A woman was trying to cash her husband’s paycheck when she realized that her husband, Mark, hadn’t signed it. So, she sent her four-year-old Chelsea upstairs to ‘get Daddy’s name on the back of the check.’ Her daughter came back, handed it to her mother, and said, “I knew his name so I did it myself.” On the back of the check, 4 year old Chelsea had printed, “D-A-D.” (Sheila Schultz, Wilmore, Kentucky, ChristianityToday.com 1/20/09)
Chelsea KNEW her daddy’s name. That’s the name she knew him by. But Moses said he didn’t know his God’s name. When God told Moses that he was to go to Pharaoh and “bring My people, the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10) Moses replied: “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?" (Exodus 3:13)
Now, bear in mind, Moses didn’t want to go to Egypt. He was just looking for an excuse that might distract God and help get him out of this job interview. You see, when people want to avoid being involved with God they’ll often use an argument like this so that they can distract Christians who want to share their faith.
Usually, the argument goes – All gods are the same. What make you think YOUR God is any different than all the other gods? OR, as this graphic (which we put on the screen) puts it: “I believe all religions worship the same god. The differences in religions are cultural. I’m spiritual. I call my higher power ‘the universe.’”
In the days of Moses, Egypt had over 2000 gods that they worshipped, and they all had different names: Isis… Osiris… Horus… Amun… Ra… Anubis are just a few.
So God… what’s your name? What makes you any different that all the gods of Egypt?
ILLUS: Every religion - except Judaism and Christianity - worship an IMPERSONAL god(s), and they all have varying beliefs in the afterlife. They either believe that there is no afterlife, or they believe they can earn by their good deeds. If they do enough good stuff… they’ve paid for their ticket and get what’s been promised.
But by contrast, the God of the Bible is a personal God who offers heaven to those who seek Him. A preacher named Joel Smith made this observation:
“If God reveals himself through ALL the world religions, then we’re left with two options concerning his character. If pluralism is true, God is either a liar or a schizophrenic. The differences are too deep to conclude that all religions lead to the same destination. I suspect that people who support such a view have never really examined where the different faith groups diverge. A god who would devise such a system is either a liar, telling one group “This is the way” and another group “That is the way.” Or he’s schizophrenic. He has a multiple personality disorder. One day he’s Shiva, the destroyer. The next, he’s Brahma an impersonal force pervading the universe. The god you get depends on what day you bump into him. And if he’s a liar or a schizophrenic, he’s not a god that I want to trust or follow.”
And that was pretty much the way things were in Egypt. With over 2000 gods, the god you got depended on what day you bumped into whatever god you ended up.
But God wasn’t about to be distracted by petty theology. He simply said: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
(PAUSE) Alright… what does that mean? Well, I can think of a few possibilities:
First – when God said “I AM WHO I AM” He was saying: I am God… there aren’t any other gods. Psalms 40:4 says “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to FALSE gods.” Psalms 96:5 tells us “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” In other words - the God of Scripture is the ONLY God. All the rest are imitations. They’re FALSE gods.
Secondly – when God said “I AM WHO I AM” He was declaring that He is will always be there.
Someone once said it this way: “He is not the great “I Was” Or the great “I Am Going To Be.” He is the great I AM..
A woman named Helen Mallicoat wrote this poem: “I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking: “MY NAME IS - I AM.” He paused. I waited. He continued. When you live in the PAST with its mistakes and regrets it’s hard, because I’m not there. My name is not I was. When you live in the FUTURE, with its problems and fears - its hard, because I’m not there. My name is not I will be. But when you live IN THE MOMENT, it’s not hard because I AM HERE. My name is I AM.”
You see, when God said “I AM” He wasn’t declaring a theological creed. He was making a statement of who He is… to us. He’s not just everywhere… He’s everywhere FOR US.
In Deuteronomy 31:8 God makes a promise (that He repeats later in the New Testament) “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” And God repeats this later in Isaiah 41:10 “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
You see, when God made the declaration “I AM WHO I AM” He was saying this is WHO I am FOR YOU!!!
Now, did you notice that God didn’t stop by saying “I AM WHO I AM”? Right after he said that He said this: “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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” Exodus 3:15
Most theologians and preachers seem to stop and focus on the “I AM” thing… but that’s not “the name” that God said he would be remembered by. That wasn’t the name by which He’d be remembered “throughout all generations.” No, the name He wanted to be remembered by was that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
That's interesting, but why is that important? It’s important because our God is a PERSONAL God. He’s the God of ABRAHAM… the God of ISAAC… the God of JACOB. He’s the God of those individuals. He’s not a detached, uncaring, distant deity who doesn’t care about you. He is a God who wants to be YOUR God. He is the God of… Jeff, BJ, Scott (start naming names). If you’re a Christian, God is YOUR God… and you are His.
Acts 2:38 tells us that when we Repent and are baptized in “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, (we) receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” When we become Christians God not only BECOMES our God and His Spirit comes and dwells INSIDE OF US. He becomes part of us.
Romans 8:9-10 & 15-16 tells us “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you… you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (see footnote)
WE ARE HIS… and HE IS OURS!
That brings me to my last point: Our God is such a PERSONAL God that He paid the price for our sin. Philippians 2:6-8 tells us that “though (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Jesus was God in the flesh. He stepped down out of heaven to become like us so that He could die in our place. When He was born the angel said that His name would be called Immanuel which means “GOD WITH US”
As if to drive that fact home, when God sent Moses to Egypt to free the Israelites from their slavery God declared that His name was “I AM WHO I AM”… and when Jesus came to earth to free us from our slavery (a slavery to sin), Jesus declared: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) And when they heard that, the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. THEY KNEW what Jesus was saying. THEY KNEW, He was saying He was God. THEY KNEW Jesus was declaring: I AM WHO I AM!
An intriguing fact (that we wouldn’t pick up on in the English) is that when Jesus said “I am the bread of life, “I am the good shepherd”, etc. He was using an odd way of saying what He said. In the Greek, Jesus used two words “EGO EIMI” which literally means “I… I am.”
I (I am) the bread of life, he that comes to me shall never hunger; I (I am) the light of the world, He that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life; I (I am) the door. If any man enter through me he shall be saved; I (I am) the good shepherd, the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep; I (I am) the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me; I (I am) the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me - though he were dead, shall live; I (I am) the way, the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father but by me; I (I am) the vine and you are the branches; If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. If you don’t believe that I (I am) you will die in your sins. John 8:24
Because Jesus was the I AM… He had the right to be the ONLY GOD in your life; Because He was the I AM… He will always be there for you; Because He was the I AM… He cared enough for you… that He wanted to make you His own.
CLOSE: While praying one day, a woman asked God “Who are you God?” He answered: “I am”. “But, Who is … ‘I am.’” She asked. “I am Love, I am Peace. I am Grace. I am Joy. I am Strength. I am Safety. I am Shelter. I am Power. I am the Creator. I am the Comforter. I am the Beginning and the End. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
Tears came to her eyes… she paused… and then she said “I think I understand. But who am I?”
God tenderly wiped her tears and whispered: “You are Mine.”
INVITATION
Footnote on Romans 8 passage: I apologize for removing the verses in between 9 & 10 and 15 & 16. I ordinarily don’t do that type of thing, but I wanted to drive home the point illustrated by compressing those two sets of verses.
