That song. You know, people are looking
for something to give them validation, make them feel good about themselves. What makes me feel good about
myself? Christ is all. That gives me validation, I don't
need anything else. Would you turn to Genesis chapter
36? Verse 1, Now these are the generations
of Esau, who is Edom. And we have a very long chapter
regarding the descendants of Esau and the dukes and leaders
and kings and what all they were able to achieve in this life. Very long chapter. And then in
Chapter 37, Jacob dwelt in the land wherein
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. You know,
when I read that, I thought, I'm dwelling in this land as
a stranger. I really believe myself to be a stranger because
I am passing through. And then in verse two, we read,
These are the generations of Jacob. How many sons did Jacob
have? Does anybody remember? He had
twelve sons. This is interesting. These are
the generations of Jacob. Everybody that Esau had his name
there in chapter 37. But only one name is mentioned. Joseph. These are the generations of
Jacob, Joseph. Now, Jacob is a very special
man in the scriptures, so much so that the God of glory identifies
himself as the God of Jacob. And as a matter of fact, the
title that he uses regarding himself more than any other title
is the God of Jacob. We read in Psalm 146, verse 5,
happy is he that hath the God of Jacob as his help. Jacob was a man loved by God. Remember how God said, Jacob
have I loved? And you know, that wouldn't be
significant if God loved everybody the same, would it? It wouldn't
really mean anything if God loved Esau the same way he loved Jacob.
But God himself says, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. God's love is in Christ. God's love is to a particular
people. And to talk about universal love, to say God loves everybody
the same, to say God loves all men without exception, is to
make the love of God absolutely meaningless. You take away the
meaning if you believe that. But God, the Bible doesn't teach
universal love. God said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. It said of
Jacob and all of his sons, listen to this scripture regarding Jacob.
It said of Jacob and all of his sons, The Lord hath not beheld
iniquity in Jacob, neither perverseness in Israel. Now, I behold all
kinds of iniquity in Jacob. There are a lot of things I can
say about Jacob. Yet when God describes this man, the Lord
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither perverseness in Israel. Now, why is this? I behold all
kinds of iniquity in Jacob. Why does God say this regarding
Jacob? Well, here's the answer. Verse
2 of our text. These are the generations of
Jacob. Only one name is mentioned. Joseph. Now here's our reason. Joseph. Now this Son of Jacob, Joseph
is one of the most remarkable types of Christ in all the scriptures.
As a matter of fact, if I told you I've got an actual portrait
of Christ that can tell you what he really looks like, you'd be
interested, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you like to see what
his dear face looks like? Now, I realize we can't make anything like that.
It would be idolatry. But if I had an actual portrait
of Christ that really did give his likeness, you'd be interested
in seeing it. Well, do you know that in the story of Joseph,
we're given a beautiful portrait of Christ? If you want to know
what Jesus Christ, the Lord actually looks like, you read the history
of Joseph. What was the difference between
Jacob and Esau? Joseph. What's the difference between
Jacob and Esau? Christ. And Joseph represents Christ.
We're going to see this in the scripture actually for the next
several weeks. We're going to be looking at the life of Joseph. But let me give you a few parallels
between Joseph and Christ to show you how that Joseph is a
type of Christ. Joseph was the favorite of his
father. His father made a marked difference
between him and the rest of those boys. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the favorite of his father. Joseph was hated by his brethren. Christ was hated by his brethren. Joseph was brought down to a
pit. That illustrates to us the incarnation
of Christ, his descent down to come and live among us. Joseph was sold to the Israelites
for silver. Christ was sold for 30 pieces
of silver. Joseph did not yield to temptation. One of the amazing things about
the history of Joseph is, do you know that the Word of God
doesn't point out any faults that he had? Now, you know he
had them. He was a sinner like you and
I are. He was a human being. But the Bible doesn't point out
one fault this man had. Do you remember how Potiphar's
wife would beg him, come lie with Come lie with me day after
day after day. She was begging him to do this
and he would do it. He said, how can I sin against
God and do this great evil? He didn't yield to temptation.
He lived a perfect life. Christ Jesus, the Lord, did not
yield to temptation. He never sinned. Joseph was cast
into a prison for a sin that he did not commit. Christ was
crucified. for sins he did not commit. Joseph
came out of prison to become the most powerful man in the
land. If you wanted to get anything
to eat, if you wanted to have food, you had to go to Joseph
for it. And when Christ was raised from the dead, he was raised
as King of kings and Lord of lords. And Joseph's brethren
were saved and preserved through all this happening to Joseph.
Now, his brethren were a wicked bunch of people. There just wasn't
much to them. You read the history of these men, and they were sinful
men. And look at the way they treated
Joseph. Yet, their salvation was totally dependent upon all
this happening to Joseph. And the salvation of God's people
is totally dependent upon all that our Lord went through for
them. These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph. I pray that God will bless this
study to our hearts to study this person. It'll give us a.
A true portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ, and aren't you interested
in seeing what he really looks like? Well, we see what he really
looks like through this passage of Scripture. Now, let's let's
pick up reading in verse two. These are the generations of
Jacob. Joseph. None of the other 11 are mentioned,
Joseph. being 17 years old, was feeding
the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bila and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wife. And
Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now, we don't know what was going
on in verse two, but they were doing something very bad. And
Joseph told of it. He exposed them to his father. Joseph was morally superior to
his brothers. He could not bear their actions,
so he told on them. And you can bet he didn't win
any popularity contest with his brother over this. He told on
them. Let's go on reading verse three.
Now, Israel loved Joseph more than all of his children because
he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of many
colors Jacob didn't make any bones about it. He made no attempt
to hide this. Joseph was his favorite. And
if you look at the life of Joseph and you look at the life of his
eleven brothers, you can understand why. Joseph was just, humanly
speaking, a whole lot better person than any of his brothers
were. He was a very special man and he was the son of his father's
old age. He was the son of Rachel, Jacob's
favorite wife. And so Jacob made him a coat
of many colors signifying royalty and a special relationship. What
a difference he made between Joseph and the rest of his brothers.
And you can bet they burned with jealousy. Can you imagine how
jealous they would have been? He didn't make any of the rest of
these fellows a coat of many colors, but he made this for
Joseph. Verse four, And when his brethren
saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, They
hated him. And they could not speak peaceably
to him. They couldn't even as much as
give him a kind word. And really, I put myself in their
place. I would have been one of them. And you would have too,
wouldn't you? You would have been upset about this. All the
difference that Jake had made with Joseph and his brethren.
And then we read in verse 5, And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
he told it his brethren. And they hated him yet the more. They were so infuriated over
this dream he had. And what was this dream? Well,
he said unto them, Here I pray you, this dream which I dreamed.
For behold, you were binding sheaves in the field, or we were
binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheep rose, and also
stood upright. And behold, your sheaves stood
round about, and made obeisance to my sheep. They actually bowed
down and worshipped my sheaves. Now can you imagine how furious
that would have made these boys? I try to put myself in their
place. I would have been upset too. Look what we read in verse
8. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over
us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion
and power over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams and for his words. Verse 9. And he dreamed yet another
dream. and told it his brethren, and
said, Behold, I dream to dream more. You can see where he might
have wanted to withhold telling them about this after the way
they reacted the first one to know. He's going to tell them
about this dream, and he's got a reason to do it. I dream to dream more,
and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance
to me. Now, what a dream that is! The
sun, the moon, the stars bowing down and worshiping me. And he told it to his father,
verse 10, and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and
said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come down to bow ourselves
down to thee on the earth? He didn't like this either. And
his brethren envied him. Oh, how envious they were of
him because of this. But his father observed the same. Now, just as Joseph was his father's
favorite, Jesus Christ the Lord is his father's favorite. He loves Christ best of all. Now, it is true that the scripture
teaches that the father loves all of his children as he does
his dear son. Turn with me, hold your finger there and turn with
me to John 17. I think to me, this is one of the most amazing
scriptures in the Bible. Every time I read this scripture,
I'm amazed by it. Verse 23 of John, chapter 17. I in them and thou in me. That
they may be made perfect in one, John 17, 23, and that the world
may know that thou has sent me. And has loved them. As thou has
loved me. Now, do you hear what that passage
of scripture says? If you're a child of God, God the Father
loves you with the same love that he loves his son with. That's
hard to get hold of, isn't it? It's kind of hard to believe.
I mean, when I read that, I mean, I read what it says, but it's
hard for me to see God looking at me and loving me the same
way he loves his blessed son. But remember, his love to us
is because of his son. He doesn't love us unconditionally.
I hear people talking about, well, God loves unconditionally.
No, he doesn't. There is no such thing as unconditional
love. He doesn't love you as you are.
He loves you as you are in his son. He loves you because of
the union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, if I'm a believer,
I'm one with Christ. Both he that sanctify and they
that are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause he's
not ashamed to call him brother. He's not ashamed to own me as
his brother. And there's a reason being I'm one with him. That
means I'm just like him, whatever he is, I am wherever he is. I
am who he is. I am. That's what union with
Christ is all about. And here's why God loves his
people. He loves his people as they're viewed united with the
Lord Jesus Christ. One with him. Now, just forget
the thought of unconditional love. There's no such thing.
He loves you as you're viewed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have
you ever wondered? How could God love me? How could he actually love me
so as to find me desirable? How could he love me so as to
send his son to die for me? How could he love me so as to
embrace me? How could he love me? Do you know, I know the answer
to that question. He had made us accepted in the
beloved. Nothing shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord,
union with Christ. Oh, the father loves the son,
and that's why he loves all of his people. Now, in this passage
of scripture, we're given two reasons as to why Jacob loved
Joseph more than his other boys. And the first reason is because
of who his son was. He was the son of his old age.
You see, he was the son of Rachel. You remember how Jacob loved
Rachel more than Leah? Blear-eyed Leah and Rachel. Oh, he loved Rachel and he loved
whoever came out of Rachel. So Joseph was his favorite. He
made him the coat of many colors. Joseph was the favorite because
of who he came from. And Christ is the favorite because
of who he comes from. He is the only begotten of the
Father. How much do I understand of that?
Very little. He is the only begotten of the Father. He's the sole
representative of the being and the character of the Father.
And he's called the only begotten, the only birth of the Father.
He came from the Father. He's the Son of God. Now, we
can't comprehend this, but we know it so. The Father loveth
the Son. And it's given all things into
his hand. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And the Father has
a delight and a complacency in the Son that's just beyond our
understanding of it. Can you understand the delight
the Father has in the Son? I mean, we admire, we look at
it, we think about it, but we can't really enter into it. Oh,
the perfect love between the Father and the Son. He's the
favorite by virtue of who he is, the only begotten of the
Father. But there's another reason given
as to why Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers. And that
reason is Joseph's moral superiority to his brothers. Verse two. Joseph brought unto his father
their evil report. At this point is not to tell
us that Joseph is a snitch. Riding on his brothers, that's
not why this is. Given to us. It's given to let us know of
the moral superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's
what Joseph is a type and picture of. As a matter of fact, look
what God's word says about Joseph. Turn over to Genesis chapter
39. I've already referred to this. Verse seven. This is where Joseph is in the
house of Potiphar. He'd been sold into slavery,
you'll remember. And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and
she said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his
master's wife, behold, my master, what if not what is with me in
the house? And he had committed all that he had to my hand. There
is none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept
back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How
then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? You look
at the moral purity that he demonstrates at this time. Verse 10. And it
came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day. Every day he was faced with this
temptation. I wonder how you and I would
fare under that. Every day this woman was begging him, come lie
with me. And he hearkened not unto her
to lie by her or to be with her. And it came to pass about this
time that Joseph went into the house to do his business. And
there was none of the men of the house that were there. And she
caught him by his garment and said, lie with me. And he left
his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. She kept attacking
him and attacking him. But he would not give in. Now,
the point of all this is Joseph is a type of Christ. Now, I have
no doubt that this man, Joseph, was a sinful man, just like you
and I. He had the same nature that you and I have. But isn't
it interesting when you read the characters of these people
in the scriptures, how the Bible doesn't make any attempt to cover
up their sins. You look at Joseph's brothers. I mean, look at Jacob's
description of them over in the 49th chapter when he talks about
all the things that they've done. They were a wicked bunch of people.
They were a sinful bunch of people. Joseph, by nature, was just like
him. But he's the type of Christ, and you know that the Bible does
not point out one flaw in this man's character. Everything he
did prospered. Everything he did, the Lord blessed
him in it. When he was in prison, the Lord
blessed him. When he was in Potiphar's house, the Lord blessed him.
Whatever He did, the Lord blessed Him. He is a picture and an illustration
of the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus
Christ, to be my Savior, He had to be sinless. You see, if He
had any sin on Him at all, what would His death do for me? Nothing. He had to be the sinless sacrifice. And that perfect obedience that
He worked out, that beautiful law-keeping He achieved. That's my righteousness before
God. My Savior had to be a sinless Savior. Jacob loved Joseph more
than his brethren because he was better than his brothers.
Wasn't he? Do you have any problem with
saying Christ is better than you? Do you have any problem
with that at all? Of course you don't. You know
it so. As far as the record that the Bible gives, Joseph was better
than his brothers. Now, Joseph, or Jacob, made Joseph
a coat of many colors. I would like to see that coat,
wouldn't you? You know, I remember my grandmother made me one of
those when I was a kid. Made of all kinds of different
colors and patched it all up and everything, and I thought
I was something in that thing. Different colors. I guarantee you the brothers
of Joseph hated him because of this. Their dad didn't do anything
like this for them, but he did it for him. He made him a coat
of many colors, and that signifies dominion and royalty. He said by this, you are not
in the same league as Joseph. He's the king. He's the ruler. He's the one who shall have dominion
and sovereignty. He's the one who even the moon
and the stars are going to bow down and worship. The one who
is the son of the father is the one who is absolutely in control,
the ruling reigning king. He's the one who's given the
coat of many colors. And this this represents the
sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dominion of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, what is meant by that when we talk about the
sovereignty of Christ, his dominion, his control, his kingship, his
lordship? It's all the same thing. But
what is really meant by it? Well, to be sovereign, You have
to have a will. And you have to have the power
to make sure that will comes to pass. Now, Jesus Christ has
the will, and you know, he willed everything that's going to take
place in predestination. That's something to think about,
you know, we talk about predestination, you know who predestinated everything?
Jesus Christ, the Lord. He's the one who controls everything.
He predestinated everything that's going to happen. He predestinated
it. I don't care what it is. And there's nothing that falls
outside of the umbrella of his predestinating purposes. He's
in control of everything. He predestinated everything.
Not only did he predestinate everything, he had the will to
make sure that everything he predestinates come to pass. He had the power
to make sure everything that he predestinates come to pass.
That's how powerful he is. Now, he demonstrated his sovereignty. in creation when He willed this
universe into existence. By an act of His will, He willed
the sun to come into existence and the stars and the moon and
the earth and everything. It happened. He brought it out
of nothing simply as an act of His will. He's demonstrating
to us His sovereignty. All things were made by Him.
And without Him was not anything made that was made. He demonstrates
His sovereignty in providence in the sense that everything
that happens, no matter what it is, He's in control of. Everything that's happened in
your life, you know who purposed it? The Lord Jesus Christ. For His glory and for your good.
How He demonstrates His sovereignty and salvation. I suppose one
of my favorite stories in all the Bible is where that leper
comes up to our Lord And he worships Him. And he falls down before
Him. And he says, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. He knew it was not in his power
to make himself clean. He knew it was utterly in the
power of the Lord Jesus Christ. If You will, You can make me
clean. You know what the Lord said to
him? I will. And when our Lord said, I will,
you know what happened? Immediately, his leprosy was
gone. Oh, our Lord demonstrates His
sovereignty. He's the one with the coat of
many colors. And He is to be worshiped as
the sovereign King. All will bow down and do obeisance
to Him. He was given the coat of many
colors. And Joseph was hated by his brethren. They despised
him for this. And just as he was hated by his
brethren, The Lord Jesus is hated by the natural man. Now, why
did Joseph's brethren hate him? What was their reason? Well,
I've got to put myself in their place. He told on them. He brought their evil report
to his father. Now, did you ever have a sibling
tell on you? And bring your evil report to your parents. Sure
you did. And you know how upset you got when they did it too.
And I can understand his brethren getting upset over this. He told
on them. But here's the type, here's the
picture that's being shown here. The reason they got upset with
Joseph is because he exposed them. He exposed what they really
were. And that's why the natural man
gets upset with the Lord Jesus Christ. He exposes what they
really are. He exposes to me what I really
am. Now hold your finger there and turn to John 7. I want you
to see this passage of scripture. John chapter 7. The Lord says to those who did
not believe him. He's speaking to unbelievers
right now. And he says in John 7, verse 7, the world cannot
hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works
thereof are evil. And that's why the world hates
the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, because I testify of
it. I testify that the works, he's talking about all the works,
the good works, the bad works, every work that any natural man
has is only evil. And no natural man likes to be
told you're nothing but evil. That doesn't sit well, so his
brethren hated him because he exposed him, and in that way
we see why the natural man hates the Lord Jesus Christ. He exposes
him. And they hated him because of
his dominion over them. Look in verse 8 of our text,
back to Genesis 37, verse 8. And his brethren said to him,
Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed have
dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams. His dreams of dominion and sovereignty
and for His words. And that's what the natural man
cries concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll not have this man
to reign over us. You can talk about a Christ who
can't do something unless you let Him. And people will accept
that Christ. But you talk about the Christ
who's in absolute control, who you're in His hands and He can
do with you whatever He's pleased to do. He can save you if He's
pleased to do it. He can send you to hell if He's pleased to
do it. Whatever He does is right. He's in control. That Christ
the natural man hates. We'll not have this man reign
over us. But he will reign over you. He will. And his brothers
hated him because they were jealous of Jacob's love for him. Verse
11, And his brothers envied him, but his fathers observed the
same. Now, once again, I can understand
why they were jealous. If my dad was showing favoritism
to one of my siblings, I'd be jealous, too. I mean, I understand
this. Let me also say this. If you really love somebody.
You'll be happy if they're getting preference, won't you? If you
really love the Lord Jesus Christ, you'd be happy that he's getting
the preference. You'd be happy that he is the
one that his father delighted in. Now, what I think is very
interesting. is that the very reasons that
the natural man hates the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer loves
him for those same reasons. First, and I'm going to close
with these thoughts first. I love Jesus Christ for exposing
me. I'm thankful that he's revealed
to me what I really am. I praise Him for that. You know
why? It's only as I see that I'm nothing
but a sinner that I trust Him as my Savior. It is very easy
to trust Jesus Christ as your righteousness when you really
believe that you don't have any righteousness of your own, isn't
it? It's simple. It's simple. I love Jesus Christ
the Lord for exposing me. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful
for this revelation of who I am. Now, I'll tell you what, there's
been times in the past, I remember one time I asked the Lord to
show me what I really was. And I got enough of a glimpse
to where I'll never pray that again. I'll never ask him that
again. But I do ask him this, show me
enough of who I am to drive me to Christ. I want that. And we thank the Lord for this
revelation, don't we? We love him for exposing us in
that sense. Secondly, you know, the natural
man hates the Lord for his dominion. I love him for his dominion.
I love the fact that he is in absolute control, ruling and
reigning in everything. I'm so thankful that everybody's
in his hands. It takes all the pressure off.
I don't need to worry about anything. He reigns! He's in control. He controls everybody and everything. And it's His sovereignty that
I love in my salvation because He can say to me, just like He
did to that leper, I will be thou clean. And if He wills me
to be clean, I'm clean. I'm cleansed. I love the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love His Lordship, don't you?
I love it. You can't preach Christ too much
on the throne for me. You can't preach him too sovereign
for me. He's the absolute sovereign of the universe, and we love
him for it. As a matter of fact, that's the only way we can be
saved. We know that. The only way I can be saved is
if he wills my salvation. That's the only way. So I love
his sovereign salvation, and we love to see him honored by
the Father because we love him. I love to see Him get all the
glory. I love it. You know why? Because
I love Him. He deserves all the glory. I
don't deserve any. I know that. And I love Him getting
the glory because I do love His person. He is the altogether
lovely one. And we delight in Him getting
the glory. Now, every son of Jacob will
have some understanding of this. These are the generations of
Jacob. One name is given. Joseph. Amen. We'll pick up with his
betrayal next week. Let's pray together.