“Who Am I?” Part 4
The I AM Statements of Jesus
Introduction Part 4- What Did Jesus Say About Himself?
To begin with, Jesus made the most basic and bold statement about Himself, “I am God”. It was ultimately what got Him crucified. He was called a blasphemer by His own people, particularly the Jewish religious leaders of His day, and they hung Him on a tree to punish His audacious claim. But as we celebrate at Easter time, His assertion of Deity, being One with God- being God, was indeed true. His resurrection was the authentication of His claim, for the grave could not contain nor hold Him.
If we were created and if we are not simply a product of time and chance, then can we find answers to these questions independent of the One Who created us? Can we, if we were created by God for a specific purpose, understand the most basic questions/answers in this life, on our own? Can we discover or create such meaning and purpose by looking inward or by looking to the creation?
The answer to all of these questions is, that we cannot! We must look outside of ourselves, our world, and our own existence. We must look to Jesus!
We must look to the One Who created us- God Himself. But has this God revealed enough about Himself for us to know Him? He has! God came to the earth, as a man, to introduce us to Himself. Jesus Christ is this God/Man. He is said to be God in the flesh. To know God and to have life’s most fundamental questions answered we must look to Jesus Christ, Who said He is God.
If we are to have these questions answered by God then we must understand:
Question: Who is Jesus? Who did Jesus say He was when He walked on the Earth? Is there evidence to support, back up, and authenticate His assertions and claims?
Question: Who do you say Jesus is? Jesus asked this same question to his disciples:
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”– Matthew 16:13
Where To Begin: But is this really the question (who do you think that He is?) to start with? No, the place to start is not with the world’s view of Jesus, with different people-groups understanding, or with ourselves. Our belief or unbelief does not change Who He Is!
To discover Who Is Jesus, maybe the better question is: Who did Jesus say that He is?
Jesus Said- “I AM…”- In each of the “I AM” statements that Jesus made, we get a fuller understanding of Who Is Jesus, and in that we learn more of Who we are and gain Answers to life’s most basic questions.
What are our main spiritual problems (and therefore our main problems in life):
Question #1: We don’t know: Who Is God? Does He exist?
Question #2: We don’t know: Who are We? Does my life have value?
Question Number One: Who Is Jesus? Jesus says…
1. I Am- Equal With God- John 5
Questions We Ask: Is there a God and can I know Him?
Answers We Are Given: John 5:16-18- “And this was why the Jews were persecuting
Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working. 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
What We Learn of Ourselves: We are not God!
What We Learn About Jesus: He is God
2. I Am- The Great I Am- John 8
Questions We Ask: What is the name of God? How can we know this God?
Answers We Are Given: John 8:58- “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
What We Learn About Ourselves: When we are looking for God, we must look at Jesus!
What We Learn About Jesus: He is God! When we look at Jesus, we are looking at God.
3. I Am- The Prophet Spoken of Old- John 8
Questions We Ask: How can we trust that Jesus was not just a good teacher/man? That He is more?
Answers We Are Given: John 8:24- "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am (He), you will die in your sins."
What We Learn About Ourselves: We will die in our sins without a savior.
What We Learn About Jesus: He is The Promised One From the OT
4. I Am- One with God- John 10
Questions We Ask: Is Jesus God?
Answers We Are Given: John 10:31- “I and the Father are one.”
What We Learn About Ourselves: We can tend to make ‘gods’ in our own image. We can tend to flee from God as He has revealed Himself.
What We Learn About Jesus: He is God! The Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of One Essence.
5. I Am- The Son of God- John 10
Questions We Ask: Is Jesus God? How can Jesus be the Son of God and God Himself?
Answers We Are Given: John 10:36- "do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
What We Learn About Ourselves: We struggle to grasp the concept of the Trinity and often reject that which we don’t fully understand, in life but especially when it comes to God.
What We Learn About Jesus: He is the second person of the Trinity: the Son of God.
6. I Am- From Above- John 8
Questions We Ask: Where do we come from and where are we going? If we are to navigate the path between this world and the next, we need a Guide Who has been there and come to reveal the way.
Answers We Are Given: John 8:23- “He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
What We Learn About Ourselves: We have an eternal soul. We need a bridge to eternity.
What We Learn About Jesus: He is Of Heaven- The Link Between Heaven/Earth
So, What Now?
You may have grown up in the church and have heard all of this your whole life. You may believe all of this in your heart and mind. Could you take any one of these I AM statements and use them to share Jesus with someone who hasn’t grown up hearing it? How would you do it?
Having established Who Jesus says He is, now let’s address our second problem: Who Are We?
Jim Boice’s Commentary on John and others form the basis for much of the content of all these devotionals moving forward.