Archive for October 2011
I AM
Is This Something In Which You Should Believe?
What if Jesus were God? Would it make a difference in what you believe? What you believe now, and in the future determines your eternal destiny. Here is what you should know.
In the Book of Exodus, chapter 3, we are reading the story of when Moses was talking with God in the Burning Bush. God has told Moses to go back to Egypt and lead His people out of the land of Egypt, and to take them to a new and more promising land.
Then beginning in verse 13 we read the following:
13 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.’
Here we read that God has given Himself the name of “I AM”. This is very important to know as we now jump forward to the time of Jesus.
It is early morning and we find Jesus in the temple. All the people has come to Him and He was teaching them; the scribes and the Pharisees were also there.
They begin to question Him and ridicule Him because he has told them that God was not their Father. The proof of that, He said, was that if God was their Father they would love Him, for He proceeded forth and came from God. Jesus tells them that He is telling the truth but they do not believe Him.
Then Jesus begins to lead the conversation to where He drops the bomb shell on them. He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”
Had you heard that, what would you have said? Well, here’s what they said in John 8 beginning with verse 52:
52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’
53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
The Jews are now forcing the issue. They are trying to trap Jesus into saying something that they could use against Him. So, knowing what they are after He responds with this:
54 Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
At this the Jews are dumbfounded. They think Jesus is Crazy and:
57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
Now, wait for it. Here it comes. This is the answer that Jesus gives:
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
At this the Jews get very angry and yell curses at Jesus for what He just said and:
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Did you see it? Most people now are wondering what was it that Jesus said that got the Jews to want to stone Him, and if you have read the Bible you know right away exactly what Jesus was saying. It is because of the name that God gave to Moses at the Burning Bush.
He said, “I AM”. You see, in plain language Jesus had just told the Jews, the scribes and the Pharisees, that He is God!
Imagine what you would have thought or felt at that point. Here they were questioning and ridiculing Jesus. They were calling Him names, saying He was lying and that He was demon possessed. Then all of a sudden He tells them that the person to whom they are speaking is God; the same God that spoke to Moses. To them that was blasphemous and that is why they were going to stone Him.
Jesus has now plainly said that He is God. He is the Creator and that is why He has been able to do all of the miracles that He has done up to this point.
He has calmed the seas and quieted the winds. He has given sight to those who had no eyes. He has opened tongues to speak where there had been no tongue. He has raised the dead, given the lame the ability to walk and restored a hand where there had been no hand. He has given hearing to the deaf, changed water to wine and He has known the thoughts and intents of people who were around Him. He has now plainly explained how He has been able to do all of these miracles, and more.
He is able to do all of this because He is God. Jesus is the One Who calls Himself, “I AM”.
At this point you, too, now have to make a decision. You either have to agree with the Jews and claim that Jesus is a liar, a charlatan and the biggest deceiver that ever lived, or you have to believe He is God. There is no middle ground.
And here’s the importance of why you should believe that Jesus is God. Earlier in His conversation with the scribes and Pharisees Jesus had made the same claim in a different way. He put it this way:
23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”
25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.”
Where Jesus says, “I AM”, in some translations you will see that the interpreters had put in the word “he”. However, in the original language the word he is not there. It is simply “I am”.
So you see that here, Jesus begins to let them know Who He is. He gives them a plain hint and it just does not register. I can just picture one of the Jews, having picked up on what Jesus has said, leaning in closer to Him, eyes squinting a little and just saying loud enough for Jesus to hear, “Who are You?”
He knows what Jesus just said and he wants to hear Him say it again, but Jesus doesn’t answer the way he expected and just says, “Just what I have been saying from the beginning.”
Now, you too, must ask Jesus, “Who are You?”
His answer is the same. He is the great and almighty “I AM”. Simply put – Jesus is God. You either believe and submit to Him as Lord of your life, be forgiven for your sins and live forever with Him in Heaven. Or, if you decide not to believe, you will die in your sins and spend eternity in Hell.
What is your choice? Will you believe and live, or will you die and suffer the consequences? My prayer is that you will believe and live. You have no other choice.
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