For a story we associate with Joseph, the narrator sure spends a lot of time on Judah. As it turns out, The author does this to push our gaze beyond Joseph to the one who would come who would be the greatest and truest example of God's providence and reconciliation.

Noah was prophesied to bring rest from the curse, but the real rest had to wait for the coming of Jesus. Although Noah was indeed a son of Adam, in him God only gave the world a new start. In Jesus, God is not only making a new world, but a new people.

How does the fact that we are saved by grace impact our daily life? Much and in every way! God has graciously given us a life of purpose and a story which He is writing for us to walk in every day.

How are we saved? What does it mean to be saved. Paul blows past our often overly simple understanding and explains that salvation is accomplished by God's kindness and is nothing less than experiencing the full depth of God's kindness forever.

The Bible's depiction of what's wrong with humanity has much in common with a lot of the assessments from other quarters. However in every case, the Christian view is worse and more desperate. None the less, because of Christ we have true hope for even death is defeated in Christ.

To live the Christian life we need to know the power available to us in Christ. This power not only raised Christ from the dead, but appointed him as the ultimate authority and will make the whole world right. Because we are in Jesus, we can experience that same power in our daily life as we live as God's temple and make his fullness manifest.

With God's help, we can find our identity through knowing God better and knowing the hope, blessings and power He has given to us. We are more than rescued, we are transformed.

Our salvation also comes with a great inheritance, not only are we God's chosen inheritance, but he, the Living God of Love, is our inheritance. We can be sure of our future because we have received the Holy Spirit.

The climactic moment in history and our own personal story is the cross of Christ. In that we find reversal, revelation and resolve and that changes our present and our future. We are no longer what we were.

To understand the story we are in we need to understand its origin and its author. Since we are in Christ our story begins before time in the heart of God. Knowing this changes how we view events both good and bad in our life, as we can trust that they are a part of the glorious story of God's grace.