“I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14
There is power in words, especially if those words come from God. In the simplicity of five words, God gave to Moses for the people of Israel in bondage, probably the clearest, and most profound declaration of who He was, and is, that is found in Scripture. We find in Scripture many descriptions of God, especially with regard to His character and nature. But by the revelation of who He is in the giving of His name, there is the unveiling of the Eternal, perpetually the same, previously existing from everlasting to everlasting, the Almighty God and creator, even the everpresent and perfect Savior of the world. His words is the basis for all faith, for in declaring them to Moses, He distinguished Himself as the ONLY true and living God, holy in every aspect of His being. In declaring these words He is putting before Israel, and before all men, a choice, whether to believe Him as the unique,Soveign God, who alone is worthy of all trust, especially when sinful man, or Satan, would declare that they are worthy of worship. In the Gospels, as well as in the prophets, this I AM makes abundantly clear that He is to be the single object of worship, the one is to be ultimately served, for as the Psalmist put it: “…It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” (Ps. 100:3) He also brings before the people of Israel that there is none that compares with him, nor even approaches the heights of glory which the Eternal God unveils by His creation, and the redemption of men. He alone is worthy to be honored as the ever present Lord and Savior of men. Therefore, He alone is to be sought that the sinner can be saved, and this for eternity. What then, in knowing the name of God, is to be the effect upon the life of the believer?
The first and greatest effect is the power that God gives in response to the cry of the heart when the revelation of God is given. It was Isaiah, when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting upon a throne, hearing the seraphims crying to one another: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory,” who would then declare: “Woe is me! For I am undone.” (Is. 6:5) The word “undone” here means to brought to silence, to be conscious of absolute failure, even being destroyed, undone. The power of the revelation brought the sinner, Isaiah, to a knowledge of his sinful lips before a holy God. The conviction of this sin was significant in that it revealed not just one sin, but the fact that Isaiah was a sinner who sinned like the people who surrounded him. Perhaps able to justify himself before the people of his day, he was not able to do so before God. The vision had crippled him, broken him, destroyed any vistige of “righteousness” that he might have because of something he had done. There was no place to flee, or to descend to. In the presence of this God who reveals Himself in His power and authority, Isaiah has but one plea after being cleansed from his sin: “Here am I, send me.” (v. 8)
The second, and great effect of the vision of God as revealed by His name, was the unveiling of Divine provision, not only to believe God, but to obey and follow Him. The call of Christ was just that, a call to follow Him. However, who would do this but the one who had a glimpse of His glory, having become convinced of his own need, but also, of Christ’s perfect provision in His precious blood for the forgiveness and cleansing from all sin and the gift of the Spirit, the very life of Christ.
Dear Father, Transform us all today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.