Watch as Ray David unpacks Genesis 50:20.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 50:20
The End of the Beginning
The story of the life of Joseph is actually the end of the beginning. Genesis begins with God creating a good world. But it’s a world that falls into corruption because of sin. But God promises that the corruption will not ultimately lead to despair and destruction, instead, the seed of the women will crush the head of the serpent and he will bruise his heal. There will be One born that will bring about the restoration of God’s good creation. We finish the book of Genesis with the story of Joseph, the twelfth son of Jacob, who will form the lineage of the One who will crush the serpent’s head and restore goodness to creation.
A Different Perspective
Joseph’s brothers massively mistreated and abused him. They threw him in a pit and left him for dead. But Joseph did not show evil for evil. He had a different perspective on life and God. He doesn’t visit vengeance upon his brothers. There’s no doubt that Joseph’s brothers were cruel and evil towards him, but Joseph didn’t see himself as a victim. He knew that even the evil done by his brothers was under the sovereign care of God. God was still working out His good plan through Joseph’s brother’s evil and injustice. He knew that there is a God and that He is always in control.
Accomplishing What He Loves
How do we reconcile this truth with times when our lives feel like they’re falling apart? Is God still in control? The late theologian, R.C. Sproul had this to say, “Our God allows what He hates to accomplish what he loves.” This truth is what delivered Joseph from bitterness.
Forces of Evil
There are many forces of evil in our lives – bad circumstances, other people, even ourself. But the greatest evil in this life is sin, death and the devil. They come to steal, kill, and destroy. They try to rob you of your joy in God. They try to steal your trust in the goodness of God. They also bring evil into your life by accusing you and heaping shame and guilt on your back.
When these things conspire to bring evil and injustice in our lives, do we just throw up our hands in the air and adopt a victim posture? No!
God is Still at Work
Two people can have the exact same thing happen in their life with radically different outcomes. One person becomes bitter, cautious, and jaded, while the other adopts an entirely different posture. The other believes that even though many forces are conspiring to bring about evil into their life, God is still at work. He’s allowing what He hates to accomplish what He loves. You can respond to evil in your life by showing other people that there is a good and loving God who is still in control. When you respond to evil with that kind of trust in God’s care and sovereignty, it works out something precious in your life.
Unexpected Good
Think about a time where unexpected good came from a loss in your life. At the time it seemed like unmitigated loss, but in retrospect you can see that God was actually working out something good. One of the ways God saves your soul, is by bringing unexpected good out of evil circumstances. God answers the prayers we would have prayed if we knew what He knew.
If you live long enough, you will see God restore a lot of the things you thought were evil and loss, but Christian faith says that even if you don’t see it happen in your lifetime, that ultimately on the last day God will restore it all. He will dry every tear and restore things in a way that is more beautiful than we could ever imagine. In the meantime, the evil and suffering in our life serves the purpose of pressing you into him. It brings you to a place where you trust in God, because that’s all you have. It strips you of any delusions that you can be self-sufficient. And when all you have is your faith and hope in God, you will find that that is actually all you need. You will know a comfort and peace that you never otherwise would ever known.
Not a Victim
God is delivering you from being a victim – guarded, jaded, cynical to a life that is free and joy-filled, because it is based on the truth that allows you to stare the evil in your life without flinching. You know that the evil is still real, but you know that God is still at work for good. He has a plan.
A Greater Joseph
The life of Joseph pointed us to a greater Joseph – Jesus. He was executed – the only truly innocent person who has ever lived. His enemies intended this for evil, but God allowed and ordained the murder of His own Son, because He meant it for good and the saving of many souls. In the face of your own hardship – when evil and injustice press hard against you, look to Jesus. God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves. He allowed the death of His own Son to crush the head of the serpent, to destroy your greatest enemy, and to save your soul. Evil and injustice does not lead to despair for the Christian person, because we know that God is going to work it all out for good.
