Tag: word

You Must View God in 3-D, Part 3

The “I AM…I AM” assertion.     We Believe

When we read the Bible in its entirety we can see there is no doubt Jesus is claiming full equality with the other members of the Godhead. Most specifically one saying speaks volumes for His deity and that saying is “I AM… I AM” which is an implication that He is the one and only God. That He is the self-existent one, identifying Himself with the Old Testament deity, “I am the Jehovah of the Old Testament”.

To be very clear it is important to point out the relationship to this particular saying and the deity of Christ.  This saying is clearly showing Christ’s deity and the fact that He is the one God.  Leon Morris said, “John’s use of the expression is distinctive. We get nothing like it anywhere else in the New Testament (except for a handful of passages in the synoptics); thus we must recognize that John is using the hallowed expression to bring out the truth that his Master was one with a special relationship to the Heavenly Father, a relationship in which he must be thought of as partaking in the nature of deity, and a relationship which does not compromise the truth that there is but one God.[1]

One of the most powerful claims Jesus made during His life was “Before Abraham was I AM”. That statement relates back to the burning bush incident with Moses in Exodus 3:13, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what [is] his name? What shall I say unto them?” What we see here is Moses asking God, “What is your name?” And then we see the answer in verse 14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” So He tells Moses, I AM who I AM. God wants him to tell them His name is “I AM”. When Jesus used this name He used the name of the one and only God, the true sovereign Lord.  Jesus was making it very clear. He was saying, “Let me be clear, I am the one and only I AM”.  So we see that Jesus is naming Himself the very name of God and the Jew’s knew it. They recognized the language. When they heard it they rejected the claim and picked up rocks and they tried to stone Him.

M.M. Ninan writes, “You see in those few words He said, “Ok folks, remember Moses out there in the wilderness? Remember the burning bush? Remember that God? Remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Remember the God who brought you out of Egypt and out of slavery? Remember the God who gave you this land and destroyed all your enemies? Remember the God who said it is punishable by death to claim to be Him? Remember the God who created the entire universe as well as you? Remember the God who says He is the only God? Well, guess what? That is the God I am. That is the God I am claiming to be. No doubts, no questions, no confusion, I AM.”[2]

Morris in his book, “Jesus is the Christ” tells us that Jesus was using language that accords with deity.  He writes “I AM, mostly represents the speech of the heavenly Father or of the Son. The overtones of deity that we find in its use in the Old Testament are not lost when we move to the New.”[3]  Scripture showing this style of deity is found in John 8:18, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse emphasizes the preexistence of Jesus. Philippians 2:6 shows that Jesus possessed all the attributes of God which includes preexistence.

To further affirm Christ’s deity Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” So in Him the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. John 10:30 says, “I and [my] Father are one.”

John 17:5 says, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Therefore, He had glory with the Father before the world began.

He is the great “I AM”. He is fully God in every respect. Jesus is equal with God; He is eternal with God; He is essential with God; He is God! He is everything.”[4]

The deity of Christ is confirmed. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Some students of John’s Gospel believe that our Lord’s words in John 4: 26 and 8:24, 28, 58, as well as 13:19 and 18:5-6 are all “theologically loaded” and affirm His deity as the great “I AM.”[5]

He is the great “I Am…I AM”.

Continue to the next post and we will review the Holy Spirit in respect of Deity.

Have a Godly day,

“The Tubthumper”

Click here to go back to PART 1  or  Here to go back to PART 2

[1] Leon Morris, Jesus Is the Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989), 125.

[2] M.M. Ninan, “I AM”, Symbols Jesus Used to Explain Himself (Glendale, Wisconsin: Global Publishers, 2005), 9.

[3] Morris, Jesus Is the Christ, 109.

[4] Barry Davis, The Claims of Christ: What Jesus Had to Say about Himself (Bloomington, IN: Writers Club Press, 2001), 11.

[5] Warren Wiersbe, Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011), 11.

8 Days left to pray for the election.

georgewashingtonprayingYou have given us a guide for life and asked us to meditate day and night.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:8-9)

Dear precious Lord, we worship You as Creator of all things that have been made. Father, we acknowledge You as True King and Ruler, the one who has given us dominion over this land. We praise You and love You Lord.

We call upon You, Father on behalf of our nation, the United States of America.  We need You dear Lord. We ask You to have mercy and grace upon our people.  We humbly seek that You do not turn Your face away although so many have turned from their roots of our forefather’s founding our nation upon Your principles.

Forgive our transgressions, Oh God. Forgive us for seeking to serve the created rather than the Creator. Send a river of conviction throughout our Country and convince each and every heart to seek to be washed in Your forgiving love and return to You in pure and holy worship.

We plead, Oh God, for the protection of our Land from complete ruin because of unrighteous living.  From the rampant adultery of the married, the pre-marital actions of singles, the ridding of lives before they are born, the greed and puffed-up pride of our hearts, the making Your houses of worship into dens of thieves by converting them to social clubs instead of deep dedication of communion with You.

Father, You have given us a guide for life and have asked us to meditate in Your Word day and night. Place that desire within our hearts, Lord and give us a hunger for Your Word so that we may know You.  Lead our nation and our people back to Your Word so that we may honor You through all that we say and do.

We pray now for our Nation’s president, our vice-president, our governor, and all our national, state, and local government officials.  We pray for each of them that, whether or not they serve You in spirit and righteousness, Your Spirit will guide them into all truth. We pray for our election in eight days, Lord.  We pray for Your Spirit to intercede and protect our land.  Help us, Oh God. Heal our land!

Thank You, Oh Holy God, for tending to our voices in one accord today as we intercede on behalf of our Nation.  Thank You for restoring us to being “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  Thank You that we will once again be able to call upon You and say, “God Bless America” because we are assured You will do so because America is truly Blessing Your Holy Name.  It is in the name of Jesus Christ we entrust our nation, the United States of America, into Your care.  AMEN.