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347. "I Am"

Exodus 3:1-15
Key Verse: 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."
Exodus 3:14

Okay, I'm sure that at today's reading, you are scratching your head and wondering if I have lost track of the subject matter altogether. This is meant to be an exercise in helping us to get to know Jesus better. Why in the world are we back on Moses again?

We discussed this subject once before as Jesus was sparring with the Jewish leadership.  Jesus had really made them angry by referring to Himself as, "I Am," a name that in their Jewish minds could only mean the Holy God of the burning bush, "JYWH."   Yet, we now know for certain that Jesus was speaking the truth.

It's understandable, in human terms that the leaders did not recognize Him. When God told Moses, "I am that I am." He let the statement stand on its own. He gave no description in words, yet, His actions served to be a foreshadowing of the truth that Jesus would live.  Jesus brought what God meant into further reality.

I see it like this. When God first spoke to Moses from the burning bush, it was as though He had handed Moses a simple black and white sketch of who He is. There were no details, just a simple outline to go by.

God then delivered the children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. As they progressed, God became everything that they needed for the journey. They didn't always appreciate what He did for them. It was as if He were using pastel pencils to faintly color in the sketch, but most of the people could not see the difference.

When Jesus came, John records many statements that Jesus made about Himself to add more color to the drawing. More people could see the colors now and make out some details, but this also led to disputes over what the colors really were and what they really meant.

 Finally, after the resurrection, the brightness of God's glory shown brightly on the portrait, revealing Jesus in vivid detail. The picture was now clear to see. What He had been for His people in the desert, He had demonstrated to His people while He walked among them.  Now, He is what He was for them, but He is the same for us today. He is the image become visible and clear. We now know what we have in Him because of the glory that reveals Him to us in the present.

Moses couldn't see what we see. God had told Moses that to look upon His face would bring death. Now, however, because of Christ's death and resurrection, we have been redeemed and considered Holy because we are covered by His blood which makes us clean. Now, we can look in Jesus’ face and see His love, and not fear death. We can see, because of His completed portrait what we, His children, still have in Him. So, for the next several days we'll take a look at Jesus' "I am" statements to enjoy the details.

He is leading us out of the slavery of our sin, across the desert of this life in to the promised eternal land where we can live forever with Him. More than milk and honey await us there.  We have the promise of His presence. His "I Am," statements, clearly tell us what we have in Him, what He will provide for us, what He can and will do for us and what we can believe about Him as we continue the journey of this life.  It's all there, not just in black and white, but in the vivid color of Jesus.  We are called to trust in what He claims and not doubt as our ancestors did.  "I Am" is calling to us to follow. 

 Hymn: "I Am Thine O Lord"

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