The Favor Of God

Date: Friday, January 30, 2015
Chapters: Exodus 37-40
Message Title: The Favor Of God

Hello My Friend, 

One amazing thing about God that we may have a hard time comprehending is that He is not a respecter of persons. He doesn't care what color, race, or creed we are, if we have willingly accepted and received His Son as our Saviour, then we are one of His children, we have been adopted into the family of God. Now, if it seems as though some of His children are more blessed than others, it could very well be true. You see, while God does not respect any of His children any more or less, He does give favor to those who love Him unconditionally, and obey His commands. While our salvation has nothing to do with works of obedience, it is our works of obedience that does produce His blessings beyond our salvation. The child of God who grows with Christ, grows into the likeness of Him, and the more we become like Christ, the more blessed we become. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” - James 4:7-10.

Now, we have an account of the making of the ark, mercy seat, and cherubims, they too were made exactly as God instructed Moses by Bezaleel. While every part of the tabernacle represented a part of Christ, these three represent the glory of a just, holy, and merciful God.“And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;” - Exodus 37:1-7.

The ark would contain only the two tablets of stone containing the ten commandments written by the finger of God, representing the importance of keeping His law hidden within our hearts. The mercy seat represents the endless mercy that God has for His children, and even those who are not. The cherubims represent the angels who are covered in the glory of God, and are obedient to His every command. As the people who built everything according to God's instructions took great care in making sure everything was done exactly to His plan, every believer should take great care in making sure we do everything we do according to His plan. Jesus Christ, the great Mediator, has made reconciliation for the believer in restoring communion with God, and filling us with His glory. From the mercy seat, He accepts us and teaches us, and under the shadow of the Holy Spirit, we are safe and sound under His endless mercy. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” - Galatians 5:1,13,16.

God instructed Moses on how He wanted the tabernacle to be built, the people willingly gave theitems needed for it to be built, Bezaleel and Aholiab willingly constructed the pieces, and did thework necessary to complete the tabernacle exactly to God's specifications. Now, after the tabernacle was complete all males twenty years and older willingly brought the required ransom money of half a shekel, just as God commanded. “All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.” - Exodus 38:24-26.

603,550 men followed God's command to pay a ransom for their souls, all paid half a shekel, yes, they also gave gold, silver, and any other valuables to build the tabernacle, but without the payment needed for their souls none of those things would have gotten the favor of God. No matter what we possess, how much money we have, or who we are, we all have to pay a ransom for our souls. Jesus paid the ransom for us when He died on the cross. All who receive Him get their ransom paid for them and become one of God's children. Then and only then will we find God's favor in everything else that we do for Him. “For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.” - 1 Corinthians 7:22-24.

Now, came the time for the ephods to be made, the garments that the priests would wear when doing service for God.These too were made exaclty according to God's instructions. “And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work. The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to minister in the priest's office.” - Exodus 39:1-3,41.

Before the priests were even able to get God's attention they had to be cleansed of all their sins and apply these garments upon them. Before we even go to God we too need to be cleansed of our sins, while the ransom is certainly paid when we accept Christ, and we cannot lose our salvation if we sin after we are saved, before we even ask God of anything we need to ask Him for forgiveness of our current sins. These garments foreshadowed Christ, who gives us a robe of righteousness when we receive Him as our Saviour. When we put on Christ, God no longer looks at us through our sin, but through the righteousness of Christ, but we still have to account for our sin and take responsibility for it if we want to see God's favor. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1John 1:7-10.

If we want to see God's favor, we need to grow into the likeness of His Son, if we want to grow into the likeness of His Son, we must know everything about Him, love Him unconditionally, study Him, hang out with Him, take Him everywhere we go. We are an image of who we get around, regardless of how old we are, when we hang out with someone long enough we start to act like them. What better person to mimic than Jesus Christ. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:..For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:5-8,17,23. 

Today's Prayer: God, Thank You making it easy for us to become one of Your children, the sacrifice You made for us is something we will never fully comprehend, but we can learn to appreciate it by living in obedience to Your commands. It's not a requirement, but something we willingly do so because we love You, Father. Lord, help us learn and grow closer to You as we follow Your will and trust that You are always with us. Lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, and strength to endure all the trials we face and keep serving You with a willing heart.Help us to take Jesus with us wherever we go, and let us not be drawn away from the very things that produce Your favor. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

Learn How To Get Saved: God's Price
Visit Our Website: I'm Following Jesus
Like Us On Facebook: I'm Following Jesus
Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.