Tell Them I AM Has Sent Me to You (Ex. 3:13,14)
There are times when we hesitate to do God’s will because of feelings of inadequacy. Moses felt so inadequate to lead the children of Israel that he offered several excuses to God, but found God to be His adequacy. A right concept of God is essential to serving the Lord with power, purpose and proper perspective.
God not only reminded Moses of His covenantly promise to Abraham, but used the name I AM to teach him about his unchanging and need meeting nature. Let us look at several aspects of God’s nature to enhance our sense of power, purpose and perspective:
1. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S SELF-EXISTENCE - We can praise God for His pre-existence before time. "In the beginning, God." (Gen 1:1) God is the great I AM meaning that from His vocabulary there is no past, nor future no was nor will be about Him, but only the now since He is. No one created God so He is not beholding to anyone else.
He is above all, before all and greater than all. Thank God for His eternality that transcends all of time, people and events. He is greater than all history, present circumstances or future oppositionary powers because He always has been the eternally existing God. Let us teach, preach and serve a God who has no beginning nor end. Ask God to give you more of His eternal perspective, power and peace today.
2. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S COMPLETENESS - Moses had to learn that whenever we are feeling inadequate, God is totally sufficient, complete and adequate for all our needs. He completes whatever we are lacking in may it be courage, wisdom or ability, He is our great I AM. He gives us the authority to do things that are far beyond the ability of human beings because He supernaturally enables us with His Spirit. Paul wrote, "Not that we are adequate to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God who also made us adequate as servants of the new covenant. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor. 3:5,6)
3. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S SUPPLY. God is the purveyor of every good and perfect gift. He is the only one who always supplies without adding any sorrow.
Moses doubted if He had the wherewithal to teach, lead and govern the people of Israel, but the great I AM assured him of availability of total resources. As New Testament believers we count on the promise, "My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19) We also find our supply in the promise, "He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Will He not also with Him freely give us ALL THINGS." (Rom. 8:32) We can be assured that whatever material, mental, emotional, financial, relational, academic, or physical need we might have, He is able to supply it.
Quote: Hudson Taylor, the famous founder of the China Inland mission said, "God’s will done in God’s way will not lack God’s support."
4. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S PROMISES. When God told Moses, Tell them I AM has sent you," He provided a sort of blank check. In other words, whatever need you might have, I AM will provide. Find strength for your weakness, find solutions for your problems, find deliverance for your difficulties, find peace for your stress, find relief from your pain, find victory from your defeat, find ability for your inabilities. God gives us this great I AM to live in our soul, in the person of the HOly Spirit so He can fill us with whatever we need, at any time and in any situation, if we will trust Him, ask Him and look to His word for the solutions to our problems.
5. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S HOLINESS. The great I AM is perfect, pure and completely worthy of reverence. Peter wrote, "Be holy as I am holy." (I Pet 1:15)
It is not enough to just look to the Lord to meet our needs, but recognize that we please Him most when we are holy, above reproach and blameless in all aspects of life. We learn more about the spiritual excellence of the God when we recognize that He always has been holy and not one person, problem or event has caused him to lose even 1% of His holiness. His holiness is the center of His being as everything emanates from His holy standards of righteousness, truth and purity. Let us purge ourselves from an unclean conscience so we may serve Him with purity, holiness and truth.
6. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S COMFORT. Just as God comforted Moses at a time of desperation, so He comforts us in all our afflictions so that we can comfort anyone who is undergoing distress with the comfort we receive from God. (2 Cor. 1:3,4) Trust the Lord to comfort you when you are in distress. He has sent the Comforter in the person of the Holy Spirit to be with us always. He comforts us when we are discouraged, disappointed and despondent. None can cheer the heart like the joy of the Lord which is our strength, comfort and solution giver.
Quote: Hannah Smith write, "I AM implies that we may ask for what is not complete. This apparently unfinished name is the most comforting name the heart of man could devise, because it allows us to add to it without any limitations. Whatever we feel the need of and even exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think."
Quote: Allow the Lord to comfort, buoy your spirit and relieve your mind from stress as you call upon Him to comfort you, deliver you and relieve you from all your burdens.
He will keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him because His trusts in Him. (Isa 26:3)
7. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S CHARACTER. Let us teach God’s character to the people around us. Once a person understands the characteristics of God then they will become more like the Master. Jesus said, "This is eternal life (its true meaning) to know to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with and understand) You, the only true and real God and likewise to know Him Jesus Christ (the anointed one, the Messiah), whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
Application: Let us ask God for help in reflecting His character in our attitudes and actions. By teaching character development we will enhance maturity, depth and breadth in the lives of the people we seek to influence for the long haul. The greatest tool we have to influence people is our example. Jesus said, "Every pupil when he is fully trained will be like His teacher." (Luke 6:40
We learn more about God by reading His word, but also by studying and praising Him for His attributes and the Biblical descriptions about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Application: Enter "Attributes of God" in the key word phrase of sermoncentral.com and explore some of the 641 attributes of God listed under my sermons. I begin every devotion with a praise God’s attributes so I can better give Him glory, honor and worship for who He truly is.
8. The great I AM teaches us about GOD’S PROTECTION. When people know that we are sent from God then if they reject or discount our teaching they have to deal with God. When we make it clear that we are merely representing the GREAT I AM it becomes clear people are not rejecting us or our teaching but God and His word.
Moses needed to know that even if the people would laugh, ridicule or criticize him, God would be His deliverer. As long as we trust and obey, we can be assured of God’s approval, regardless of people’s response.
Illustration: One day, Adrian Rogers, the former president of the southern Baptist church, now Pastor of Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tenn felt discouraged that people were not responding to His invitations. He felt so distraught that he asked God to give him a verse for encouragement. He opened his Bible and pointed at a verse and it read, "They are not rejecting you, but Me." After that Dr. Rogers no longer worried about the results from his invitations knowing that people were not rejecting him or teaching, but God and His word’s invitation. That took all of the pressure off of him to see success.
