He is the Great I AM

Daily Devotions with Pastor Chuck

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From Exodus we read,

“Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold; I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent you.'” (Exodus 3:13-14 – NASB)

There are, at various times, statements, proclamations if you will, that stir our emotions. They seem powerful and they are able to garner our attention and we are actually moved by them. They cause a person to pause, to take notice, and are likely to be burned into our memories. This text of ours from God’s Word presents just such a statement.

Moses has come into the presence of God. On holy ground he is given a mission to go into Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage and service to Pharaoh and into God’s service. In a state of great awe and great fear, Moses asks the obvious, especially considering this great responsibility that is being asked of him; he says that “the sons of Israel” are going to want to know regarding this God, “What is His name?” And God responds with this powerful statement, this powerful proclamation, this great and awesome revelation of Himself, “I AM WHO I AM . . . Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM sent you.”

The great “I AM!” The God of the Bible is, the great and mighty “I AM.” He is not the God that was or the God that is someday to come or a God restrained by time or a God who was active and now is inactive. He is the great and sovereign “I AM.”

Grasping the very power of God’s revelation to Moses, let us come forward in time to Jesus, the carpenter’s Son, the Rabbi/teacher who is of flesh and blood. This Jesus makes a claim that, like the one God made to Moses, is powerful and it causes us, or should cause us, to take pause and take notice . . . . and be in awe . . .

“‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews therefore said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'” (John 8:56-58 – NASB)

Jesus says that He is the great “I AM.” He makes Himself equal to God, the very God that spoke to Moses. There is no doubt regarding who it is He claims to be. “The Jews” certainly understand His claim,

“Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him;” (John 8:59 – NASB)

Jesus, He is the great “I AM.” And as I read our text from John’s gospel, this is a proclamation that stirs my very soul! Powerful! A statement that should cause every man and woman who reads it to have great pause and cause them to realize that the Jesus of the Bible is no mere man, no mere son of a carpenter, no mere teacher or great prophet. He does not leave us with the choice of labeling Him with these earthly titles. No . . . He tells us quite clearly that He is the great “I AM.”

Important?

“Therefore the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come?’ And He was saying to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He (note that “He” is in italics; it is added to the text by the translators; thus the reading should simply be, “unless you believe that I am”) you shall die in your sins.” (John 8:22-24 – NASB)

O yes brethren . . . this Jesus you and I profess as Savior, He is the great “I AM.”

Have a good day . . . and as you go about your day take time to think upon the claim of the One you profess to be your Lord and your Savior . . . and be in awe!