BEYOND
Faith Beyond Our Lifetime
WARM-UP
What is one thing you would like to be remembered for? Share about it.
Do you consider yourself as an influencer? Why or why not?
Are you usually perceived as someone who is reliable with tasks entrusted to you? Why or why not?
WORD
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By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones. HEB 11:22
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Joseph was at the end of his life when he gave the instructions to the Israelites about bringing his bones with them. This act of Joseph displayed his great faith: faith that the promises of God to the Israelites would be fulfilled, even beyond his lifetime.
1 Faith in God’s Promises for the Next Generation
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Biblical Foundations Seminar on Tuesday, August 21 at 9 AM - 4 PM
Summit One Tower 1550 Mandaluyong You can download and read the bill here.
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24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely visit you and take you up out of this land to the land which he promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.”
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The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there [for the tidings of the seed and of the land] to the Lord, who had appeared to him. GEN 12:7
Rashi’s Commentary
So he built an altar there—In thanksgiving for the good tidings that he would have children, and for the good tidings that they would possess the land of Israel.
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25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you must carry my bones up from here.”
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26 So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. GEN 50:24-26
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By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones. HEB 11:22
Joseph, when giving the Israelites instructions about his bones, mentioned the land that God had promised them. This land was a multigenerational
promise, one God had made to the Israelite forefathers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen 50:24). Joseph had faith that this was also the promise of God to the generations after him, even though he would not see the fulfillment of the promise himself. This promise was beyond lifetimes, and would be passed on to the next generation. As evidence of this faith, he even asked the Israelites to take his bones with them when the promise was fulfilled. What things are you believing for that go beyond your lifetime?
2 Faith in God's Promises through the Next Generation
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones. HEB 11:22
By entrusting his bones to them, Joseph showed his faith that the next generation of Israelites would carry on believing and claiming the promise that God had
made to them, just as he was doing, and just as their forefathers had done. This did not depend on whether or not they would see the fulfillment of the promise, but on the faithfulness of God who had made the promise. Do you trust the next generation to carry on the visions and promises that God has given to you?
APPLICATION
Do you believe that you must put your faith in God alone? Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, would you be willing to pray that prayer today?
Does your faith in God’s promises go beyond your lifetime? As you seek God daily, write down and commit to pray for the promises of God that you
want to claim not just for yourself, but for the next
generation as well.
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Do you trust the next generation to carry on the visions and promises that God has given to you? What are some ways that you can relay the visions and the promises of God to the next generation?
PRAYER
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Thank God for the promises that He gives us, that go even beyond our lifetimes. Thank Him being faithful to His promises.
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Ask God for the kind of faith that goes beyond your lifetime. Pray that you will trust the generation after you to hold on to God’s promises today.
Pray for your family and friends, whether there are promises of God that they need to claim and hold on to. Pray that God will develop in them this kind of radical faith.
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