“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

Jacob (also named Israel) had twelve sons that would become the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s sons was, Joseph. Joseph was the eleventh son and the last to be born to Jacob before he returned to the land promised to Abraham and Isaac. Joseph was a godly young man in spite of adverse circumstances in his life.

Joseph is an excellent example of enduring hatred and rejection from family members and still walking with God. When he was sold as a slave, Joseph still lived as an upright young man, choosing to do what was right in God’s eyes. When falsely thrown into prison, Joseph honored God with his life, and God was with Joseph. Although Joseph endured many problems (his brothers hated him; he was sold into slavery; he was falsely imprisoned and forgotten; and so on), he remained faithful to God. Moreover, God blessed Joseph’s life. God used Joseph to save his family (and much of the world) from starvation during a time of famine throughout the lands.

In the Old Testament, Joseph is one of the people we compare to a picture of Christ. God promised (throughout the Old Testament) to send One who would deliver a sinful people from their sin. The first time promised was when man sinned in the garden (Genesis 3:15). We then read God promise Abraham that all people would be blessed through his descendants (Genesis 22:18 and reiterated in Galatians 3:8). We even saw a picture of what God would do—lay down the life of His Son (remember Abraham with Isaac). We can read once again the promise (this time given to Jacob) of One who would come through which all of the earth would be blessed (see Genesis 28:14). Better yet, we see a picture of a mighty deliverer in Jacob’s son, Joseph. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they meant it for evil. Read what Joseph recognized: “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” (Genesis 50:20). Notice the faithfulness of Joseph and the blessings of God upon him.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to save the world from their sin (for any who would believe). Jesus was the greatest gift ever given. Nevertheless, sinful man crucified him (evil against Him), and God took what man intended to be evil and delivered us from our sin by Jesus’ death. “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). Just as Joseph recognized that he was placed in a position to save the world from starvation, Jesus came to save the world from “the wages of sin … death” and instead give us the “gift of God … eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (see Romans 6:23).

As we have remembered, God promised to send One who would deliver a sinful people from their sin. We then recognize that God planned to send His Son, Jesus, from the beginning of time, and he constantly reminded mankind that He would come. Sometimes He gave them a verbal promise and other times a physical picture (like Joseph) to help them (and us today) understand. Just as Joseph saved the people from starvation, Jesus came to save mankind from sin and the penalty of that sin. Jesus is God’s greatest gift, for He came to save people from their sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Have you recognized the greatest gift God ever gave was His Son, Jesus to offer forgiveness?

Have you accepted this gift?