Ex. 33:14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Ex. 33:15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
Ex. 33:16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Hag. 2:4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.
Hag. 2:5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
God’s covenanted presence was the great prize in the promised land, which speaks to WHY we are. His presence, and experiencing His presence, is the motive behind all of our pursuits and choices in life. Exodus 33 tells us that His presence doesn’t just reveal why we are, but also defines WHO we are. Moses said that it was the presence of God that distinguished the Hebrew people from all the other people in the world.
We are people of the presence and it is His manifest life on us, in us, and through us that reveals our true and unique identity. We are special because we are created to carry His presence and only In Him do we find our true self. This is the heart the New Creation. Colossians 3 says, “for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” The fallen false self we were birthed as in this fallen world was nailed to the Cross in the person of Christ, and we were raised up in Him carrying His presence.
I know that we will be glorified one day when we see Him face to face and when we get our new body it will be completed, but Rom. 8 says that in some way “we have been glorified” already. We’ve already been glorified because as New Creations we now carry His glory (His manifest presence). This is who you are. This is what makes you so remarkable, so special. This is what sets you apart from all other people.
Never be jealous of human beings of status, power, wealth, or beauty. Never wish your children had more stuff or opportunities so that they would be happier or feel more special about themselves. If you are a Christian, and if your children are believers, then you and they are the most privileged people people on earth. You and they are, and will eternally be, the envy of the ages. He truly became poor that we might become rich. 2Cor. 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”