“And you shall know the truth, and he truth shall make you free…Therefore, it the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:32,36
When Moses, a man of eighty years of age, came upon the burning bush in the wilderness of Sinai, the Lord spoke to Him, revealing to him who He was, “…the God of your father – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Ex. 3:6) But when Moses asked the Lord what He should tell the people of Israel concerning His name, the Lord answered by saying: “I AM THAT I AM.” (3:13) “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.” Why is the matter of the name of God so very important? Was it not enough that the people of Israel, locked in bondage and slavery to Pharoah in Egypt, should simply know that the God of their fathers had sent His servant Moses to them in order to bring them out of the affliction of Egypt, and be brought into a land of promise, one flowing with milk and honey? The answer is two-fold. Firstly, the revelation to Moses of the God of his fathers had a tremendous impact upon him and would be sufficient to bring Moses to the point of obedience by faith, to lead the people out of Egypt. But God goes further than this, increasing the revelation of Himself, magnifying His eternal, sovereign character, by unveiling that He is not just the God of their fathers, but the God of time and space, eternity, the God all-mighty, whose power exceeds all that of earth and heaven. He is the God who has in essence, stepped out of eternity into time, to reveal Himself, not only Moses, His servant, but to the nation of Israel which is in great need. He is a God of extraordinary promises who will deliver an entire nation from the tyranny of one of the strongest rulers, and peoples, of all time. God has come at this point in time, with promises that are the result of one given to Abraham over four hundred years before. At that time, He told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and that they would be the servants of the people who would afflict them “four hundred years.” But God would judge that nation, and in the fourth generation of Abraham’s descendants, would bring them forth, and back to the land of promise. God’s timing of Israel’s deliverance would coincide with the completeness of “the iniquity of the Amorites.” (Gen. 15:16) The God of Abraham, of Israel as a people, along with being the God of Moses, IS the ever present, ever sovereign, all-victorious, almighty God for whom nothing is impossible. For this reason and more, He deliberately declares that He IS the great I AM.
This same God, approximately fifteen hundred years later, on a day when Jesus would be addressing the unbelieving religious rulers of His day, would declare by Christ’s words: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad…Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (Jn. 8:56,58) The Eternal I AM of Abraham, of Israel and Moses, was the same as this One standing before the religious rulers in Israel in Jesus’ day. The great I AM, sovereign and Almighty, Creator and sole Redeemer of men remains the same. This is the same God today who has never changed, declaring by Christ’s words, “I am the truth.”
So, what about truth becoming me? When the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the living body or church of Christ was born. Christ, in His truth, power, and love, came to dwell in the heart of the believer. The very TRUE nature of God became one with the believer, becoming a new creation IN CHRIST. The measure of truth that Christ will manifest in the life, revealed on earth, will be in response to faith in the great I AM.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to believe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.