I AM WHO I AM

Good afternoon from the Panhandle. Its hard to believe that it is almost July, the sky is overcast and the temperature is only in the 60s. But they say we will back up to 100 by mid-week. 

Shakespeare wrote, “What is in a name?” Personally I think there is a lot in a name, it tells us where we came from, who our family is. In some countries it tells you the kind of job a person is destine for. In the Book of Exodus, chapter 3 we see the importance of a name when it comes to God.

Among the lesser-known heroes of the church is a man with the unlikely name of Ebenezer Erskine, who first fell in love with Exodus 20:2 at age ten when his father, Rev. Henry Erskine, was teaching on the Shorter Catechism. The forty-third question asks : “What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?” The answer : “The preface to the Ten Commandments is : ‘I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. … ’ ” Young Ebenezer learned the whole Catechism, but this question took central place in his thoughts.

Eighteen years later he followed his father’s steps into the pastorate. But he began his ministry without much zeal, mechanically, being swallowed up in unbelief. One day his wife grew fevered, and in her delirium, she cried out about her husband’s cold heart. Ebenezer, sitting by her, was pierced, and the old text came back to him : I am the Lord your God. Shortly after, he offered himself up, soul and body, unto God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. “I flee for shelter to the blood of Jesus. I will live to him; I will die to him.”

Ten years later, now a 38-year-old pastor, he preached a powerful sermon on his old text : I am the Lord thy God. It made a lasting impression on his congregation and swept over Scotland in printed form.

More years passed, and Erskine gave out at age 73. One of his elders, visiting his bedside, said, “You have often given us good advice, Mr. Erskine, as to what we should do with our souls in death; may I ask what you are now doing with your own?”

“I am doing what I did forty years ago,” replied the old preacher. “I am resting on that word, ‘I am the Lord thy God.’ ”

For the next two or three months we will be looking at seven “I am” statements recorded in the Gospel of John. Statements made by Christ Jesus about who He is. However to understand the significance of these statements we must go back to the Book of Exodus, chapter 3.

Exodus 3:1-5

3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

Exodus 3:13-14

13 Moses said to God, "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?"

14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.'"

1. Introduction (Exodus 3:1-5; 13-14)

This is quite an amazing true story that we read about here in Exodus. We read of Moses, a man who had been raised in the finest palaces of Egypt; who had eaten the best foods; attended the best schools; but who had fled Egypt when he learned that the Pharaoh was seeking his head because he had killed an Egyptian. Now Moses, once a “prince of Egypt” was living in Midian. He had married a woman named Zipporah (tsip-po-raw'), they had a son, and he had been working for his father-in-law Jethro, tending sheep for the past forty years. 

Here In our text, Moses, is an 80 year old man, leading his sheep through the desert and they came upon Mt. Horeb (kho-rabe'), or the mountain of God. Another name for this mountain is Mt. Sinai, Which is a place where we read of God’s presence coming several times. A place where we later find Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. 

While Moses was tending to his sheep he noticed something very strange. He saw a bush; but it wasn’t just any bush, it was a burning bush. Like brush fires up here that can start for various reasons a burning bush wasn’t that strange. The thing that was so out of the ordinary about this burning bush was the fact that it wasn’t being consumed by the fire. It was on fire, but it wasn’t burning up, it wasn’t being destroyed. 

Curious, Moses decided to check it out. When he did God called out to him from the bush, He said, basically, “Moses, don’t come any closer. Take your shoes off, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have seen the oppression of my people who are in slavery in Egypt. And I am going to deliver them now, and you are going to be my deliverer.” You know that would be an amazing experience? I mean think about it. God talking to you through a burning bush telling you that you were going to be the one who would lead the entire Hebrew nation to freedom. I can't even imagine how I would respond to that.

But look at what Moses does. He immediately begins making excuses for why he isn’t the man for the job. “God, who am I that I should be the one who goes to Pharaoh and demands the freedom of the Israelites? The people won’t believe me when I tell them that You have sent me. What am I supposed to say to them when they demand to know what Your name is? I can’t speak well. Please send someone else.” Exodus 3:11, 13, 4:10. The discussion was long. The excuses were many. But eventually the Lord was able to help Moses understand that he was the right man for the job and that he would have the power and the presence of God with him. 

I give you all of this to set up our text and two words from that text. In verse 13 Moses asks God the question, Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, "What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" Look at how God answers Moses in vs. 14, God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.'"

This identification or name that God used for Himself is the topic of my sermon this morning. What did God mean when He calls Himself "I AM"? What was God trying to say when He said, “I AM"? Why are these two words so important?

2. When God says “I AM,” it means “I exist.”

At the very basis of every type of religion is this world is that belief that there is a higher being, a god. No matter what kind of faith you can think of; whether Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, or Hinduism, or some other type of religion that is less known. No matter which religion you are talking about, all faiths begin with the basic, fundamental concept of the existence of god.

Some religions have made their god a fat man sitting Indian style in front of a temple. Other religions believe that there are many gods. Still others claim that we are gods. But no matter what the faith, before any other part of theology and doctrine can even be discussed the doctrine of god must be established. 

In Christianity, before we can even think about stating our faith about heaven and hell, salvation and forgiveness, the deity of Christ Jesus, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, or the resurrection and return of Christ Jesus to this earth we must first confirm in our minds, and hearts whether or not we believe that there is a God. 

I hope and pray that everyone here knows that God exists. He is the one true living God. The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. You see If there is no God then what else is there to discuss? If there is no God then we should just pack it up and go home. If there is no God then there would be no reason for us to believe that there is a heaven and hell. If there is no God then there would be no need for salvation. If there is no God there would be no way of salvation. If there is no God then it’s impossible for Christ Jesus to claim to be the Son of God. If there is no God then Christ Jesus would still be dead and there would be no return to look forward to.

The existence of God is the most important concept of our faith. And, here in verse 14 when God declares, “I AM,” He is not saying He is a god, but that He is the God! The significance of this is not that we just know the name of God, no it is instead in the declaration of that name. By saying “I Am WHO I AM,” the authority of the LORD is established. 

Over the years people have tried to persuade us to believe that there is no God. They have tried to tell us that Christianity is a deception. That our Theology is a lie. In 1859 a man by the name of Charles Darwin published a book called “On the Origin of Species”. In that book he stated that man had not been specifically created by God, but was, in fact, the product of biological evolution. He said that, “Man is descended from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and pointed ears.” Simply put, he said that man is the descendant of an ape which is the descendant of nothing in particular. He said that We were not created, that we have just simply evolved over millions and billions of years. He states that a random, accidental atomic collisions resulted in the formation of some simple form of life which eventually became us. 

According to Darwin's theory there was no six days of creation; there was no Creator. That We all just happened. None of that really makes any sense to me, I mean how can people look at creation and claim there is no Creator? Have you ever heard someone look at a computer and question whether or not a computer came into being by the design of an intelligent builder. You don’t look at a car or a jet and think that it just happened. So how is that people question a master Creator?

If the earth was just a little bit smaller than it is then our livable breathable atmosphere would be impossible. Earth would be like Mercury or the moon. If it were a little larger than it is it would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter or Saturn. And we would still not be able to breath properly. Basically, our planet would be unlivable if it were just a little bigger or smaller than it is. And there Numerous other things about our universe that point to an Intelligent Creator. 

Look at the human body. You can’t find anything more complicated than the human body. For instance, let’s think about the part of the eye called the retina. The retina lines the back of your eye and it acts as a sort of film. It is thinner than paper but its surface, which is about one inch square, contains 137 million light sensitive cells. Each of those cells are separately connected to the optic nerve which transmits the pictures to your brain at about 300 mph. Your eye can analyze 1 million messages a second. Now tell me that sound accidental?

What about the miracle of birth? Did you know that 97% of the time babies will move their way around inside their mother’s tummy as birth nears so that their head is down. And as the time to be born gets closer they will make their way down until their head is set inside the pelvis. When it’s time to enter this world they begin making their way through the birth canal rotating the entire way to make sure that the smallest parts of their head and shoulders are fitting through the small opening of the pelvis.

The point I am trying to make is there is no way all of this stuff just happens by accident. Knowing all we know about the universe, the human body and all of creation how could anyone believe in anything but an intelligent, supreme Creator? 

How can people not believe that there is a God? People can say whatever they want. They can believe whatever they want, but the Bible says that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Psalm 33 says, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.” 

 

Conclusion: God is real, God exists, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He alone is God. There is no other, this is the God who always is, before time began He was. And when time as we know it stops He still will be. He is! He always has been. And He always will be God. God is not some conceptual being, or some metaphysical abstract. God is active, present always, and everywhere at once. God is dynamic and personal. So When God says “I AM” He is telling Moses and us “I exist, and I AM the LORD thy God.”