Saturday, January 12, 2013

Jesus as the Great "I AM"

God : God is love! text in clouds form with blue sky background Stock Photo

The inerrant and infallible Word of God affirms, establishes and proves the divinity of Jesus Christ. The number of prophecies in the Bible that Jesus fulfilled defies chance. If you fill the state of Texas three feet high with silver dollars, fly over the state in a plane and randomly drop one silver dollar marked with an “X”, the chances of someone finding that marked coin is equal to the probability of one single person fulfilling the more than 300 Biblical prophecies that Jesus fulfills.

For example Psalm 45 is a Messianic passage speaking to Jesus as God (Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 45:6; Isaiah 9:6. God appeared in bodily form as Jesus (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus has the form of God (Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of the image of the invisible God (Hebrews 1:2-3; Colossians 1: 15). Jesus assigns Himself divine privileges (Mark 2:27-28, Luke 5:20, and John 11: 43-44). He is the Son of God (Psalm 2: 7,12). He is the Lord (Psalm 110:1).  Jesus is the Christ, the Word, and the Word is God (John 1:1,14, 18; 10:33; 20:28-31).

In the original language of the following verses, Jesus identifies Himself with God as the great “I Am” of the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). He declares, “I am the bread of life" (John 6:35); "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25);I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); I am the door (gate)” by which the sheep enter their pen for safety and provision (John 10:7, 9, 11); “I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11); “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6) and “I am the true vine (John 15:1).

To expound upon some of these, Jesus says He is the bread of life because bread is the symbol for the basic necessities of life. Jesus is saying that He is the source for all of our needs. We can cast our cares on Him, because he definitely cares for us (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22). Jesus is also the light of men, which shines in the darkness (Psalm 27:1; 119:105; Proverbs 6:23; Habakkuk 3:3-4; Psalm 44:30; Isaiah 49:6; Zechariah 14:5-7). Those lost in the darkness of sin do not understand this, because the Light is not in them (John 1:4-5; 11:9-10). 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). He keeps, feeds and leads the sheep. As sheep we are utterly helpless and dependent upon our Shepherd, who ultimately laid down His life, as the sacrificial Lamb, for us (John 10:16; 1 John 3:16; John 1:29,35).  In doing this, He also became our Resurrection and our Life (John 11:23-25). He imparts eternal life to us now, while we still live on this earth as His children. Then when we take our last breath of air on this earth, our very next breath will be in Heaven. If we believe in Him, we will live and not die for all eternity (John 11:25-26).

Jesus is our life, and He is also the only Way to Heaven. He is our Truth as well (John 14:6). Jesus is not one of many saviors, but the only Savior of the world. Jesus is God, who became flesh to sacrifice Himself in our place and to pay the debt of our sin (John 1:1,14). There are many concepts proclaimed as truth today. Most of them are satanic lies disguised as truth in order to deceive gullible people who choose not to believe in The Truth of the gospel for salvation.

Jesus is also the True Vine, we are His branches and God is the vinedresser (John 15:1-8). The nutrients for the branches come from the vine. Apart from Him, we cannot bear fruit; in fact, we can do nothing (John 15:5). God prunes away the unfruitful branches from the vine. Then, He prunes the fruitful branches, so that we will be able to produce even more fruit (Matthew 7:19). God chooses those who believe in Him and He appoints us to go and bear fruit that will last (John 15:16).

Jesus also referred to Himself as “I am” when He spoke to the Jews. "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). Then latter, He declares to His disciples, "I tell you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM" (John 13:13:19). He also says, "Unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24).

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, John the Baptist stated that You are the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 32-36). You use all of these analogies to show us that You are the One Way to receive eternal life (John 3: 16-18). John recorded his gospel about You, so that we can believe that You are the Light of the world. We find life only by believing on Your name, because You are the Son of God, and the Savior of the World (John 4:42; John 20; 30-31).

Thought for the Day:
Jesus commissions His Saints to shine in the world as lights of His truth. He makes us a lighted city on a hill, which cannot be hidden. - Matthew 5:14