I Am: God Is Able

I AM: God Is Able

Scripture: 2 Cor. 9:8; Eph. 3:20; Exo. 3:12-14; John 8:56-58

Introduction

When I sung in the youth choir at our church as a child, we sung the song “God Is Able”. I loved that song because it was one of those repetitive songs so the words were easy to learn. Some of the words to that song says “God is able, just to carry you through, no matter what the world may do, trust in Jesus, in everything you do, God is able, to carry you through.” My message to you this morning is simple – God Is Able!

Paul when he wrote to the Church in Corinth told them this very thing, that God is able. Look at 2 Corinthians 9:8. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed…” When Paul made this statement, he was talking to a group of believers who were supporting the ministry. He was commending them for their generosity while at the same time preparing them to be ready to provide the gifts that they had already committed to. In doing so he shared with them that God was able to make all grace abound to them. In other words, because of their willingness to give, God would ensure that they had an abundance to continue those good deeds. Paul let them know that God was more than able to meet all of their needs while allowing them to help meet the needs of others. He reiterates this in a letter he wrote to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 3:20 Paul says the following: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us..” Paul tells them that God is able to do more than we can imagine for our situations ACCORDING to the power that works within us. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that is working within us (Eph. 1:19-21). As I continue through the rest of this message, I want you to remember three words, “God Is Able”.

I. Moses and the “I AM”

In Exodus the 3rd chapter, Moses has an interaction with God. In this encounter, God tells Moses that He has chosen him to go back to Egypt and deliver His people. After some discussion, Moses accepts the call to do God’s work. As he is preparing his mind for the task, he has this conversation with God, look at Exodus 3:12-14: “And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you; when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.’ Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ ‘Now they may say to me, ’What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM Who I Am’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”

So that you may understand the significance of what God said to Moses, let me explain to you some history about Egypt. At this time the Children of Israel had been in Egypt about 400 years. They have witnessed the traditions of the Egyptians and how they go about serving many gods. You see, in Egypt, they worshipped many gods. I found 125 different gods that they worshipped. Here are a few:

• Anuke: the goddess of war

• Baal: god of thunder

• Bes: protector of childbirth

• Geb: god of the earth

• Hapi: god of the Nile river

• Khonsu: god of the Moon

• Ra: the son god

The people of Egypt served many gods and the Children of Israel were exposed to them worshipping idols for over 400 years. Some of the religious practices of the Egyptians rubbed off on the Israelites while they were in captivity. We know this because of their sins once they were delivered (i.e. Aaron and the golden calf). But when God talked with Moses, He told Moses that he was the I AM. When you look at the Hebrew word for “I AM” God was telling Moses that “I will be what I will be”. In other words, for Moses, God was telling him that He would be whatever Moses needed Him to be in order for Moses to complete His work. Unlike the Egyptians, Moses did not need many gods, he had the I AM. Look at the comparison. The Egyptians had Anuke, the goddess of war, yet when they went to war against the Children of Israel, Moses’ I AM swallowed them in the Red sea. The Egyptians had Baal, the god of thunder and Hapi, the god of the Nile River, yet at the red sea, Moses’ I AM used the thunder and the wind to open the sea so that the Israelites could walk across on dry land. The Egyptians had Bes, the protector of childbirth, but Moses’ I AM took the first born of the Egyptians to prove His strength to Pharaoh. The Egyptians had Ra, the god of the son and Khonsu, the god of the moon, yet when Joshua was fighting the five kings, the I AM made the sun and the moon stand still until Joshua had defeated his enemies.