The Deity Of Christ Part Six

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58).

Over fourteen-hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the angel of the LORD appeared to Moses “in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush” (Ex. 3:2). He said to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Ex. 3:6). When Moses inquired about His name, 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.’” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the 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-name to all generations” (Ex. 3:14-15). God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them (Ex. 6:2-3).

The Hebrew rendering of LORD consists of four consonants that form the divine and proper name of the God of Israel – Yhwh (usually written and pronounced Yahweh). This name was so sacred that the Jews refused to pronounce it. A common expression cited sixty times in the Old Testament is “the LORD (yhwh), the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of Israel” (Ex. 5:1; 32:27; Josh. 7:13; 19-20; Judg. 4:6; 5:3, etc.). Yahweh is commonly known as Jehovah. In most English versions of the Bible, Yahweh is rendered ‘LORD’ and the divine name Adonai (ʾā·ḏôn) is translated ‘Lord’ – one who is the supernatural master over all, a title of the true God (Ps. 114:7). Both names are found side by side in Psalm 110:1 – The LORD (yhwh) says to my Lord (ʾā·ḏôn): “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

The Greek rendering of Adonai and Yahweh is kyrios – Lord. The association of kyrios with the resurrected and exalted Jesus acknowledges His superiority over all creation. Paul, educated in the Law under Gamaliel (Acts 5:34; 22:3), clearly understood this when he wrote, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (kyrios)” (Phil. 2:10-11).

“I AM” is derived from the Hebrew verb hyh – to be, to exist in the absolute sense. Exodus 3:14 is the only passage in the Old Testament where this name is found. “I AM” points to the eternality and self-existence of the “Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come” (Rev. 4:8). The Greek equivalent of hyh is eimi. The phrase I am (egō eimi) is primarily associated with Jesus in the New Testament, mainly in the gospel of John where it appears twenty-four times. Jesus utilized this phrase to proclaim His divinity, divine authority, and His saving relationship toward those who believe in Him.

• “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51).

• “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12; 9:5).

• “I am the door of the sheep… if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7, 9).

• “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 14).

• “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25).

• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

• “I am the vine; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:1, 5).

The Pharisees accused Jesus of giving false testimony about Himself (John 8:13). Jesus said that His testimony is true because He knew where He came from and where He was going, something the Pharisees did not know (John 8:14-16). He further said, “Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true (see Deut. 17:6; 19:15). I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me” (John 8:17-18). Since there was no greater witness than Jesus who could testify about Him, He testified about Himself and the Father testified about Him thereby satisfying the law. Jesus condemned the Pharisees who did not believe who He professed to be when He said, “unless you believe that I am He (‘He’ does not appear in the Greek text), you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).

“To be a Christian one must believe the full biblical revelation about Jesus: that He is the eternal second person of the Trinity, that He entered space and time as God incarnate, that He was born of a virgin, that He lived a sinless life, that His death on the cross is the only sufficient, substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him, that He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father in heaven, that He now intercedes for His own redeemed people, and that He will one day return in glory. To reject those truths about Him is to “be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3), to worship “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4), to be cursed by God (Gal. 1:8–9), and ultimately to hear the Lord say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matt. 7:23)” (The Deity of Christ; John MacArthur).

Jesus told the unbelieving Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple (John 8:56-59). The Jews clearly understood what Jesus unapologetically proclaimed about Himself: (1) He existed before Abraham came into being over twenty-one hundred years earlier and (2) He is “the LORD… the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” According to the law, Jesus must be stoned to death for blasphemy (Lev. 24:16).

There are only two responses when it comes to the Jesus of the Bible.

• Accept that everything He said about Himself is true, bowing down before Him in humble, repentant faith, and confessing Him as Lord and Savior, resulting in eternal life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).

• Reject everything that He said as false resulting in eternal death. “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14-15).

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations cited in this post are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.