By Richard
In my devotion this morning on Exodus chapter 3, I was struck by the conversation Moses had with the Lord God. Part of that conversation reads as the following:
Exod 3:14-15 (NKJV)
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
Here we read that God’s eternal name is “I AM”. This is God’s name forever. Names at that time were a statement about the person’s character. In a sense it reads as if God stopped half way through that sentence. He effectively said “I AM ….” with a blank that needs to be filled in. We can see the ‘blank’ partly filled in throughout the Bible, we see it partly filled in throughout the glory of all creation, and we also see it partly filled in throughout our individual lives. The bible, the creation and our lives help complete that sentence. And yet all of our efforts to complete the sentence are not worthy of providing even a beginning to completing that sentence.
When I consider this name of God, I am drawn to the seven times in the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus wrote who He is into God’s name:
John 6:35 (NKJV)
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 8:12 (NKJV)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 10:9 (NKJV)
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:11 (NKJV)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 11:25 (NKJV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 15:1 (NKJV)
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville.