×
Articles Affiliate Submit Editor Subscribe Prayer

Why GOD Refers to Himself as “I AM WHO I AM”? – 7 Ways Christ Redefines Who GOD Really Is

In the Book of Exodus [Chapter 3], Moses experienced his first moment of awakening in the wilderness on Mount Sinai, where the LORD appeared to Moses in flames of fire within an un-consuming bush. The LORD also indicated to Moses that God had indeed seen the misery and the suffering that His people were enduring, and decided that it was about time to send Moses to Pharaoh in order to bring God’s people out of misery. Moses insisted that God’s name needs to be provided so that absolute authority can be confirmed. Lo and Behold, God replied:

“I AM WHO I AM”, The LORD, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation [Exodus 3:7-15].

Most of us, with the limits of our human intellect, are still struggling with the idea of “Trinity” as if God intentionally hides His mystery for mysterious sake. Most of the time, God’s messages are well hidden behind the scene, it typically requires us to go deep down to the rabbit hole in order to find hidden treasure buried beneath the surface. How about changing our perspective a little bit shallower this time; let’s try staying on the superficial level for a while and see what we can discover. How about this: Let’s put in “2 pause’s” with “2 comma’s”, now all of a sudden, it becomes: “I AM, WHO, I AM”. Can you sense the significance of repetitiveness using “I AM”? Perhaps, it just dawned on us that the first “I AM” refers to “GOD the father”, the second “I AM” no doubt implies “Christ the SON”. The question remains: “WHO” is what? Better yet, the question should be rephrased as: “Who is the holy spirit?”. Now pay close attention here, this is where the real magic lies: how about getting rid of the question mark entirely. Suddenly, it becomes: <’WHO’ is the holy spirit >. Get it? If you follow the logics so far, congratulation! You just witnessed the best magician act ever performed by God Himself, hiding the secret code behind the meaning of “Trinity” as we know it; and little did we know, without over-analyzing, without over-thinking and treating it like complexity impossible to resolve, we can simply unlock it by adding “2 pause’s and 2 comma’s” to reveal the secret. This is another manifestation of how God uses ‘foolishness’ to shame the so-called ‘wise’.

You might ask: “God performing magician acts? Sounds very much like occult rituals Huh?” Absolutely! This is not about “an eye for an eye”, this is about showing us if God allows the dark art of occultism to surface; the same God can dismantle occultism with the same act. Here is proof: In [Exodus 7:10-12], when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to demonstrate God’s power, Aaron threw down his staff, and it turned into a serpent. Pharaoh summoned his sorcerers and magicians who used their secret arts to turn their own staffs into snakes. Aaron’s serpent consumed and swallowed all of the magicians’ snakes. This miraculous event was a deliberate demonstration that the power of God of Israel was far more superior to the false gods and the magic of Egypt.

Voilà! If you’re still hanging in there for God’s mystery so far, and raveningly crave for more genuine authenticity, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

In [John 8:58], When Christ was confronted with doubters who questioned Christ’s true identity as God, “Before Abraham was born, I AM!” Christ said. Simply with this unapologetic declaration, Jesus undeniably established His absolute throne of authority in real time.

“Why parable?” Christ was asked during one of his sermons on the mount, only to find that revelation of the secret to Kingdom of Heaven is reserved and hidden for the chosen few; and only for those chosen simply because non-believers have already made up their minds to reject God anyway, one way or the other, regardless whether Christ’s message came with or without parables. Another evidence indicated in [Matthew 13:57–58], [Mark 6:5–6], and [Luke 4:28–30], where it shows that Christ sometimes deliberately withholding from performing miracles in front of a crowd of disbelief. Instead of staying to argue or force them into believing, Christ decided to leave the village where the crowd resides without hesitation.

Speaking of parables, we are going to review seven ways how Christ reveals His truth using His own unforgettable parables, each starts with the phrase “I AM”, carrying implications going beyond the limits of time, space or human understanding.

Before we start examining each parable, make sure we exercise prudent judgment and stay objective by looking at each scenario, with cross-references and its associated implications, following these steps:

1. [John 6:35]
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

2. [John 8:12]
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

3. [John 10:7-10]
Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

4. [John 10:14-18]
Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

5. [John 11:25-27]
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

6. [John 14:5-6]
Thomas said to Christ, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

7. [John 15:1-17]
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

Conclusion

In [Revelation 3:20], Christ said: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with that person, and they with me.”

So next time while you are preparing for your favorite dinner, beware of the possibility that Christ might be knocking at your door anytime soon (literally and metaphorically), don’t miss out this opportunity when it finally arrives. Better yet, Christ might be bringing along a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon on one hand, and the other with your favorite bottle of Chardonnay. Engaging in conversation that goes beyond surface level romantic love and admiration, very much like father-son or father-daughter kind of dialog in a heavenly sense. The type of divine inspiration you’ll get out of this dinner meeting could go beyond your wildest imagination. The thought of Christ actually shows up at your dinner table sounds sooooo “hmm hmm … and Yummy Yummy!” It is not just a privilege; it is a life time opportunity if ever.

Perhaps ‘Rapture’ is not an imminent sign for the end of the world per se, but rather the beginning of a new world order filled with new hope radiating from Christ’s love and God’s grace. They said: “be careful in what you wish for, you might get it”. Yet according to [Revelation 7:16], it says: ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst’. Imagine a scenario where we all lost our taste buds because we no longer crave for hunger or thirst; how will we deal with the regret of not being able to taste our favorite hamburger, French fries, apple pie, a hot cup of coffee or tea, or an icy cold pop, … along with whatever our favorite foods for that yummy matter? But look at the bright side; at least we won’t need to worry about diabetes Huh! Better yet, we won’t need to worry about making a living just to put foods on the table before ‘Universal Abundance Income’ finally hits big time along our way (Hopefully it’s not just wishful thinking!).



Once again, until next time we cross path, and inescapably we will. While we are still on this journey of constant discovering or re-discovering depending on the nature of our path, laugh a little more at ourselves, it will make our serious tasks much more meaningful perhaps much more enjoyable as we keep our life purposes moving forward and beyond anticipation.

Signing off with Christ’s divine love, faith, and hope,
BareInChrist
(Irony and sarcasm is also a by-product of God’s creation too. Perhaps Christ’s message is meant to generate long lasting impression going beyond simply being memorable. If a sense of humor can do the job way better than any sermon ever could, long live Christ’s undeniable truth!)



Article Listing