"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:"

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Longue Durée”

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• Genesis 50:15-20
  • “The you planned to do to me has by God’s design been turned to .” (Genesis 50:20 New Jerusalem Bible)
  • “And we know that God causes to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 New Living Translation)
  • Thomas Schreiner: “The text does not say that all things are intrinsically good or pleasant, but instead that the most agonizing sufferings and evils inflicted on believers [those who trust God] will be to their good by God. It is correct to say, then, that agathon [GK: “good”] is eschatological, since the ‘good’ will be evident and fully realized only at the end of time.” (Romans 450)
  • God has the capacity to everything (no matter how evil, no matter how long) to mysteriously work together ultimately for our !
  • John R. W. Stott: “‘Thus all that is negative in this life is seen to have a positive purpose in the execution of God’s eternal plan.’ is beyond the overruling, overriding scope of his providence.” “We do not always understand what God is doing, let alone welcome it. Nor are we told that he is at work for our comfort. But we know that in all things he is working towards our .” (Romans 247, 248)
  • The longue durée (French for “long term”) concept of history
• The six last words of God
  • No matter what happens to you in this life, remember that God’s last word is this: “ .”
  • God can turn the for you into the for you.
  • God can get from your “” to His “”.
  • For He is El Shaddai, the (Genesis 48:3).
  • In the suffering death of Jesus, God took the of the very worst and turned it into the of the very best.
  • Ellen White: “All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explanation. The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall know that infinite love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying. As we realize the tender care of Him who makes all things work together for our good, we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”  (9T 286 emphasis supplied)
  • Walter Bruggemann:  “The riddle and insight of biblical faith is that only anguish leads to life, only grieving leads to joy, and only embraced endings permit new beginnings.” (Prophetic Imagination 56)

“I can get there from here”