Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 

Thou Shalt Call His Name, “I AM”

Exodus 3:10-15

 

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called I Am, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

 

Matthew 1:21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name I Am, Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 

 

Did I read those verses wrong?  Not really.  Of all His wonderful names, and “wonderful” is one of them…I AM is the most foundational.  It’s the deepest ‘root name.’  The umbrella name under which all the others rest.

Jesus said “I am” many times, stating His claim as the Son of God, declaring Himself to be the Messiah. 

 

And Jesus could add something else today, though He never is quoted directly as saying it, and He shouldn’t have to--Jesus could say, “I AM Christmas. 

 

You can kick me out of the nativity and take my name out of the holiday all you want, but you will not be able to undo the fact that Christmas is also what I AM!”

 

Exodus 3:10-15  So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." 11  But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12  And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." 13  Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" 14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15  God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the 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, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. 

 

  This is the account of where God called Moses to be the deliverer of Israel out of Egypt. You will remember that Moses is on the back side of the desert and no one is present but him and God. God has told him to go unto Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of God go. Moses is hesitant. Then the conversation changes to the children of Israel, and Moses asks God what name he shall use in convincing the Israelites to go with him. God then makes the statement that has been repeated thousands maybe even millions of times since.

 

Exodus 3:14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 

 

In the New Testament we see where Jesus used this same name several times.

·      “I am the bread of life”;

·      I am the door”;

·      I am the way, the truth, and the life”,

·      “I am the True Vine;

·      I Am the Good Shepherd”

 

In saying “I AM THAT I AM”, God is saying there is no beginning and no ending to God.

There are no boundaries. There is no height nor depth limitations.

God is without boundary.

He is whatever you need.

·      If you need a Comforter, He is a comforter.

·      If you need a Healer, He is a Healer.

·      If you need a Provider, He is a provider.

·      If you need a Saviour, He is a Saviour.

·      If you need an Anchor, He is the anchor.

·      If you need an understanding Listener, He is just that.

 

There is no limit to what He is.

“I AM THAT I AM.”

 

John 8:12       I am the light of the world,  16-18 He says I am one with the Father.

23 He says I am from above.

24:       I am he, that shall die in your sins.’ 

28        the great I AM!

 

It is sufficient for Christ simply to say, I AM. 

But at this season of the year, I believe it is important to point out something else that He is…He is Christmas!  Jesus could say, “I AM Christmas. 

“You can kick me out of the nativity and take my name out of the holiday all you want, but you will not be able to undo the fact that Christmas is also what I AM!”

 

Jesus reminds us:

 

I.                 I AM THE GOODNESS OF GOD

a.  We use the term, “God is good”. Of course He is good. He can’t be anything else. He is good because He is God.

b.  He is not good because of what He does, but He is good because of Who He is.

c.   He is not good because He does good things for you. He does good things for you because He is God.

d.  He is good because He is God, but He is not God because He is good.

 

Psalms 107:8-9  Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9  for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 

 

He HAS given us that which we do not deserve. … He HAS NOT given that which we do deserve.

 

e.  We should praise Him for His goodness.

 

It is far beyond our imagination what life would be like without the goodness of God being bestowed upon us. I suppose it would be the very likeness of hell itself.

 

Psalms 107 .. (repeated many times)

“Oh! that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men.”

 

 

II.              I AM THE GRACE OF GOD

a.   We singt…                             Grace, Grace, God’s grace;  Grace that is greater than all my sin.

b.  There is no measure of his Grace.

                                                           i.      It is limitless.

                                                        ii.      It goes beyond all human imagination.

c.   He told Paul,

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee.”.   

d.  That’s the I AM working again. “Paul, whatever you need, my grace will take care of it. “I AM THAT I AM.”  What a promise that is.

e.  To whom much is given, much is required.

 

Luke 12:48 “......For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

 

f.     It is by this that one is saved.

Ephesians 2:8  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

 

g.   We sing …“America! America! God shed His grace on thee.”

h.  It is by His grace that neither you nor I dropped off into hell before we got saved.

 

III.          I AM THE GLORY OF GOD

A man told the story. In my younger years I thought it would be an exciting adventure to try sky diving. After checking into it, I found I could get a big discount if I brought 5 friends to jump with me . . . so I did. It was a beautiful sunny day when we arrived for a half day training and then an afternoon jump. We practiced by jumping out onto a foam pad. It was important to go "spread eagle" and count to 10. Since we were on a static line, the parachute would automatically open on the count of 10. If there was no chute by the count of 10 then we would apply emergency procedures to open the chute. When it was finally time to board the airplane we climbed in one at a time and hooked up our static lines. I happened to be the last one in which meant I would be the first one out. There was no door on the side of the plane and I was sitting on the edge looking straight down and holding on to the door jam. When the instructor told me to take my position I stood up in the doorway thinking how exhilarating it would to "fly like and eagle". The instructor shouted, "Jump"! I saw that we were over a neighborhood and the thought flashed through my mind that we were in the wrong place and that perhaps we were not high enough. So I hesitated for just a moment. The instructor was not a patient man though and slapped me hard on the back and shouted, "Jump"! That actually knocked me off balance and so instead of jumping, I tried to catch my balance but ended up falling part way out of the plane and grabbed hold of the wing strut with my feet still in the plane. I couldn’t get back in the plane and I couldn’t jump! I shouted to the instructor, "What should I do"?! And his incredulous voice shouted back, "JUST LET GO"! So I let go and fell like a rock. There was no glorious eagle soaring. There was no exhilarating victory. Just a falling rock. Afterwards, He said, “ I reflected that so many things in our walk with Jesus are like that. We have glorious plans of what we will do for the Lord, but in the end, we just have to JUST LET GO and let God get the glory. No glorious accolades or pomp and circumstance for us. Just The Lord getting it done for us.

a.  The glory Of God is seen through the suffering of His saints.

b.  Stephen. Acts 7:54-60.

c.   John on Patmos.

d.  How many dying saints have testified of the glory they witnessed in the crossing over to heaven?

e.  Moses’ face shone with the glory of God.

f.     The glory of God is seen through the sinlessness of His Son.

g.  Through His majesty.

h.  Through His manifestation.

i.      Through His message.

j.      Through His might.

John 17:2-3  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

k.   The glory of God is seen through the substitute for sin.

                                                            i.      Only God could die for sin.

                                                         ii.      Only God could pay the ransomed price.

                                                      iii.      Only the Creator could die for the creation.

 

IV.  I AM THE GIFT OF GOD

 

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Matthew 11:28  "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

a.  What is a gift?  It is something which cannot be earned.

b.  Most of what we give as gifts to friends is merely some type of payback.

c.   God didn’t owe man anything.

d.  If someone buys our lunch we feel we must return the favor.

e.  A gift does not demand repayment.

f.     Man had nothing coming, thus, God did not pay back. He paid up front; before the world began.

 

Ephesians 1:4  "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:"

 

 

V. I AM THE GREATNESS OF GOD

 

Psalm 8  “How excellent is Thy Name in all the earth.” 

Psalms 99:2-3  "The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.  Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy."

Psalms 96:4  "For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods."

 

a.  The process of salvation is coming to the place where we understand that WE are not and the He Is the I AM!.

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