The Great ‘I AM’

Exodus 3:14  ‘And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM: and He said, This shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’

This is the first verse in the Bible where God refers to Himself as ‘I AM’.  Over the next week we will also look at the seven ‘I AMs’ of the New Testament.  In the New Testament it was Jesus who referred to Himself as ‘I AM’, which is further confirmation that Jesus is God, and that He and the Father are One.  Both God the Father and Jesus referred to themselves as ‘I AM’ because of their eternal nature.  Whereas we live in time, God lives in eternity where there is no past or future, but it is always the present.  God is never ‘I WAS’ or ‘I SHALL BE’, but is always ‘I AM.’

The name I AM signifies that God is eternal and unchangeable, the same yesterday, today and forever.  It also has meaning which is beyond the capacity of the human mind to understand.  In Isaiah 55:9 we are told ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’  Although we can never fathom the thoughts or ways of God, He has chosen to reveal Himself and His nature through the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ.  In Romans Paul tells us that God even reveals Himself through nature and His magnificent creation of the universe.  But probably even more importantly, the Great I AM is a God of infinite love, mercy and compassion, Who is always ready to welcome back home the prodigal, and forgive the sinner who sincerely seeks Him.  His desire is that every person enter into a personal relationship with Him, and ‘taste and see that the Lord is good.’ (Psalm 34:8)