Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/108

Rh the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life." (Rom. v. 8.) Bitter enemies as Joseph's brethren had been to him, he had no enmity to them; and when he revealed himself to them, it was only as a reconciler and a saviour. Beautifully, indeed, does he hold up the mirror to that infinitely greater Reconciler and Saviour, and of that infinitely greater reconciliation and salvation which the Gospel makes known, and which it has expressed in these ever-memorable words—"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." (2 Cor. v. 19.) God has never been our enemy, and has never needed to be reconciled. But we all are naturally enemies to God, and do, indeed, all of us need to be reconciled to Him. Therefore, the apostle continues—"Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

The apostle, in the passage from the Epistle to the Romans already cited, says, that if we are reconciled to God by Christ's death, much