The "I AM" Statements




I was reading in Exodus 3 today where God is working with Moses to rescue the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery. This is the first time God describes Himself as "I AM" and "I AM WHO I AM."

Not, "I was" or "I will be" but, simply, "I AM!"

Later, Jesus will use words like this to describe Himself so that the Judean people in the first century would recognize that it is truly Yahweh God in flesh.

Now, I can't fathom how God just was, is, and is to come, and how He stands over and outside of time. I can't get my brain around the fact that He has always existed.

What I can do is lean into how He describes Himself with those "I AM" statements in John's gospel account:
"I am the bread of life" (John 6)
"I am the light of the world" (John 8)
"I am the door of the sheep" (John 10)
"I am the good shepherd" (again in John 10)
"I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11)
"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14)
"I am the true vine" (John 15)

In Messiah Jesus, we are gifted sustenance, direction, protection, access to the throne, victory over death, and connection to fruitful life.

Let's worship Jesus, our "I AM" today!

Pastor Ben





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freedom

Image
Freedom is a powerful word to me. In fact, when I think about the idea of freedom, I think of possibilities and potential. Freedom feels like release and growth and opportunity.  Jesus spoke about freedom being linked to knowing the truth. In his words to some of the first century Jewish leaders, He said,  “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)  In the other New Testament writings, there are statements like: 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. And in Galatians, Paul, the writer, spoke of being free from the tyranny of trying to live out the law perfectly through faith in Jesus.  He wrote, Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke ...
Read more

My eye is not on the density of the fog but on the living God...

Image
Too good not to share this! “ I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me .” (Acts 27:25.) I WENT to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian. When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, “The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. We had George Mueller of Bristol on board. I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it. George Mueller came to me, and said, “Captain, I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon.” “It is impossible,” I said. “Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray.” I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. “Mr. Mueller,” I said, “do you know how dense this fog is?” “No,” h...
Read more

Signs...

Image
There is a sign in our kitchen at home that says "Gather" right above our oven cabinets. Since we love to eat with friends and family often, it is a fitting reminder of some of the things that bring us life. Do you have a sign somewhere at home? Maybe your sign is a decal on your car or a poster on the wall. I'm sure if you have one, it has special significance to you. Signs can guide us and provide meaning and direction. Signs can warn us of danger and lead us home. In Matthew 16 (echoing chapter 12), Jesus is asked by the Jewish religious leaders for a sign. He declines to do so likely because He knew no sign would convince them He was the Messiah. He tells them to ponder the sign of Jonah and then walks away. Many of those religious leaders had already seen and or heard of His powerful miracles yet they still missed the reality that those signs revealed the Kingdom of God. I hope we don't miss any of the signs God may still send us in our lives of faith. May we be ...
Read more