The Great “I AM”
Copyright 2020 by Joan Berry
Exodus 3:13-15.Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations’ (NKJV 2007).
I AM, as translated from the ancient Koine Greek “Ego eim`e,” means I exist and It is. That is a powerful declaration. He is a living God who created the universe, what He is, and what He wills to be. He is omnipotent. He is everything to us. The I Am in the Old Testament declares God’s existence, His authority and proclaims His greatness (the Great I AM). Jesus, in the New Testament, declares His identity to show who He is. He also is everything to mankind and the only way to God. Jesus proclaims His “I AMs” in the Book of John where he equates Himself with the Great I AM. The most important of all the statements are in John after Jesus tells them’ I am not of this world’ (NKJV 2007).
There are over 300 I AMs from Genesis to the Revelation that are connected to God and Jesus. In the Book of John alone, there are seven, plus Jesus’ admission that He is not of this world.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [a]comprehend it (John 1:1 NIV 2005).
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18: 36 NIV 2005).
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world (John 8:23 NIV 2005).
Jesus’ I AM statements in the Book of John: John 8: 12-13; 10: 1, 9: 10: 14; 11:2-5; 14:6; and 15:5.
I AM the bread of life.
I AM the light of the world.
I AM the door.
I AM the good shepherd.
I AM the resurrection and the life.
I AM the way, the truth and the life.
I AM the true vine.
Sources:
Life Application Study Bible. (2005). Grand Rapids MI: Tendale House Publishing, Carol Stream, IL, and Zondervan, Grand Rapids MI.
New King James Version Study Bible. (2007). Nashville TN: Thomas Nelson.