John 14:6—beginning of a mini-series
November 11, 2007
I AM
Our God is an amazing God isn’t He? What an amazing God we serve. I mean He is all powerful. He is just yet He is merciful. He created the heavens and the earth and yet He cares for each of us explicitly. What an amazing God. I just want to start off today by bragging a little bit about the God we serve. Do you ever just feel the need to do that? Do you ever just look outside and see all the wonders that God’s hands have made and just feel proud to serve such an amazing God. I mean…this world contains so much beauty. How is it that we sometimes forget just how amazing our God is? You cannot look outside and miss the beauty of God’s creation…yet somehow we have grown accustom to it. Just think though…as fall is coming the leaves on the trees change color in an amazing display of beauty. The sun rises and sets every day surrounded by a vivid explosions of orange and pink and blue all coming together. To the God who gave us the ocean, the sky, the stars, and the moon…isn’t He just an amazing God. And this…is the God that we serve. I mean…what do you say to a God like that? How do you fathom such an incredible God? There are so many beautiful portraits in this world that display the splendor and majesty of our God…its almost too much to take sometimes.
I am very excited. Today we are going to get into one of my personal favorite passages of scripture that I believe shows some of the most beautiful pictures of Christ that are found in all of Scripture. Actually we are going to spend the next three weeks on this one passage…in fact on this one verse of scripture. We could sum it up…but that just won’t do it justice. I want you to see greatness of the God we serve in this text so today is going to be an introduction to this scripture. If you want to turn in your bibles to John chapter 14 I will read it for you:
Jn 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Now we are going to spend a week on each of the elements of this verse and look at what each one means. This text is so rich and poignant with meaning that we really need to stop and dwell on it. I hope as we look through this text at all its details and intricate workings that you will grow to love it is I do. This whole series for the next month we are basically going to be talking about How Great our God is by looking at the exclusivity and uniqueness of His provision and love for us. And our God is a God that is so great we cannot sum it all up in a week…or even a month or a lifetime. What we can do…is with every breath that we take, with every move we make we can praise God for just how awesome and amazing He truly is. I cannot hope to touch or even fathom the greatness of our God. All I can do is try to wrap my mind around the trail of the back side of His already passed by glory and splendor. For our God is so great that to see His glory would be fatal to us. He is so great that our bodies cannot even look upon Him and live.
Today we are going to look at the first part of our text… I AM. A simple little phrase that says more than we give it credit for. Our God is so great that no one name can fully describe Him. God has many names. God is a God of love, mercy, justice, power, faithfulness, providence, righteousness, truth, wisdom. How do you describe a God like that? Have you ever wondered what to call God? Moses did. When God was sending Him to the Israelites to set them free from Egypt Moses asks:
Ex 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Ex 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Ex 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
I AM. That is the name that God gives Moses. I AM. Do you get what that means? Do you understand that power of that message? Throughout the Old Testament God reveals Himself to different people. Each of them asks for the name of God…but God has many names El Shaddai, Elohim, El Olam, Adonia, El, Jehovah, Yahweh, and many others. Do you know that every name in the Old Testament for God is not actually a name but a description of His character? God is righteous, God provides, God is sovereign, God is powerful, God is faithful…and so on. Each of these has a common link: God is…Many of the names of God carried a prefix meaning: “I AM” I am the God who provides, I am the God who is with you. God is the ‘I AM’. I AM who I AM becomes Israel’s personal name for God, Yahweh which basically means: I AM the God who IS. This became the covenant name for God throughout Israel’s history. God is the God who is. The greatness of our God cannot be found in a name or a title…the most we can do to understand Him…our closest way to comprehending God is Yahweh…the God who is. He is not created, He is not finite, He is not mentally feasible, He just is.
This particular way of describing God as: I AM, has strong relevance to not just the Old Testament, but to the New Testament as well. John records for us seven ‘I AM’ Statements of Jesus: I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the door for the sheep, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and I am the true vine. Seven great I AM statements each with a vivid picture of Jesus being displayed. Again we see that these are not names for Jesus, but descriptions of His character. Jesus name is not the bread of life, Jesus is the bread of life. By His use of ‘I AM’ Jesus in no subtle or uncertain terms is connecting Himself with Yahweh God. He is…His name Immanuel…God with us. Jesus is not just sent from God…by His very existence He is God. Jesus is not just God’s agent or representative…HE IS GOD. Why do you think the Jews were so upset with Him when He spoke of Himself…He claimed connection, existence, nature, character…He claimed to be God. This is blasphemy…unless you are God. If Jesus was a man and walked around saying: ‘I AM’ associating Himself with God He would have been a blasphemer…but He wasn’t just a man…He was…and is God.
When I was younger and lived in Chicago I had this really great friend. We were inseparable, peas in a pod and all that. We loved spending all our free time together, laughing together, sharing meals, talking, and dreaming about what life was going to be like. We hung out all the time, we did everything together. He was very important to my life. He was there for me and I was there for him. Then I moved away. We moved to Missouri and we could not longer do everything together. The friendship endured for awhile, he came to visit me for a week one summer…but as time passed our friendship faded and I haven’t spoken to Him in years.
Right now I have a really good friend who I think of as a brother. I have more than one of them actually but I have some really good friends at this present time. Guys who I love spending what free time I have with, sharing jokes, meals, laughing, talking, dreaming about what life will be like together. I have friends that I hang out with all the time. They are very important to my life, they are there for me, and I am there for them. But one day…they will move away. Certainly our friendship will not die…but it will lessen. We won’t see each other as much…we won’t be able to hang out and laugh like we do now, we won’t share in all the same inside jokes. I have friends now…that I will not have forever.
In 10 years I will make a good friend. We will spend lots of time together. We will laugh, share meals, talk, and dream of what life will be like. I will have a friend who will be like a brother to me. Who will be there for me when I need him, and who will be very important to my life. But I do not have that friend yet.
You see it is in the nature of man to change. Things in this life do not stay the same forever. People come, and people go. Friends come, and friends go. That is the nature of relationships. But that is not the nature of our God. Our God is not a God the God that was but no longer is. Our God is not a God that is but will not always be. Our God is not a God that will be but currently is not. Our God is! He was! He will always be! His power to change this world is just as great today as it was 10000 years ago as it will be in 10000 years if Jesus does not come back before then. God is the God who is. There is no other way to describe Him. He is eternal.
Do you understand what that means? That means that the God who created you still has the power to change your life. Our problems seem so big sometimes don’t they? Sometimes it just seems like the world is caving in around us…like there is just too much to take. Sometimes it seems like no matter what we do we will never be rid of the great burdens that we carry. Doesn’t life just seem overwhelming sometimes? For some it’s our job. Our boss that expects us to give up every minute of every day for our work but we cannot do that. For others it’s a home life that is a mess, a spouse, the kids…it just seems like all you can do is tread water doesn’t it? Don’t you wake up some days and just feel like: maybe today will be the day that the bottom just drops out? I mean life can mess you up sometimes. All the stress, and trials, and hardships that come along…life can be rough…it can be overbearing…and sometimes all we can see are problems. My family is a mess…work takes everything out of me…my ex keeps causing problems for me…my kids don’t listen…my parents are burdening me with all their problems or desires for my life….sometimes all we can see in this life is our own problems…you ever had a day like that? I know I have. But think of this. On those days when all you can see are problems…when life seems too much to take…remember this. Our God is a great and powerful God. Just look at the vastness of His creation. When your problems get too big to take…just take a look at the universe that God has made. Do you know that in relation to our sun, Earth is the size of a golf ball. That should put some things in perspective. Even within our own galaxy our planet is insignificant in comparison with the sun. Yet the universe is more than that. There is a star called Orionis that is so big that our sun would fit in it 530 times...that is a little more than a dot a blimp…a single pixel on a huge projection screen. There is a star called Canis Majoris that is so big that Orionis that holds 530 of our sun…could fit into 4 times and in relation to our sun we are a golf ball and those are just the stars that we know of. The universe that God has made is HUGE…and our earth is not even a spec…not even a spot…not even a noticeable discoloration of a fraction of a microscopic pixel in the grand scheme of this universe that we KNOW OF. And our God…is the God who created all of that. He knows every star…He knows every planet, every constellation…and He knows you by name. In fact He knows you much more intimately than that. This same God who knows this universe knows how many hairs you have on your head. Can you imagine? In comparison to the size of this universe we know of we are less than insignificant. We are not even ants in comparison with our own sun…and yet the Great God of the universe knows us…cares for us…loves us. Do you get that?
This same God who created the universe…this enormous expanse that is unimaginable in size created you. And while He is so powerful that He created the cosmos at a word…He stopped…and crafted you by hand. You are significant to God. You are loved by God…but your problems… are nothing to Him. Do you think that a God who created all of this could have a hard time taking care of you? Do you think the God who spoke a star so big that our sun would not even be a dot on a projection screen picture of it...would have a hard time taking care of your problems? He does not. Our God is HUGE…He is an awesome God…and He has the power to change this world. He is the God who is. He is the God who was. He is the God who will always be. He is Yahweh…the Great I AM…He is God. There is nothing that He cannot do. Whatever problems you have…whatever hardships you face…no matter how big your problems are…they are not too big for God. There is nothing in your life so big that God cannot handle it. So why do we doubt? Why do we fear? Why don’t we trust that God can provide for us as He always has for His people. God blessed Abraham with a son when it would have been physically impossible for him to have one at his age. He then grew from that one son a nation that would be His people…the people of Israel. When Israel was captive in Egypt…God delivered them against all hope…against all logic or reason or possible outcomes, God delivered them. When in the dessert God provided for His people, when entering the promised land God was faithful to give to the people what He promised them. When Israel was taken captive and cried out God was their deliverer…He freed them…looked out for them…cared for them. Throughout the history of man, God has been providing for His people…taking care of their needs…and watching out for them. For some reason this almighty all powerful God who created the universe has a particular fondness for us. He is not fickle. He is not like a kid with a happy meal toy that is excited about us for now but in 10 seconds will be bored with us. He is the same…always…
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
He will never change. He will never stop providing for His people. He will never stop loving us…He will never stop caring for us. The biggest problem the world has ever and will ever see is sin…and Jesus took care of that a long time ago. When He went to the cross He went there once for ALL. And by His blood we are healed. By the blood of the lamb…of the Great I AM…we are made new…our sins are forgiven…and we find the strength to face the day. Jesus is always there…always with us…always watching out for us…our problems are not because He is not there…but because we fail to give our lives fully over to Him.
God is the God that is. Praise Yahweh…praise God…what all He has done. The great I Am…the creator of the universe…the God that provides…praise God…for He is bigger than all the problems of your life…and if you would but turn them over…He would take them from you. Guys…the God we serve is an amazing God…today…can we just stand and sing to Him this hallelujah? Let us come together and praise the majestic God that we serve.
