1.1 The Father Over Us

God as Father exists in the spiritual domain of heaven where the Word of God existed before proceeding forth from the Father to earth. It is the domain to which Jesus ascended after the resurrection.

There is not enough that can be said about God as Father. We refer to the Father as Creator. He created the physical universe from nothing. His creation attests to His supreme intelligence and brilliance. As an electrical engineer who studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry, I was intrigued by how God made all things. I also discovered that He unlocks understanding.

There are various scriptures that describe how God revealed Himself by opening the eyes and ears of prophetic individuals, but prior to seeing Jesus, no on saw God's face. Moses asked God if he could see Him in Exodus 33:18-20.

3 Exodus 33:18-20

18 Moses said, "Please show me your glory."

19 He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh's name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."

2o He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live."

When the Lord passed by Moses to show him His glory in Exodus 34:6-7, He declared His covenant nature to him.

2 Exodus 34:6-7

6 Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty."

It is by faith that humanity perceives the eternal nature of the invisible God as Creator. Hebrews 11:1-3 puts it this way.

3 Hebrews 11:1-3

1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.

2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony.

By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

Isaiah 6:1-4 described the prophet Isaiah's first meeting with God in which God's face was hidden by the wings of a seraphim.

4 Isaiah 6:1-4

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.

3 One called to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!"

4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

The Lord also appeared to the prophet Ezekiel in the first chapter of Ezekiel. Verses 26-28 provide a detail view of the Lord's upper torso, but His face was not visible.

3 Ezekiel 1:26-28

26 Above the expanse that was over their heads (the heads of the Seraphim) was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above.

27 I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.

28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh's glory.

The fourth chapter of Revelation provided an even more detailed view of God with four seraphim before the throne. This is a picture of God on the throne before Jesus ascended and appeared before the throne in the fifth chapter as a Lamb standing although it had been slain. Notice the description of God on the throne in Revelation 4:2-3. John experienced the same revelation of God as Ezekiel.

2 Revelation 4:2-3

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne

3 that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.

In Revelation 4:8, John also witnessed how the seraphim declared the holiness of God.

1 Revelation 4:8

8 The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!"

There was and continues to be ongoing praise and worship before the throne of God.

Psalm 47 describes God and how He, as King, has dominion over all the earth:

9 Psalm 47:1-9

1 Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.

3 He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.

4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5 God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!

7 For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.

8 God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.

9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!

Verse 3 talks about subduing nations under the feet of Old Covenant Israel. We will discover how dominion has been transferred to people of faith in the New Covenant to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. The Kingdom of God is no longer confined to Old Testament borders of Israel. The New Covenant is about the Kingdom of God stretching over the whole earth - it is the dictate of the Great Commission.

Psalm 37:4-13 describes how to wait for and rest in Yahweh (the Lord) amid adversity and the corresponding rewards, but it also indicates how the Lord is opposed to the wicked and that their day is coming:

10 Psalm 37:4-13

4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this:

6 he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun.

7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don't fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don't fret; it leads only to evildoing.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn't there.

11 But the humble shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.

13 The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.

Everyone has a day of reckoning in their life. The choice to continue in eternity with Christ must be made during their life on earth.