O, ABBA FATHER; YOU ARE SO AWESOME

“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. THERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I WILL SPEAK WITH you about all that I will give you…” (Exod. 25:10, 22) [The first thing our Abba Father ordered to be made, after His people rejected Him, was the ark with its accessories, the fixture of the most holy place, and THE SPECIAL TOKEN OF GOD’S PRESENCE, a tangible presence for them. The ark itself was a chest, or coffer, where the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, were to be honorably placed, and carefully kept. WHY DID GOD HAVE THEM CREATE THE ARK TO REPRESENT HIS PRESENCE? Because when the very presence of God appeared before them; look what happened…] “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, THE PEOPLE WERE AFRAID AND TREMBLED, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but DO NOT LET GOD SPEAK TO US, lest we die.” (Exod. 20:18-19) “…BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD AND DID NOT TRUST HIS SAVING POWER.” (Psa. 78:22) [The people of Israel, God’s chosen people, did not believe in Him! What was God to do? He gave them the Law as there schoolmaster:] “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster TO BRING US UNTO CHRIST, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) [For you see, as the writer of Hebrews says: “…faith is CONFIDENCE in what we hope for AND ASSURANCE about what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1)] “…WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD, because anyone who comes to him MUST BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS and that HE REWARDS those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb. 11:6) [God has chosen to enter into a relationship with us where He is our Abba Father and we are His children, but not just His children, His HEIRS (inheritor, beneficiary or recipient of what is His)!] “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–HEIRS OF GOD and CO-HEIRS WITH CHRIST, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Rom. 8:16-17) [Jesus is THE SON OF GOD and we are “co” or “joint” heirs with Him:] “…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but GAVE HIM UP FOR US ALL, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31-32)