The Great I Am
Our God is a mystery. For many in their relentless search to discover Him they conclude that He is a Mystery wrapped in an enigma. Each time they think they have God well figured out, something erupts which leaves them thoroughly confounded. We can literally hear Paul crying out, and almost pulling his hair out saying, in anguish of soul and utter desperation Phil. 3:10, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto death. " In another place Paul said, Phil. 3:7-8, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted lossfor Christ. Yea doubtless, I think all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... Certainly there is a measure to which God can be explained and taught and even understood, but the reality is that God has to be encountered and experienced. God has to reveal Himself to you, in order that your knowing Him will become something profoundly meaningful in your life, and for such nothing else will prove to be a satisfying substitute. The Word says, Jer. 29:13 "YOU WIll SEEK ME, AND FIND ME, WHEN YOU SHALL SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART."

To a large measure, the theme of the Bible is the constant revelation of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Sometimes God speaks and reveals Himself when you least expect it. This was the case of Moses. He was a Prince in the palace of King Pharaoh and in one of his casual princely strolls he saw a bush on fire without being consumed. It was a strange, intriguing and fascinating sight, he had to draw nearer, but little did he know, it was God revealing Himself to him. Ex. 3:5 " TAKE THY SHOES FROM OFF YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE WHEREON YOU STAND IS HOLY GROUND." We see later Moses said unto God, Ex. 3:13,14 "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and say unto them. The God of your Fathers hath sent me unto you, and they say unto me, "What is His Name? What shall I say unto them? An God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM." God said thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel. "1 AM" hath sent me to thee. In other words, in whose name or authority do I proclaim myself as your leader. Here is the rather odd, seemingly irrelevant, awkward, puzzling and almost absurd response, "1 AM THAT I AM" has sent thee, and from then on, God has been known as "THE GREAT 1 AM." Now here is something I have long learned concerning the Old and New Testaments. The NEW is in the Old contained, and the OLD is by the NEW explained. The Old and New Testaments do compliment each other. May I say that statement in Exodus is so decisive that it has taken the rest of the Bible, the ensuing sixty-four Books to give the full revelation of that Name, the GREAT I AM. The first revelation is the fact that Jesus is not a phenomenon of the New Testament, He was always there, present, active and relevant, just veiled, until in the fullness of time to be revealed in the New Testament. Jesus was there when in the first verse of the Bible, Gen. 1:1 it states, In the Beginning God created ... He was there when the Bible states in Gen. 1:10, "let us make man in our own image." It was of Him the Bible spoke in Gen. 3:15 as it referred to the "seed of the woman."

Here is a little English Grammar lesson for further clarification. The verb 'To Be' does not take an object, but rather a compliment. If we say, Mr. John has a loony, then in that sentence, Mr. John is the Subject and the loony is the object. But if I say that, Mr. John is a tailor, then, in this sentence, there is no object, Mr. John and the tailor are one and the same person, therefore, tailor is not an object but a compliment.
The Great I Am of the Old Testament is the revealed one in Christ Jesus of the New Testament In the Book of CoL 1:15-19
(15)" who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature;
(16) For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him:
(17) And He is before all things, and by Him all things consists.
(18) And He is the head of the body, the Church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence,
(19)For it pleased the Father that in mm should AA the fuUness dwelL
CoiL 2:9-10. For in Him dwells all thefullness of the Godhead bodily. Andye are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.
All four gospels reveal Jesus Christ, but from a different perspective. Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah. Mark presents as the Servant, Luke presents Jesus in His humanity as the son on man. John presents Jesus as the Son of God. In our focus on the Gospel of John, we see in Jn 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have Life through His Name. The Book of John begins with Jesus being called the WORD, The Famous Words "In the beginning was the Word and Word was with God and the Word was God." Also refer to 1Jn. 1:1 Jesus called the WORD OF LIFE and Rev. 19:13, His name THE WORD OF LIFE

1. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. JN. 6:48
2. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. JN.I0:11
3. I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. JN. 8: 12
4. I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. JN. 11 :25
5. I AM THE TRUE VINE.JN.15:1
6. I AM THE DOOR. JN. 10:9
7. I AM THE SON OF GOD. JN. 10:36
8. I AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. JN. 14:6
9. I AM IN THE FATHER AND THE FATHER IN ME. JN.14:1O,11
10. I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. REV. 1:18
11. I AM HE THAT LIVETH AND WAS DEAD. REV. 1: 18
12. I AM THE ROOT AND THE OFFSPRING OF DAVID, AND THE BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR. REV. 22:16.

In the Old Testament, the "I AM'S seem to be an incomplete statement, and you know what; probably it is. God is all that you need Him to be.

Jesus is all that you can and ever need, no matter the circumstance. Whatever you need God's got it. The IAM'S are like a blank: check, duly signed with your correct name written on it, and given to you only to fill in the amount you desire and the date when required. Remember that the God we serve has limitless, inexhastible resources. Do you remember the verse that states Phil 4:19, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Isa. 55)

JESUS HAS ALWAYS ASKED BEFORE MINISTERING TO THE NEED OF ANYONE; WHAT DO YOU DESIRE THAT I SHOULD DO FOR YOU? TODAY HE IS ASKING TIlE SAME, YOU CAN FIND HIM AT THE POINT OF YOUR NEED, JUST CALL UPON HIM, YOU WILL NEVER BE DENIED.

AMEN