In John 8 we see three intransitive I AM Statements in a singular chapter. Chapters 6 through 8 are some of the weightiest portions of the gospel and even the Bible. The chapters of John’s gospel average 42 verses each but John 6-8 average 61 verses.
The third Intransitive I AM statement is a negative one statement
“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do NOT believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
It’s not that a holy God will send someone to hell, but rather if Christ did not come or if we do not believe, we will die in our sins. The fact that Jesus is Personal and the Jesus is Perfect in love are great and wonderful, but what if we do NOT believe that? Then we reject His Preeminence in everything that He is and are only left with His preeminence in Judgment of our sins. No redemption. No forgiveness.
John reveals in the third, fourth, and fifth “I AM” statements an interrelationship of Jesus’s omniscience, His omnipotence and His omnipresence. He is the discerner of our thoughts and intentions (see Hebrews 4:12, which is rightly thought of as the “word of God”, that is, the Bible, but in the Greek it is “logos theos” is used there which does refer also to the “Word of God” that is, Jesus. See Revelation 2:23 also for the "I AM" Statement there of "I am He who searches the minds and hearts.")
His preeminence in judgment is in the context of a lack of faith or unbelief that God through Jesus would forgive, that God through Jesus would redeem. Jesus’s statement in verse 24 made them respond with, “Who are You?” And that is the weightiest of all questions and the entire reason for the “I AM” Statements and the study of Christology in the context of systematic theology!
Who Is Jesus? He is who He has been saying He was from the beginning (verse 25- 26).
25 “Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’
And Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.’ “
The doubters in John 8 were mocking Christ because they knew His mother became pregnant when she was not married. They did not know who His physical father was, not realizing that it was more important who His Heavenly Father was. The lack of faith that Jesus is the “I AM” is what causes God’s judgment of unbelievers.
By faith alone in Christ and His sacrifice, they could avoid the punishment. Jesus declares in their presence three times (8:24, 28, 58) in this one chapter that He is “I AM,” that is, “Yahweh God.” He declares that lack of faith will cause them to miss eternal life.
In this I AM statement, He declares His Preeminence in Judgment, because He is All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Wise God that without faith, they would die in their sins. The next two related I AM statements (#4 and #5) will deal with Jesus being Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
We've been watching some "I AM" songs, but since this I AM statement is actually about Not Believing in the I AM, I wanted to show one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite groups, about "Who am I?"
