When God Is with Us, How Shall We Live?

What does the name Immanuel mean? “With-us God.” If God is with us, how then shall we live? We want to answer this question from the life of Joseph.

Our God is the living and true God, infinite in being and perfection, immutable, immense, eternal, almighty, most wise, most holy, most loving, gracious, and sovereign. If this God is with us, how then shall we live as children, as teenagers, as single people, as married people? How shall we deal with successes, temptations, sufferings, and persecutions? How shall we die when our time surely comes?

If we are true Christians, God is with us. In fact, he is in us, upon us, and for us. God goes before and behind us. And if God is with us, then we are with God. At times God appeared visibly to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in what we call theophanies. He does not appear to us that way now. Yet the truth is, God is with us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit dwells in us forever.

When we believe this reality as revealed in the sacred Scriptures, we are to live in the light of it. Then we will fear God; we will love God; we will think God’s thoughts after him; we will work harder with all our hearts; we will love one another as Christ loves us; we will resist temptation and enjoy victory; we will live in freedom for which Christ has set us free; we will obey our parents and all superiors; we will honor God with our bodies rather than defiling them; we will serve God as single people; we will shine as light as teenagers, as Joseph and Daniel did; our marriages will reflect the relationship of Christ to his church; we shall not be ashamed of the gospel, but proclaim it with all power; and we will face all sufferings and persecutions without fear. If God is with us, how can we fear? How can we sin if God is with us? How can we murmur? How can we be lazy? How can we fear death?

Let us then examine the life of Joseph, who lived all of his life in the light of this reality.

I. God Was with Joseph All His Life

The covenant Lord was with Joseph all his life. In fact, we are told in Genesis 30:12 that his birth was a miracle. He was the eleventh son of Jacob, and the first son of Rachel. Rachel had been barren, but God finally opened her womb. So there was the miracle of his own birth. Psalm 139:13 tells us, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” God was active in the creation of Joseph.

Unlike Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph did not seem to experience any wonderful theophanies. Yet God was with him throughout his life, beginning with his birth. He was with him, not visibly, yet truly. Joseph believed this truth and regulated his life in the light of it. He learned about God from his father, Jacob, whose favorite son he was. Jacob made Joseph the ruler of his family by giving him a coat, or long-sleeved robe, of many colors, which marked him as the future ruler of the family.

Jacob also taught Joseph about the God of glory-the God of Abraham and Isaac; the God who also appeared several times to him. In Genesis 28:15 we see God confirming his covenant with Jacob: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Again, in Genesis 31:3 we read, “Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.'” We find the same idea in Genesis 46:4. And in Genesis 48:15 we find one of the last words of Jacob to his son: “Then he blessed Joseph and said, ‘May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm-may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth'” (vv. 15-16). At some point Joseph might have even asked Jacob the reason he limped. And Jacob may have explained his wrestling with the angel who deliberately crippled him to teach him the importance of living by faith and not by his foolish self-understanding.

We must understand that the Lord regenerated Joseph at an early age and he learned to walk with God like Enoch walked with God and pleased him. As a teenager, he lived a holy life because he knew God was with him. In Genesis 37:2 we read, “Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.” In other words, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher and the others were doing wicked things. But he refused to participate in them. They were doing wicked things, like Eli’s children. But Joseph refused to have anything to do with evil.

The Lord was with Joseph when his father sent him on a mission to seek the welfare of his jealous brothers. The Lord was with him in his long journey of over sixty miles from Hebron to Shechem and then to Dothan. The Lord was with him when his wicked brothers stripped him of his robe and threw him into a waterless pit. The Lord was with him in the pit. Joseph was not alone there in the dark. The Lord was with him when he was taken out of the pit, and we are told that he cried and prayed to his brothers not to sell him as a slave to the Ishmaelites. His brothers refused to hear him, yet the Lord was with him, working out his plan for the salvation of his people. Joseph had to walk all the way to Egypt, but the Lord was with him. This favorite son of Jacob became a slave, sold for twenty shekels of silver by his own brothers. Then he stood at the slave market in Egypt to be sold again as a slave. Yet the Lord was with him and moved Potiphar to buy him for himself. This ruler boy, who never had to do menial work, found himself in the house of Potiphar as a slave. He was the slave of slaves, yet the Lord was with him. Joseph did not understand the why of his suffering. But he trusted in his invisible God and refused to sulk and fall into self-pity. The Lord gave him wisdom and power to work his hardest for the prosperity of his master Potiphar, and the Lord was with him.

In Genesis 39 we see how the Lord was with Joseph in his life. Verse 2: “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.” The word “prospered” means he worked his hardest and so God prospered him. It was not that he was passive and then God prospered him. Look at verse 3: “When his master saw that the Lord was with him. . . .” When we work our hardest, the Lord is with us, and when the Lord prospers us, it will be visible to people. So the master saw “that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did.” He was “like the tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:3). And in Genesis 39:4 we read, “Joseph found favor in [his master’s] eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” In other words, this was a high promotion. Joseph became the chief steward in the house; there was no one greater than Joseph. “From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.” As we read on, we see that Joseph was thrown into prison. But, notice, in verse 21 we read, “The Lord was with him.” And verse 23: “The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”

The Lord was with Joseph in prison. Remember the two dreams of the cupbearer and the baker? Joseph declared that the Lord alone was able to interpret them. The Lord was with him, and gave him the interpretation of these difficult dreams. Later, when he was asked to interpret the two dreams of Pharaoh, Joseph said, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Genesis 41:16). God was with him, God was in him, and God helped him interpret those difficult dreams. “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you'” (Genesis 41:39). Joseph was successful because the Lord was with him.

The Lord was with Joseph in his marriage, as we read in Genesis 41:51-52: “Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’ The second son he named Ephraim and said, ‘It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.'” The Lord was with him in the hour of his death: “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid.’ (Genesis 50:24-25). As Stephen said about Joseph in Acts 7, “God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles” (vv. 9-10).

Yet we never read that God appeared to Joseph in some miraculous manner. All of his life God was with him. He was aware of that reality and regulated his entire life in the light of this great truth. God prospered him so that he became the chief steward in the house of Potiphar, next only to Potiphar. He was also next to the person in charge of the prison. Then God prospered Joseph, and he became the premier of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. What was the reason for Joseph’s success? God was with him and Joseph worked hard in wisdom. As a result, God gave him success and favor in the eyes of his superiors. That is what happens when we live in the light of this reality that God is with us. We work to please a higher authority-God, who is immanent and who is with us-and he gives us success.

II. God Was with Joseph in Temptation

God was with Joseph, not only all of his life, but specifically when he was tempted by the wife of his master. In his commentary on Genesis, Dr. James Boice makes the following points about this temptation:

1. It was a natural temptation because it was based on a natural desire. In itself, sex is not evil. But it is evil to satisfy sexual desires outside of the biblical order.
2. This temptation came when Joseph was away from home and church. Young people, when you go away to study in college, remember that God is with you, and be regulated by this truth. Many people want to go away to college to some far place so they can get rid of restraints and constraints and sin the more-away from parents, away from church, and they think, away from God.
3. This woman was an important person-the wife of Joseph’s master-and Joseph was a slave. He could not just quit his job to escape the temptation.
4. The temptation took place soon after his promotion to be the chief steward of the estate of Potiphar. When we are successful, watch out! That is when temptation becomes the strongest. David was tempted in his fifties. After all his success, temptation came. Though people told him that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, he said, “No matter.” Be careful especially when you receive a promotion.
5. It was a repeated temptation. It was not just a one time event. Yom yom in the Hebrew text means day after day, without any let-up.
6. There was a perfect opportunity for this temptation. No one was in the house. Yet, notice, the Lord was with Joseph, and Joseph recognized God’s presence. When we are experiencing serious temptation, Psalm 139:7-10 is a valuable scripture to memorize and recite daily: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” When temptation comes, God is not far from us. He is with us to help us and show us the way out.

God was with Joseph, and God gave him a way out. Notice, Joseph used his mind to get out of the situation. He was not ruled by passion. He reasoned with Potiphar’s wife.

First, he refused her invitation. That word “refused” is not some weak refusal. It was intense, powerful refusal. Then he said, “My master trusts me with everything. I cannot violate his trust.” Joseph was a covenant keeper; he would not violate covenant. Then he said, “You are his wife.” Sadly, when the same truth was brought to David, it did not stop him. But here was a young man, who grew up before the law was given, telling this woman, “You are his wife.” In other words, he was telling her, “This is evil.”

Then Joseph said, “To commit adultery is a huge evil in the sight of God.” The NIV translates it, “How can I do this wicked thing,” but in the Hebrew it is “How can I do this hugely wicked thing.” Adultery is a hugely wicked thing. Joseph was saying, “My God, who is holy, most wise, most powerful, the God, who gave me being, is watching me. He is with me. How can I do such a terrible thing?” Then he pointed out that adultery is violation of God’s law: “How can I sin against God?” Yes, it is a sin against the spouse, it is a sin against Mrs. Potiphar, and it is a sin against everyone else. But ultimately it is sin against God himself. Later on, David said the same thing: “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). Joseph knew it was wrong because God’s law was written in his heart. So Joseph was saying, “Adultery is a huge sin in my country, and it is a huge sin in your country.” There was no moral relativism.

Finally, Joseph fled the scene of danger, not as a coward, but as a triumphant covenant keeper. Sometimes fleeing is a sign of strength and victory over temptation. (PGM) With today’s computers and the Internet, how many people today have been snared by pornography that deflects them from the true purpose of life! The Bible says if your eye offends you, gouge it out!

If you experience temptation, I encourage you also to memorize 1 Corinthians 10:13, keeping in mind that this is the very word of God: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out, that you may be able to stand.” Or look at 1 Corinthians 6:18: “Flee from sexual immorality” and 2 Timothy 2:22, where we find the same idea: “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

If you are a child of God, God has freed you from the dominion of sin. Otherwise, you would not be a Christian. But if you are a Christian, something radical has happened to you: Jesus Christ has set you free. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). You are no longer a slave to sin. You used to be, but not now. You have been given freedom, and now you are a slave to God.

This theology that God is with us should regulate our ethics. Our confession must affect our daily conduct. Otherwise, we will yield to temptation. Samson’s problem was sexual immorality, as was David’s. Proverbs 5, 6, and 7 reveals that adultery brings about self-destruction and wounds people; it brings about loss of respect and public disgrace, as well as a husband’s revenge, and it is impossible to buy one’s way out of such trouble. In this country, we may glorify adultery, but God does not. Only a fool will commit adultery. And Proverbs 7:23 tells us that in the Old Testament, adultery was a capital offense.

III. God Was with Joseph to Teach Him Wisdom

God was with Joseph, teaching him wisdom and how to interpret reality correctly. After Joseph’s promotion to the rulership of Egypt and the visit of his brothers, Joseph understood what God was doing with him through all his sufferings. Remember, Joseph did not experience theophanies or miracles. God did not break open the heavens and come down to inspire Joseph to live a holy life. If you are seeking such hair-raising experiences, I guarantee they will not happen. But if you are a Christian, realize that God is dwelling in you. Believe in that reality and be governed by it in your thinking, your speech, and your actions.

Not only is God dwelling in us, but he is always watching us. In Hebrews 4 we read, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (vv. 12-13). We may not have to give an account about adultery to anyone in this country. It used to be a serious crime, but it is no longer. Now, we can do anything we want in private. But not so before God.

Without theophanies, miracles, wonders, hair-raising experiences, and written scriptures, Joseph lived by faith and walked with God daily. Pharaoh acknowledged that he was a Spirit-filled person, and so are we. We are bought with a price. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit; therefore, we must glorify God with our bodies.

Joseph began to interpret what was happening to him. Genesis 45 is a very important chapter about Joseph’s learning to interpret what had happened to him, and what would happen. In verse 4 we read, “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me.’ When they had done so, he said, ‘I am your brother, the one you sold into Egypt.'” Later on, he told them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20). In other words, Joseph was acknowledging that God is good, sovereign, and works out his plan even through the evil deeds of men.

In Genesis 45:5 see the wisdom Joseph had learned: “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” He was saying, “You sold me, but God sent me as a forerunner to make provision for his people.” And look at verse 7: “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve you.” Joseph was beginning to understand what had happened to him. Look at verse 8: “So, then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” In verse 8 Joseph says he became “a father to Pharaoh, ruler of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt,” and in verse 9 he says, “God made me lord of all Egypt.”

Look again at Genesis 50:20. Here we see Joseph’s profound interpretation of history: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” God accomplishes his plan of salvation through his people, even through experiences that we simply cannot understand at the time we are going through them. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”

IV. God Was with Joseph in Suffering

Joseph experienced horrible suffering; yet God was with him. For twenty-two years he did not see his father, with whom he had great communion and fellowship. For twenty-two years his father thought Joseph had been torn by wild animals. Yet God did not give a theophany to correct this unreality. God could have appeared to him and said, “Oh, no. Your son is still alive.” But he never did. For twenty-two years Jacob suffered, and God allowed that situation to work for his greater spirituality.

We must understand how to interpret suffering. Isaiah 63:9 says, “In all their distress, he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” Strange as it seems, the Lord suffers when we do. As our sympathizing high priest, he truly feels our pain and does something about it. Through God-ordained suffering, he perfects godliness in us.

Paul knew this, as we read in Romans 5 that suffering produces patience; patience, character; and character, hope-hope in the glory of God. Through suffering we are brought to hope in the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In hope we love Christ, heaven, and eternal life, rather than this world that is passing away. The things of this world will grow strangely dim as the things of the world to come loom larger in our consciousness.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul speaks of “light and momentary troubles.” “Momentary troubles” can last throughout our lifetimes, but they are momentary compared to eternity. “For our light and momentary troubles are continuously producing for us an eternal weight of glory which surpasses them all” (author’s translation). And the writer to the Hebrews says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

Joseph was trained by his sufferings, and they produced holiness, godliness, and righteousness in him. The presence of God will comfort us in all our sufferings. When his brothers treated him cruelly and stripped off his clothes, when they brutally threw him into a pit, when they mercilessly sold him for twenty shekels of silver, when he was sold again as a slave in Egypt, when he was falsely accused of adultery, when he was thrown into a prison and his feet were put in stocks-in all these things, God was with Joseph and comforted him.

In Psalm 105:17-18 we read, “And he sent a man before them-Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons.” Joseph lived that life of slavery for many days. But God was with him and comforted him. When no one else was there, God was. When he was forgotten by the cupbearer and left in prison for two more years, God was with him.

Brothers and sisters, God is with us in all our sufferings, and he makes us holy and blameless through them all. So keep your eyes on this truth: The Lord is with us to save us, to help us, to comfort us, to empower us, to guide us, to fight our battles, to provide for us, and, finally, through death, to bring us to our heavenly home where there shall be no pain and no tears.

Therefore, fix your eyes on Jesus, who told us, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages.” Focus on Jesus, the Son of God, who became man without sin to suffer in our place and to die for our salvation. He came down from heaven on a mission, to make us sinners sons of glory, and to bring us home to God. He came to his own, and his own received him not (John 1:11). “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with sufferings . . . he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. . .he bore our sins and made intercession for us transgressors” (Isaiah 53:3, 5, 12; author’s translation). By his knowledge Jesus Christ, the righteous servant, justifies many. He will declare all who will believe on him righteous forever.

This Christ is with us, in us, and upon us. We believe this truth because it is the reality. God said so, and his word said so. So do not look for some earth-shaking experience. Rather, trust in the written word of God, in which God, who cannot lie, tells us that he is with us and he is in us. We believe this truth and regulate our lives on the basis of the truth.

This was the faith of Joseph. He walked with God, and God was with him. And like Joseph, we have been set free from the dominion of sin. Jesus Christ has set us free to love God and serve him always.

Like Joseph, we live in a pagan world where we are tempted daily. But God is with us, and he will cause us to prosper in all we do. He will help us when we are tempted and make a way out so that we may be victorious. He will help us to shine as light in a dark world. Faith in Jesus is the victory that overcomes the world.

Is this Lord with you, leading you to victory, leading you to heaven? If not, I plead with you to repent truly of your sins and trust forever in Christ who died for your sins and rose for your justification. Pray to God: “I believe in Jesus Christ. I repent of my sins. I believe in your word that this God will be my God, and this God will be with me. I trust in him now and forever to live a clean, pure, powerful, victorious life as Joseph did, until the end of my days.”

If you have been living in a backslidden condition, take a stand for Christ. Ask God to help you, and he will fill you with the Holy Spirit. Offer your body a living sacrifice to Jesus Christ. Turn your back upon sin and evil, Satan and demons, and the approbation of this world. Turn to Christ, and Christ will save you and be with you. Yes, you will face powerful temptations. But our God is greater than the devil and greater than all temptations. He is most powerful, most holy, most wise-the Sovereign Lord of the universe. He will help you and set you free. He will dwell with you and walk with you. God will be for you and lead you and give you great understanding. God will give you a new heart, a new mind, a new will, and new affections. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; he old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He will fill you with the Holy Spirit and enable you to live like Joseph, not only today, but every day. Amen.