On my 45-minute drive in to work this morning, I saw a beautiful sunrise. Instead of complaining about the traffic or the drive or the work, I thought of how blessed I was to have been raised in a country that was imperfect but could be trusted to do what was right. To have a church that I knew could be trusted. To have a faith in God that I knew could be trusted. To have a family that I knew could be trusted.
Not everyone had that and fewer have it today than when I was growing up.
If you did or do not have that, or even if you do have a trust in people and in God, read the following passage below from John 8 and know that if all else fail you, your country, your church, your family, friends, and even your trust in yourself, just know that God is there for you. That God is. That Jesus said, “I AM”. That the Father said, “I AM”.
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
In the Old Testament, Jehovah God revealed Himself and distinguish Himself from the other “so-called” gods by saying “I AM who I AM”. That Hebrew verb tense of I AM was like the name Jehovah or Yahweh.
In speaking to the religious leaders in John 8, Jesus gives a series of three “I AM” statements, and today’s “then you will know that I am,” means that when He was lifted up on the cross, it was proof positive that God Is, that Jesus Is, the Provider of salvation.
The fourth “I AM” statement is a reference to the cross. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, He was fulfilling the true Passover, bearing the sins of the world. Jesus said that on that day that He would be lifted up, all of the world would know in that day and will know for all eternity that He is who He said He is.
A previous "I AM" statement reminded us that He is omniscient and knows all and that includes all our thoughts. The next "I AM" statement will remind us that He is omnipresent, in every place and every time of our lives and the history of all of creation.
But today, the I AM reminds us that in all of His omnipotence and power, in all that He could do, He gave all He could give. On that day that He died, He left it all, He gave it all, and He gave all power and might.
For you.
For me.
He did nothing for Himself.
He IS Someone, the Only One, in whom we can trust.
Some may have come to salvation on that day, while others in full knowledge, rejected Him still. In this passage, Jesus was asked who He was, and as a result of this “I AM” statement, many placed their faith in Him (see John 8:30–31).
Jesus gave parables that said that that a king’s own son would come to receive a kingdom and people would reject him. Jesus is that Son. There is a song that says,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me.
He Gave His Life, What More Could He Give;
Oh, How He Loves You,
Oh, How He Loves Me,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me.
Jesus To Calvary Did Go,
His Love For Mankind To Show.
What He Did There, Brought Hope From Despair.
Oh, How He Loves You,
Oh, How He Loves Me,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me.
Oh, How He Loves You And Me,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me.
He Gave His Life, What More Could He Give;
Oh, How He Loves You,
Oh, How He Loves Me,
Oh, How He Loves You And Me.
