We will continue the revelation of God our Father as revealed on earth through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKING TO MOSES
“…The Lord [GOD] used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend…” (Ex. 33:11).
Their fellowship was so intimate that God “…Came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward,
6 He said,
‘Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.
I shall speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so, with My servant Moses,
He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth,
Even openly, and not in dark sayings,
And he beholds the form of the LORD’” (Num. 12:5-8).
The Hebrew word for “Lord” in the Old Testament is “Yahweh,” God the Father’s proper name. The Hebrew word for “God” is “Elohim.”
GOD OUR FATHER INSTRUCTING
God our Father spoke to Abraham on at least two occasions (Gen. 12:1-3). To His “friend,” He gave great promises:
1 “Now the LORD said to Abram,
‘Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed’” (Gen. 12:1-3).
These are mighty blessings indeed but notice that they are earthbound. On the other hand, we have been given a place in a heavenly kingdom among our Father’s children. We are actually joined to and inhabited by the great triune God. He is both in us and with us.
He also established His covenant with Abraham in (Gen. 17:1-22) – a mighty promise which foreshadowed the most prominent of His covenants established in the blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus – very God and very man.
A third time our Father appeared to Abraham, this time with two angels (Gen. 18:1).
He appeared and spoke to Isaac twice (Gen. 26:2 & 24).
God also came forth and spoke to Jacob in a dream (Gen. 28:12-15), and then a second time to bless him (Gen. 35:9-13). At times, the Lord God’s glory – the brilliant majesty of His love and presence, would appear to His people (Ex. 16:10; 24:16-17 & Num. 14:10).
David, in his Psalms, often wrote of the nearness and presence of God. God was his “refuge,” “abiding place,” “stronghold,” “salvation,” and “fortress.” Many times, he wrote words similar to: “I have set the LORD continually before me” (Ps. 16:8). David spoke to God personally in 71 different psalms.
WITH OUR FATHER FOR EVERMORE
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). The full meaning is: “For you have died [with the old human race in Christ’s death on the cross] and your [new] life is hidden with Christ in God [in Heaven].”
“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
“…We know that when He appears, we will be like Him…” (1 John 3:2).
These statements set forth the primary reasons for disciples of Christ to refrain from displaying their own “fleshly” selves on earth. The old human race was terminated (in the plan of God) when Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross. He became the new human race at His resurrection. At our new birth into Him, our renewed spirits and hearts were taken into Heaven to abide, hidden there with Jesus in the Father until we receive our resurrected bodies. The spirit of Jesus in us is able to be in Heaven and on earth at the same time, and because our spirits and hearts are joined to His, it allows us to be one with Him in Heaven and on earth (1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, we who are in Christ are forevermore joined to our Heavenly Father. Praise Him.
