Genesis Philippians Video Sermons

You Can’t Move forward While Looking Back: Genesis 50: 12-16, Philippians 3: 12-16

Jan 15, 2023

Summary of Sermon

Joseph—he was sold into slavery by his own brothers at 17 yrs old. Over the course of 13 yrs, until he became the Pharoah (technically), he went through a lot of stuff; he was wrongly accused and imprisoned by Potiphar. But God elevated him. By the time his brothers come to see him, about 20 yrs had passed, they did not recognize them and he had the power to inflict hurt on them. In chapter 50, their dad, Jacob has died and the brothers now fear that this is what Joseph has been waiting for before he kills them and do to them what they wanted to do to him. But Joseph has moved on, the hurt and pain are healed and he can see God’s hand in all of this, he comforts them and promises to care for them and their children, and he does just that. When he was sold into slavery, he was 17, then the conversation in Genesis 50 takes place, he is 56. Joseph understood that one cannot move forward, cannot look, and can’t even appreciate now if you are always looking back.

Paul—recounts the things that made his past good, his bloodline, his upbringing, the fact he was a Pharisee, and lots of pomp and prestige that came with that position. But now, he put all that behind him and he presses forward to what God had for him, both now and in the future. Paul would not rest on the past he had to make excuses for not growing now and in the future.

All too often we can use both the hurts of the past and the successes of the past to hold us back, to make excuses, to hold on to grudges and the like. If one were to truly assess Paul’s life with human eyes, one would think that his life got worse after he got saved; but nothing could be further from the truth. The past successes were temporary and the current benefits were permanent. Stop looking at the past, good or bad, while trying to move forward and grow in the Lord.