Before Abraham Was, I Am Series

BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM

The Divine Christ Demands a Response

John 8:58

INTRODUCTION

Church, we have come to a crossroads Today. For thirteen weeks we've journeyed from the burning bush to Bethlehem, watching as God unveiled His glorious name, the great I AM. We've seen how the God who revealed Himself in fire and glory to Moses continued to speak through the prophets, through the ages, through the centuries. But beloved, Today we stand at the pinnacle of divine revelation. Today, we stand face to face with the most audacious, most controversial, most earth-shattering claim ever made by human lips.

There's a moment recorded in John chapter 8 that changed everything.

A moment so explosive that Jesus almost got killed on the spot.

A moment where heaven held its breath and hell trembled.

It's the moment when Jesus of Nazareth, this carpenter's son from Galilee, this itinerant preacher with dusty feet and calloused hands, looked the religious elite of Israel dead in the eye and declared: "Before Abraham was, I AM!" (John 8:58)

Do you understand what happened? Jesus didn't say, "Before Abraham was, I was." No. He said, "I AM," present tense, eternal tense, the covenant name of Almighty God Himself. The very name God thundered from the burning bush when Moses asked, "Who shall I say sent me?" And God replied, "I AM WHO I AM... I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). That name, beloved, YHWH, Yahweh, the self-existent, eternal, unchanging God. Jesus claimed it as His own.

Today, in this final message of our series, we're going to confront the unavoidable question: What will you do with Jesus's claim to be God? Because church, I need you to hear me. You cannot stay neutral on this issue. As C.S. Lewis famously said, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord. There is no middle ground. There is no safe zone of indecision. The eternal I AM has revealed Himself fully in Jesus Christ, and He demands your response.

Let's pray: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we ask You to open our eyes today. Give us courage to face the truth, wisdom to understand it, and faith to respond to it. Holy Spirit, have Your way. In Jesus's name, Amen.

I. THE ULTIMATE CLAIM

Now church, I want you to understand the context of what's happening in John chapter 8. This wasn't a casual conversation over coffee and donuts after Sunday service. This was a heated, intense confrontation between Jesus and the religious establishment, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the guardians of Jewish orthodoxy. These weren't ignorant men. These were the scholars, the theologians, the ones who had memorized the entire Torah, who could quote you chapter and verse from memory.

Jesus had been teaching in the temple courts, and He'd been saying some things that made these religious leaders uncomfortable. He'd been talking about freedom from sin, about knowing the truth, about having eternal life. And when they appealed to their ancestry ("We are Abraham's descendants!" - John 8:33), Jesus told them that biological lineage meant nothing if they were doing the devil's work (John 8:44). But then Jesus went even further. He said something that would either validate His entire ministry or prove Him to be the most dangerous blasphemer who ever lived.

A. Shocking the Religious Leaders

Look at what Jesus says in John 8:56: "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." Now pause right there. Think about what Jesus claimed. Abraham lived approximately two thousand years before Christ. Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, the friend of God, the man to whom God made His covenant promises. Jesus is claiming that Abraham knew about Him, saw His day, and celebrated it.

The Jews were incredulous. John 8:57 records their response: "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?" They thought Jesus had lost His mind. The arithmetic didn't add up. The timeline made no sense. How could a man not even fifty years old claim to have any connection whatsoever to Abraham, who died millennia ago?

But church, here's what you need to understand: Jesus wasn't talking about a physical meeting with Abraham in historical time. He was talking about something far more profound, far more radical. He was talking about His pre-existence. He was declaring that before Abraham ever pitched his tent in Canaan, before he ever looked at the stars and received God's promise, before he ever raised the knife over Isaac, Jesus existed.

B. Claiming the Divine Name

And then came the bombshell. John 8:58 records these words: "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.'"

Hallelujah. Do you hear what He said? "I AM." Not "I was," past tense. Not "I existed," completed action. But "I AM," present, continuous, eternal. Jesus deliberately, intentionally, unmistakably invoked the sacred covenant name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush.