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. Exodus 3:14
Have you ever received a blank cheque? I’m referring to a cheque that has the amount blank, allowing you to fill in the amount you are to receive. Such a cheque would have a huge catch, of course. It would be only as good as the size of the account on which it is drawn; no point filling in a million dollars if the account had just a few hundred in it. That is why today’s text is so incredible. Moses asked for God’s Name, and God responded with a blank cheque based on infinite resources!
When faced with the words I AM, we might ask ‘I am who?’ Or ‘I am what?’ And that’s where the blank cheque comes in. God is everything and has everything that we could ever need. He is a loving and all present God of all power and all knowledge. The who or what is everything that we need God to be. As Dr. Lockyer once observed, ‘No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of God’s shoreless supply’. Infinite power, infinite wisdom, and infinite supply, that is our God.
The most profound use of this term was Jesus’ response to the temple mob who told Him they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth. ‘I am’, He said (the word ‘he’ in John 18:5 is not in the original, Greek). Small wonder that this great declaration caused the mob to fall back and to the ground. They thought they were arresting a helpless preacher, and He identified Himself as the Almighty. That is the very One we gather today to worship.
The great I AM would become the Lamb, and shed such precious blood, that the crimson tide would satisfy forever a holy God. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/Q59qmYH7478