No matter how bad things may have turned out for Joseph, the Beloved eleventh Son of Jacob, and the first son of Jacob's favored wife Rachel, he succeeded:
"And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian." (Genesis 39: 2)
Later, Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be named "God with us":
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7: 14)
This was declared to all on the night that Jesus was born:
"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1: 22-23)
Yet Jesus promised that not only would be never leave us, but that He would be in us:
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
"Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14: 16-17)
Jesus prayers for this complete baptismal oneness for His believers:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17: 21-23)
Paul affirms this glorious mystery for every believer. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) is possible because of the Holy Spirit who guides us, informs us, leads us, and reminds us of all that Jesus has taught us. Paul's epistles repeat the theme that we are now in Christ, too:
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 6)
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2: 13)
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3: 3)
"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Colossians 3: 3)
Those who trust in the Lord have something that the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament longed for: not just the Presence of God in their lives, but Himself dwelling in man:
"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
"For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66: 1-2)
Paul describes the fulfillment of this prophesy to the Corinthians:
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3: 16)
and
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6: 19)
Peter affirms this precious truth, this fulfilled promised in his epistle:
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5)
I used to think that when I went to heaven, I would want to meet the men and women of faith that the writer of Hebrews celebrates. When I realized that they, like Joseph, experienced that the Lord was with them, but not IN them, I began to believe that they will welcome us, as we became partakers of the divine nature, whereas in Old Testament days, the Holy Spirit would only visit believers.
The Lord is not just with you, believer -- He is in you!:
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12-13
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