Lesson 9 Knowing The Father

     Jesus said in John 10:30 (Amplified) that, "I and the Father are One."
     The plan of the Father, was and still is, to have a family and fellowship with His family.  From the time that Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, until now, our Father held only one thought and plan and that was to restore His family back to Him.
     Under the old covenant, God had to have blood to cover sin.  Leviticus 17:11 (Amplified) says that, "the life (the animal soul) is in the blood, and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life (which it represents)."
     Romans 3:24-26 (Amplified) says that, "All are Justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus."  Verse 25 continues, "Whom God put forward (before the eyes of all) as a mercy seat and propitiation by His Blood (the cleansing and life giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation to be received through faith.  This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment."  Verse 26 says, "It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has (true) faith in Jesus."
     There had to a be a death (a life given for a life) in order for God to be able be able to receive the people as living in His presence.  Without the shedding of the blood, there couldn't be forgiveness of sin.  Hebrews 9:22 (Amplified) tells us that, "Since the blood of bulls and goats, could not take away sins (but only covered them for a period of time) there had to be a better and eternal sacrifice to completely cleanse man from sin."
     We read in Hebrews 9:24 (Amplified), "For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sactuary made with (human) hands, only a copy, and pattern and type of the true One, but (He has entered) into heaven itself, now to appear in the (very) presence of God on our behalf."
     This act of grace, mercy and love on God's behalf, was to cleanse us and bring us back to Himself, clean and whole and righteous (in right standing) in His eyes. By the very Blood of God Himself (in Jesus) He cleansed us.  Now, because of this great sacrifice, we are now one with Him again.  Now that an eternal sacrifice had been made, the covenant would be one of grace and not Law.
     Because Jesus and the Father are One, we actually could see our Father as we watched Jesus in His earthly walk.  Jesus told Philip in John 14:7 (Amplified), "If you had known Me (had learned to recognize Me) you would also have known My Father.  From now on, you know Him and have seen Him."
     This statement is all the more true for the believer today.  If you are to know the Father, then you must see Jesus.  No longer do we see the God of the old covenant, but the Father in the new covenant.  No longer do we see a God Who demands righteousness from a bankrupt people, but a Father Who imparts righteousness to a family.  We don't see a God Who demands works to justify, but a Father Who gave His Own blood to take away the sin forever.
     This act of the Law was to give life by the blood of animals (which couldn't take away, but only cover sin) only until He could get Jesus into the earth.     This power of the blood that was to be made by Jesus didn't cover sin, it completely eradicated all stain of sin.  Not just for a season was sin erased like in the old covenant, but forever (the past, the present and the future).  There's now no more sacrifice that's acceptable to God except the One made by Jesus.  That is why rejecting Jesus is the one thing that will damn a person.  Jesus said in John 14:6 (Amplified) that, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me."
     The only way into God's righteousness is by the righteousness of the Blood of Jesus.  There's no more sacrifice and no more Law that can be completed to enter in, but Jesus. The only sin that is now being reckoned to mankind, is the rejection of the only sacrifice that can cleanse him and bring him into right standing with God.
     This covenant of grace is available to all who will believe and accept the Son of God as their sin bearer.  No man can pay this bill on his own.  Without receiving Jesus, the Law of sin and death is still in effect according to Romans 8:2 (Amplified).