Good News for the Dying!
📖 Genesis 45:7–28
✝️ Town East Baptist Church – October 26, 2025
👤 Pastor Bill Allred
When Hope Seems Gone
In Genesis 45, we find a desperate situation — a time of famine that left God’s people barren, dry, and dying.
Jacob (Israel) and his family had no food, no water, and no hope. The land was hard and lifeless. Without help, they would perish. They were a dying people in need of good news.
And that’s exactly what they received.
This message is called “Good News for the Dying!” Because even in life’s most hopeless seasons, God is already working out a plan of deliverance.
Fifteen years earlier, Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery — an act of jealousy and betrayal. They even staged a crime scene and convinced their father Joseph was dead.
But while they meant it for evil, God was using it for good.
Just like Jesus — betrayed, sold for silver, hated by His own people — yet offering forgiveness and eternal life to the very ones who crucified Him.
What others meant for harm, God used to bring salvation.
1️⃣ The Proclamation: “He’s Alive!”
📖 Genesis 45:26
“And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.”
For years, Jacob had believed Joseph was dead. He had held the blood-stained coat in his own hands. The pain was real.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, his sons came running with the news — “Joseph is alive!”
Jacob couldn’t believe it at first. His heart fainted. But this was the greatest news a father could ever hear — the son who was dead is alive again!
In the same way, the disciples saw Jesus die on the cross. They watched in horror as He was beaten, mocked, and nailed to a tree. Their hopes were buried with Him in the tomb.
But three days later, Good News broke through the darkness:
“Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” — Luke 24:5–6
The Son who was dead is alive forevermore!
For every lost soul in a spiritual famine, that’s still the best news ever:
💧 Jesus lives — and He brings living water to the dying.
2️⃣ The Possibilities: Deliverance for the Undeserving
📖 Genesis 45:7
“And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
Joseph told his brothers that God had sent him ahead to prepare the way of salvation.
Even though they were guilty — jealous, deceitful, and undeserving — God offered them deliverance through the very one they wronged.
That’s grace. That’s Jesus.
Just like Joseph’s brothers, every one of us has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We deserve judgment. But because of Christ, there’s a way out.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” — Romans 10:13
No one has to remain in their lost condition. There’s hope!
And not only does God provide deliverance — He provides for the journey.
📖 Genesis 45:21–22
“And Joseph gave them wagons… and provision for the way… To all of them he gave changes of raiment.”
Joseph didn’t just give them a ride to safety — he gave them everything they needed along the way, including new garments.
When we come to Christ, He gives us new life and a new nature. Paul wrote:
“Put off the old man… and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” — Ephesians 4:22–24
No more wearing the rags of sin. In Christ, we’re clothed in grace.
🕊️ That’s Good News for the Dying — and for the Living.
3️⃣ The Place: Where the King Lives
📖 Genesis 45:10
“And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me...”
Joseph prepared a place for his family — a land of plenty, near to the king, where all their needs would be met.
That’s exactly what Jesus promised us:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you… that where I am, there ye may be also.” — John 14:2–3
For every believer, the famine will end. The suffering will cease. One day, we’ll dwell forever with the King of Kings — near to Him, complete in Him, and alive forevermore.
It’s Good News for the Dying, because death no longer wins.
4️⃣ The Response: “It Is Enough”
📖 Genesis 45:28
“And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.”
Jacob’s response was simple and powerful: “It is enough.”
He accepted the good news, believed it, and set out to see his son.
What a contrast to those who still say “no” to God’s offer of salvation.
Some say, “I don’t need a Savior.”
Some say, “I’ll earn my way.”
Some say, “I’ll decide later.”
But each “no” is a rejection of life.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” — Romans 10:9
Jacob didn’t hesitate once he believed the message. He said, “It is enough.”
Friend, will you say the same?
Conclusion: The Best News Ever
Jacob and his family received deliverance from famine through the mercy of a king. We, too, are offered deliverance — not just from death, but from sin and eternal separation from God.
✨ The Proclamation: The Son who was dead is alive again.
🌾 The Possibilities: Deliverance, provision, and new life.
🏡 The Place: A home with the King.
❤️ The Response: “It is enough — I will go.”
Don’t turn down such an offer.
Jesus lives. And because He lives, there’s still Good News for the Dying!