.
In old eternity, God said to His Son, you're the head of the
family. You're the head of my family.
I covenant to you all of these people. I choose them. I gift
them to you. You bear full responsibility
for them. You represent them. He leads us in worship. He brings us, He leads us, He
directs us to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and to
Him belong the responsibility of offering the sacrifice to
God that would satisfy Him. And our Lord Jesus did that.
But He didn't bring a lamb, He didn't bring a sheep, He didn't
bring an oxen. That sacrifice that He offered
was the sacrifice of Himself. that satisfied God. And thirdly
and quickly, Joseph was a, he was a type of our savior in that
he was a shepherd. And we read that right there
at the very beginning of chapter 37. Verse two, these are the
generations of Jacob. Joseph being 17 years old was
feeding the flock with his brethren. He's a shepherd. A shepherd. Our Lord Jesus is the shepherd
of the Father's sheep. What kind of shepherd is He?
Well, He's the great shepherd in the covenant of grace. His
blood is the blood of the great covenant. Hebrews 13, 20-21. He's the good shepherd in laying
down His life for the sheep. John chapter 10. He's the seeking
shepherd. Ezekiel 34 11, Behold, I, even
I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. He's the finding and enfolding
shepherd. Of the sheep I have, he said
in John chapter 10, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. there shall be one shepherd and
one fold. And he is the knowing shepherd. He said, I am the good shepherd
and know my sheep. What does that mean? I know my
sheep. Means he's loved his sheep. He
loves his sheep with an everlasting love. To the wicked at the judgment,
he will say, depart from me. I never knew you. but the Lord
knoweth them that are His." He loves those that are His. And
He's the providing Shepherd. Therefore, David said, the Lord
is my Shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not
lack for any good thing. I have all spiritual blessings
in Him. He is made of God to be my wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Another subject
that this person and I talked about, sanctification. I said, do you have to be sanctified
to go to heaven? She said, well, not necessarily.
I said, well, the Scripture says you do. And she said, well, the
more you do, the more you're sanctified. I said, no, Christ
is our sanctification. God made Him to be all that we
need. Have you got to be sanctified
to go to heaven? You betcha! And if sanctification is necessary
to go to heaven, then it must be the work of God, not the work
of man. He is the Providing Shepherd.
I shall not lack for anything I need. to stand perfect in Him
before God, I shall not lack for anything in this life either.
I may not have everything I want, but I have everything I need.
And He's the feeding shepherd. He shall feed His sheep like
a shepherd. He maketh me lie down in green
pastures is what the psalmist said. He's the preserving shepherd. He's never lost a sheep. They
shall not perish. I give him eternal life, is what
he said. And he's the chief shepherd who shall come again someday
and receive us unto himself. What a remarkable man God raised
up in Joseph. And he's such a beautiful picture
of our Savior. And we rejoice that God has given
us an understanding to see that He is just that. He's a picture
of our Lord Jesus. And we worship the Savior and
rejoice in Him.