Like Christ

Day eighty-seven

Spring break is over, the boys are back in school and my husband is back at work, and life is getting back to normal.  Well as normal as it gets at my house! There are some exciting things going on this week, my eldest son is getting ready to put in his mission papers and my husband starts his teaching job.  With that in mind, my prayer this morning was filled with gratitude for these amazing opportunities and the blessings that have led us to this point.  I also prayed that the Spirit would be in our home this week guiding us to support each other through these big events.

Genesis 37 - Part 2

Like Christ

I mentioned in my last post that Joseph was a 'type' of the Savior.  In this chapter we see the comparison of Joseph to the Messiah in the following ways:

Joseph
Joseph was the beloved son of his father (Gen 37:3)

Messiah
Jesus Christ was Heavenly Father's well-beloved Son (Matt 3:17)

Joseph
Joseph was rejected by his brothers (Gen 37:4)

Messiah
Jesus was rejected by the leaders of His people, the Jews (Isa 53:3; John 1:11)

Joseph
Joseph sold at the urging of his brother Judah into the hands of the Gentiles (Gen 37:25-27)

Messiah
Jesus was sold by Judas, a form of the name Judah, and delivered over to the Gentiles, the Romans (Matt 27:3)

Joseph
Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, the price of a slave his age (Gen 37:28)

Messiah
Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave His age (Matt 26:15)

This got me thinking:  How are we like Christ?

We share the same heavenly parents:

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God,…we shall be like him.” (1 John 3:2)

“…to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12)

We share some physical traits:

“And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him.” (Moses 2:27)

“When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.” (D&C 130:1)

We were with God at the Great Council:

“According to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God…” (D&C 121:32)

We can gain blessings:

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8:17)

“… it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32)

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

“And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7)

“And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him.” (D&C 88:107)

I think there are events in each person’s life that are similar with the Saviors. I’m sure if you looked at the events in your life you would find a time when people didn’t like you or persecuted you because of your beliefs.  The list is different for each of us.

After researching this topic I was impressed by how much we are like Christ.  We are very blessed to have this knowledge at our fingertips so that we can live our lives in such a way that reflects our likeness to Christ.  Joseph didn’t have this information and I’m sure he wasn’t living his life knowing that someday people would compare him to Christ.  He did it because he was a righteous person. My respect for him has grown because of this.  This study session has made me want to be a better person, to be more like Christ. You never know who is watching you and comparing you to Christ.