On I AM

After reading the book ‘I am not, but I know I AM’ by Louie Giglio, my entire understanding of who Jesus is changed.

In Exodus 3:14 God says this: “I AM WHO I AM”

This apparently simple phrase has come to mean so much for Jews and Christians today. In Hebrew this is what it looks like:

It is pronounced hayah. And if we were to translate this into English, this is what it would look like (YHWH). This is where Jehovah and Yahweh have been derived.

So what does it mean to be I AM? Some theologians would say the God simply IS, that is, he is shear presence. Others expand the name into WAS, IS, and IS TO COME, a presence out of all time or control. Whilst this is completely true, I think that God was making a much simpler point, and telling us exactly who he is:

I AM:

• Centre of everything
• Running the show
• The same, yesterday, today and forever
• The owner of everything
• Lord, Creator, Sustainer of Life
• Saviour
• Inexhaustible and Immeasurable.

What is God is saying here? It could be I AM prepared to give up my only son for you. But I think it’s much more than that, and John makes this clear in his gospel as Jesus reveals who he truly is:

I AM

• the bread of life (John 6:35)
• the light of the world (John 8:12)
• the gate (John 10:7)
• the good shepherd (John 10:11)
• the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
• the way, truth, and the life (John 14:6)
• the true vine (John 15:1)  

Jesus is saying here that he is also I AM. No doubt some of these statements would have been (and still are) very painful for any religious authority to hear, because Jesus is not just saying he is the son of God, but God himself.

John the Baptist got the point, back in John 1:

John 1:22-23:

Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”

In other words, John is saying, I am not, but I AM is coming, and you need to look out for him.

So when we put all of this together, we see a God who is in control, who has a plan for all of us, whether we think we are capable of doing it or not. We see a God who was prepared to pay the ultimate price so that we could have a relationship with them. And we are not left to handle all of this alone.

Luke 24:49 - I AM going to send you what my Father has promised.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of I AM, can live with us and guide us through the way that God will help us to live.

God is in control.

He isn’t a MIGHT BE God, someone who is only there when he feels like it, or just when we want him to be there. He is I AM, always there, always in control, even if it doesn’t feel like it. And he wants to help us to become the person he knows we can be, if we let him.