There is so much I want to say today about the subject at hand, but space prevents it. It is one of the greatest truths found in the Bible concerning the true identity of Jesus. It takes us all the way back to eternity past and then brings us right down to the present. Our scripture text is found in John 8:57, 58 “Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
Let’s look at the phrase, I am. To get the full significance of what Jesus said, and to understand why the Jews took up stones to stone him, we must go back to Exodus 3:13, 14 “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what is his name? what shall I say to them? 14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. When Jesus made that statement in v. 58, the Jews understood that he was making himself equal with God, (Philippians 2:5, 6 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”) and therefore accused him of blasphemy, when in reality, he was with God in the beginning, according to John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”
Jesus was active in creation, as the Living Word, along with the Holy Spirit. We must again go back to the beginning to see this truth in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” And then, at the creation of man in v. 26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,….” It is apparent to me that the Trinity was in action at creation, and that Jesus was a part of that Trinity, even before he took upon himself the form of a man. He was and still is All God.
Let me share a few more of the times that Jesus said, I am. In John 8:12 “…I am the light if the world..” John 10:9 “I am the door…” v.11 “ I am the good shepherd…” Now look closely at John 10:36 “…because I said, I am the Son of God?” He said in verse 30, “I and my Father are one.” Jesus said in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection, and the life:” Then, finally, in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” I am convinced that Jesus Christ is who he says he is, God in the Flesh. The I AM of the Bible alludes to Gods eternal state. A proof verse is Isaiah 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy…” Why not recognize Jesus for who he is, the God before whom we will bow someday at the judgment? Think about these verses as I close this article, Philippians 2:9-11 “Wherefore God also hath highly exaulted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father.”