The "I AM" God
By Woodrow Kroll
John 8:42-59
The name God used when He spoke to Moses is the same name Jesus claimed. What does it mean for us today?
If you've tried learning a second language, one of the first lessons is probably on the verb "to be." In English we conjugate it as "I am," "you are," "he, she, or it is," "we are," "you are," "they are." Remember that from Junior High or High School? Perhaps you're now rattling it off in first year French or Spanish, perhaps some other language you've studied.
Why is this particular verb so important? Well, because it describes existence. It tells us what is, by the simple fact of being. Did you know it's also one of the great names of God? From the very beginning, God is. He is the "I AM," an affirmation of eternal existence, simple in wording, but mind-boggling in its meaning. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day took this name of God very seriously. No one and nothing else could lay claim to it. In fact they considered it so holy as to be unpronounceable. So when Jesus said that, "before Abraham was, I AM," these guardians of religious zeal were instantly up in arms (John 8:58-59).
But what about today? Do you know Jesus as the "I AM"?
John 8 is a passage that deals with who we are in Christ Jesus. It tells us how to know Jesus. I'm enamored as I read the Gospel of John at how many times I encounter this word know. And here John 8, John is telling us again about the Lord Jesus and Jesus continues His battle with the Jews in John 8. John 8 is a delightful passage because it introduces what I think is the most enigmatic expression in the Bible. It's the "I AM" expression of Jesus.
Now let's look together, John 8. Go down to verse 42 in John 8. Let's get to know God as the "I AM" God, get to know Jesus as the "I AM" God today. John 8:42, "Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.'"
Now, I've told you again and again how important context is in understanding the Scripture. Jesus is continuing His battle with the Jewish leaders here, and He says a pretty strange and a pretty strong thing to them. He says, "You are of your father the devil." Now I'm not sure I'd want to step into the face of all these people and say that they come from their own father, the devil. But Jesus was brave enough to do that. But look at how He does it.
Verse 42, this continuing battle with them continues. "If God were your Father, you would love Me. If God were your Father, you would know Me. If you knew Me, you would know the Father." We've seen this again and again and again, but look at the reason why the Jews did not believe, verse 43. "Why do you not understand My speech [what I'm saying to you]? Because you are not able to listen to My word." And the reason you're not able to listen to the Word of God is, here it is verse 44, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do."
Now when He talks about being a descendant of the devil--not exactly a flattering term, to be a descendant of the devil--but what He means by this is spiritually these people follow their father, the devil. They joined with Adam and Eve, the rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. Now I have bad news for you, friends. All of us joined that rebellion. There isn't a single person--save the Lord Jesus Himself--there isn't single person who has ever lived on the face of this earth that was not part of that rebellion. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That's a pretty pervasive statement.
The difference between those who are still at war with God and you and me is, we've discovered the peace treaty that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. We've discovered that, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). We've laid down our weapons of war and we've come to be a part of the family of God. While we were born of our father the devil, we are no longer kin to the devil. We are now part of God's family; God is our Father.
And Jesus is speaking to people who have never come to know God--who have never come to trust Him--and so continues to call them by their maiden name, devil. Now when He talks about them being of their father the devil, He says, "The reason you are, is because Satan is the enemy of the truth and you're not accustomed to the truth." I find that very interesting because what He is saying to them is, "You can't handle the truth."
"You can't handle the truth! I can give you the truth, but you're not ready to receive it. And the reason you're not ready to receive it is, you would prefer to believe your father the devil. Now I want to tell you about your father," Jesus says, right here in the middle of verse 44. "I want to tell you about your dad. He was a murderer, right from the beginning. And he does not stand in the truth, in fact, he doesn't know what the truth is."
But here's the clincher; this is the most interesting thing I know that Jesus said about the devil. "There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." See, Satan is the original liar. The first lie was told by Satan--the first lie to a person, told by Satan, to Eve. And Satan has been lying to us ever since. And because he is our father and we've sided with him in this rebellion against God, it's easy for us to believe that he is telling the truth. But the fact here is he's been lying to us right from the start.
Satan lies to people when he says, "Take a few of these drugs, you won't get hooked." Satan lies to people when he says, "Take a little drink of this, you'll never want another one." Satan lies to people when he says to this, "If you do this illicit sexual thing, it'll satisfy you." Satan is the best liar on the face of the earth.
In fact, Satan is such a consummate liar, that when Satan tells the truth he has to plagiarize because he doesn't have any truth. So he quotes truth, he doesn't tell truth. And sometimes he even quotes truth out of context. He's just that kind of Satan. Not your average, ordinary, demon, this is the murderer from the beginning.
And He [Jesus] says, "Look, the reason you continue to resist Me is because you continue to love your father the devil." They did not belong to God, verse 47, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." Now that is a pretty stringent thing to say to his countrymen. And I suppose the only reason Jesus said that to His countrymen was because it's true--and the truth is always spoken by the Lord Jesus.
Now in this continuing dialogue with them, look at verse 48. "Then the Jews answered and said to Him," this is kind of tit for tat here, "'Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" Take that!
Now think about this, what are the two worse things a Jew could say about another Jew? Number one, "You're a Samaritan." And number two, "You're demon-possessed." So they say the two worse things they can...they're like little children here. You've heard your kids do the same thing, call one another a Samaritan. Well, maybe not a Samaritan! "You're demon-possessed, I can see it in your eyes." See, they are doing to Jesus, what they thought Jesus did to them. Jesus said, "You're of your father the devil." They said, "Well, we'll get back at you. We'll call you a Samaritan and we'll say you're demon-possessed."
It doesn't stick though, look at this. Verse 49, "Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; for there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.'" There's another one of those outrageous claims.
Jesus is either a liar and lunatic, or a Lord--the Lord of Heaven. And if Satan is the liar and Jesus is not demon-possessed, He's not a lunatic, then what He is saying here must be true. And look what he says, He says, "You do not honor the Father because you do not honor Me. If you want to go to the Father, you have to come through Me. And you don't know the Father, because you don't know My word. And here's My word, 'If you know Me, you will never see death.'"
Now this is not the first time, is it, that Jesus has introduced eternal life in their conversations, His conversation with these Jewish leaders. He did it back in chapter 3, verse 3. Nicodemus came to Him and he said, "Rabbi, we perceive this. You're a...we know that you're a teacher sent from God." And Jesus said, "That's not important, let me tell you what's important. You need to be born again." See, He got right to eternal life (John 3:3).
He did it with the woman at the well. He said He could give her water in which she would never thirst again, John 4:14. He did it also in John 5:24, "he who hears My word and believes in Him that sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." He did it in John 6:35, He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." He did it again in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." He did it also in John 8:36, "if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
Time after time after time, Jesus introduces the subject of eternal life to them in connection with Himself. And He's either a lunatic and not telling the truth, or He's the Lord of Glory and telling you exactly what you need to know. And the decision, my friend, is yours. You can believe what the Bible says or you can reject it. But let me caution you--if you reject it, you reject the only way to heaven forever.
Now that's not what I have to say, that's what the Word of God says. Jesus links Himself to eternal life, and here He does it one more time, "My word, if you believe my word, you shall never see death."
Well, the Jews make a tactical error at this point. They introduce father Abraham. You know, "Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham." Some of you have taught Sunday school I can see! Verse 52, they can't take what Jesus just said, so "Then the Jews said to Him, 'Now we know You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, "If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death."'"
"Ah, we got you this time, Jesus. You really pulled a blunder. We have You in a corner You cannot get out. We tried to get You in that corner with that woman that was taken in adultery. We brought her to You and wanted to know what You had to say and well, You slipped out of that, I understand. But now we have You in a corner You'll never get out.
"You said, 'If anyone knows My word, they'll never taste death.' But father Abraham, he's dead. All the prophets, the people we regard so highly, they're all dead. How do you explain the fact that father Abraham is dead, if You say people who know Your words will never taste death?" Boy, they felt good about this, "We finally got Him."
"Are You greater," verse 53, "than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?" Oh, my friends, we're now at the crux of the matter. Who is this Jesus anyway? I mean, how can He make these claims? How can He say these things? He must be demon-possessed, or He must be right. "Whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Jesus responded, verse 54. He answered and said, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 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. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
Oh, cut me to the heart! He got away again; He quoted Scripture and got away again! "Are You greater than our father Abraham?" He said, "Well, look, I'm not going to discuss whether I'm greater than father Abraham or not. I just want you to know that when father Abraham saw My day he rejoiced."
Now, how can we possibly understand that father Abraham saw Jesus' day? Put your hand in there, John 8, let's go back to the book of Genesis and look a bit at father Abraham. Genesis chapter 22, delightful story Genesis 22, one of the key passages of the Book of Genesis. Genesis 22:1, "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here am I!' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'
"So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of the young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I'"--now listen to this--"'the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.'" We will come back to you.
Abraham knows full well what he's to do and he views it as worship and he also says, "We're coming back." What faith this man had.
"So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' He said, 'Here am I, my son.' Then he said, 'Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.' So the two of them went together."
Now you know the rest of that story, God did provide a lamb, right there a ram in the thicket. The life of Isaac was spared; the faith of Abraham was tested. They did both come back to the young men and returned to their home.
And when Abraham saw the provision of God, he rejoiced. And Abraham in the providence of God, Abraham understood that God would one day raise a Lamb to a cross. And there that Lamb would sacrifice Himself for the sin of the world. Including Abraham and Isaac, and, my friend, including you. And Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Lord Jesus.
And while these Jews could not understand what this Jesus was talking about, Abraham had a glimpse of what the future Messiah would be. He would be a Lamb--innocent, spotless, blameless, sacrificed. And now in the conclusion of this passage Jesus gives us the clincher.
Look back at John 8:57 to the end of the passage. John 8:57, "Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'" Now that gives us a clue as to Jesus' age. We know he's under fifty. Couldn't get a senior citizen discount anywhere in those days. "You're not yet fifty years old, have you seen Abraham?"
"Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
"I AM," the universal declaration of eternality. "I did not begin," not "I was" or "I will be"--"I AM."
Time and time again the "I AM" is a title for deity. Exodus 3:14, "I AM THAT I AM." That's what God told Moses to tell the people. Who had sent him? "I AM THAT I AM."
"Say to the children of Israel, 'I AM sent you.'"
Now all the Jews in the world understood the words "I AM" to be a title for deity. And when Jesus said, "before Abraham was, I AM," that's exactly what they understood. How do I know that? Well, I know that from the great principle of biblical interpretation I shared the other day. Read a little further; look at the last verse.
"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." See, they weren't upset that He called them "sons of the devil," they weren't upset at that at all. They weren't upset that He said that He was from His Father. What upset them was that He claimed to be God.
And I want to tell you friends, you can go out on the street today and you can talk about church and you won't upset anybody. You can talk about God; you probably won't upset anybody. You can even talk about Jesus, the man of Galilee, the teacher from Nazareth, and you won't upset anybody. You talk about Jesus as God and you draw a line in the sand because it's the knowledge that Jesus is the "I AM" preexistent even before Abraham.
That's where faith really comes. And until you understand Him that way, my friends, until you understand Him as the eternal God who came to this earth to die for you and to be lifted up on the cross and to be raised from the dead for you, until you understand Jesus that way, everything you know about Jesus is good--it's just not "saving" good.
You've got to know who Jesus is. It does matter what you know about Jesus. Do you know Him today as the "I AM"? And is He the "I AM" of your life?
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