Raised To Serve

Friday, July 10, 2020
Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.  And when He had come as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – event to death on a cross.  Philippians 2:7-8

Raised to Serve
Joseph was the favorite and his brothers did not like him.  Of course, Joseph didn’t do himself any favors by telling his brothers that he had a dream that they would all bow to him one day.  He had another similar dream that he shared with his father, and his father didn’t really like the idea that his youngest son dreamed that his whole family – including his father – would bow down to him one day.  At the time Joseph had these dreams, he could have no clue what would happen between the time of the dreams and the day that his brothers and father would actually come before him pleading for help for their starving family. Joseph also could never have imagined when his brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery, that one day God would use the very evil that his brothers had meant for him, to save their own lives. He turns everything for good, and sometimes with an interesting twist along the way!  Joseph was eventually raised up, but he was raised up to help save a nation in the midst of famine, and to bring healing to his own family.   

When God ordains a leader for His kingdom, they are to accomplish His purpose for His people. Joseph couldn’t see it as a boy with those dreams, but God rose him up, not for Joseph’s own prosperity, but for the salvation and redemption of his family, and future generations. The one his brothers sold into slavery was the one who would one day save them. They thought he was gone forever and told his father he was dead.  They never thought they would see him again, let alone that he would rescue them from death. His father grieved his death, almost to his own death. Then one day, in the midst of famine, they find themselves standing before him, asking for grain. Eventually their family is healed and brought together again and God’s purpose for Joseph is fulfilled.

There was another that was raised up to pour Himself out to rescue us.  Jesus was a servant, but also a king. He served His whole time here on earth and then was beaten and crucified, only to be raised from the dead as He promised.  Ordained by God to serve the people of God for the kingdom of God.  All the evil meant for Him was turned to good and is the thing that rescued all those who will receive it.  He literally poured His life out for us, so we could have life everlasting. He was exalted. He was a servant. He never used His holy power to crush people. He loved and He served. He sacrificed and He saved. He gave Himself as a ransom for us, and He is holding our spot in the best land of all.

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28