WHO IS THIS GREAT I AM?

[Tiglath]

His name is in Exodus 3:14-15 when He appeared to Moses and identified Himself as “I AM WHO I AM.” He told Moses to tell the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.” In Hebrew this name is YAHWEH, which we also know as Jehovah. It means self-existent and signifies that God had no beginning and will never have an end. This name describes His fullness—His eternal existence, sovereignty, unlimited power, and omnipresence.

The I am statement Old testament  

Genesis 15:1, "I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 15:7, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

Genesis 17:1-2, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

After the “I am God Almighty” reference, the Pentateuch uses this as a referent to remember the “I am” as the God of Abraham (just as Jesus alluded to in John 8:58):

Genesis 26:24, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 

Genesis 35:11, “I am God Almighty:1 be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.”

Genesis 46:3, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.”

Exodus reveals God himself as the “I am who I am.” Thus, God revealed himself as the "I am" of Israel:

Exodus 3:6, “And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”1 And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 6:2, “God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord’” (cf. 6:6, 7, 8, 12, 29; 7:5, 17; 10:2; 12:12; 14:4, 18; 15:26).

Exodus 16:12, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.’ Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”

Exodus 20:2, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Exodus 29:34, “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

Genesis 15:1, "I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 15:7, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

Genesis 17:1-2, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

After the “I am God Almighty” reference, the Pentateuch uses this as a referent to remember the “I am” as the God of Abraham (just as Jesus alluded to in John 8:58):

Genesis 26:24, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 

Genesis 35:11, “I am God Almighty:1 be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.”

Genesis 46:3, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.”

Exodus reveals God himself as the “I am who I am.” Thus, God revealed himself as the "I am" of Israel:

Exodus 3:6, “And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”1 And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 6:2, “God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord’” (cf. 6:6, 7, 8, 12, 29; 7:5, 17; 10:2; 12:12; 14:4, 18; 15:26).

Exodus 16:12, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.’ Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”

Exodus 20:2, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Exodus 29:34, “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
 

Jesus is also the great I AM.

• He often affirmed His equality with the Father,John 14:9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
• John 14:11 “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.”
• John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
• John 8:58 “Before Abraham was born, I am.”
• John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
• Jesus made several “I am” statements which supported His deity and explained His purpose for coming to earth.
• John 6:35 “I am the bread of life.”
• John 10:9 “I am the door.”
• John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd.”
• John 15:5 “I am the vine.”
• John 8:12 “I am the Light of the world.”
• Luke 22:70 “Yes, I am” (the Son of God).
• John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
• Revelation 1:8 “"I am the Alpha and the Omega.”

Supporting Scriptures: Luke 22:7 | John 1:1-7 | John 6:33-35 | John 8:12 | John 8:58 |John 10:7-9 | John 10:14-15 | John 10:30 | John 14:1-6 | John 14:8-12 |John 15:1-5 | Galatians 4:1-5 |Revelation 1:8

[JohnD]

Jesus is the Great I AM.

Matthew 11:27 (AV)
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

The one thought of as the Father in the Old Testament is actually the Son (preincarnate). The mystery is the Heavenly Father whom Jesus reveals in the New Testament.

 

[JohnD]

Proverbs 30:4 (AV)
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

Observation:

None of this refers to creation. What is established is the times / fulfillment of events of the earth. Another way to say this is the one in all authority over the earth.

The son is the one who created all things created.

So what Jesus said is true. We did not know the Son or the Father. We just presumed we knew the Father. But we knew neither.

 

[JohnD]

Isaiah 44:24 (AV)
24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

1. the Father is not the (kinsman) redeemer

2. Jesus (preincarnate) is the Creator John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:13-16, Hebrews 1:1-2, Genesis 1.

3. the LORD is Anglicanized YHVH (Yahweh).

John 8:58–59 (AV)
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Exodus 3:13–15 (AV)
13 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 unto 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.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Jesus is the great I AM.

 

[Larry 2]

.

Exodus 29:34, “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”  

Who is Emmanuel?  Mat 1:23  God with us.

[RustyAngeL]

He is the all in all.  The Creator of all things, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega.  Wow the thought of all He is just gives me chills.

[hoghead]

At first glance, drawing a hard line between the Christian definition  of God and Hellenic philosophy seems the right and logical thing to do.  Most laity are apt to do just that. However, historically and philosophically, matters are not at all that simple. Let me try and explain as simply as I can.  The Bible is not a book of metaphysics, tells us little about  how God is built, for example. So, as the early church reached into the educated classes of the Greco-Roman world, the fathers began incorporating Hellenic metaphysics into theology, into their definition of God as he is in his own nature. They were heavily influenced by Hellenic schools of thought, such as provided by Parmenides, Zeno, Plato, which depreciated and de-valuated the world of time and change  and relativity as a major illusion.  Hence, the early church baptized as Christian Aristotle's Unmoved Mover. God, then, in the writings of the fathers, as well as the ensuing creeds and confessions, was defined as void of body, parts, passions, compassion, wholly immutable, wholly independent of creation, wholly immaterial, wholly simple, the epitome of the immutable and the immune. The fathers were well aware that this model of God seriously conflicts with the highly anthropomorphic imagery of God in the Bible, which describes God as having strong emotion and also subject to change, as we find in about 100 passages. However, these key biblical passages were written off as mere figures of speech which had nothing to do with actual nature of God. As Calvin once put it, these were simply God talking "baby talk" to us.  Hence, in his sermons on God's wrath, Calvin was careful to warn the congregation that his sermons in no way meant that God was truly angry or subject to any other emotion. Centuries earlier, St. Anselm argued that   God, in his own nature, is wholly without compassion, as God is passionless, without any emotion, to start with, and also incapable of experiencing any form of suffering. In recent years, especially since WWII, theologians have seriously questioned this classical model, on biblical and metaphysical grounds.