Only At The Cross

Gen 50:16  And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

Gen 50:17  So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

Gen 50:18  And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

Gen 50:19  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Gen 50:22  And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

Gen 50:23  And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

Gen 50:24  And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Gen 50:25  And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

Gen 50:26  So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

1)      The foundation of the Gospel of Christ is anchored in the principal of Forgiveness; man’s greatest need in the presence of a Holy God, without which there is no reconciliation, due to the depth of our sins and the great gulf of human depravity; it is only at the Cross that such a great divide can be bridged.

2)      The expression of forgiveness within the very family of the covenant people by Joseph as he chose to forgive his very own brothers who had mistreated him from his youth, illustrates how crucial the doctrine of forgiveness truly is to properly understand and receive the salvation God has provided through Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son!

3)      All sinners who realize the grievous weight of their sin and learn that God loves them anyway, and has given Jesus, to be crucified to pay the egregious debt due to God on their behalf, are anxious to lay hold of the forgiveness from God; but many fail to understand that in the receipt of God’s personal forgiveness, there is the requirement of mutual forgiveness toward others; which some are not willing to provide, thus forfeiting the salvation of God. (Must Jesus bear the cross alone? And all the world go free? )