Sunday - September 6, 2020
Because He is I AM Dr. Jim Cooley, First Baptist Birmingham
Today’s Scripture: John 8:54-58
Jesus ans wered, “If I honor My self, My honor is nothing. It is My F ather who honor s Me, of whom y ou sa y tha t He is y our God. 5 5 Y et y ou ha ve not kno wn Him, but I kno w Him. And if I sa y, ‘I do not kno w Him, ’ I shall be a liar lik e y ou; but I do kno w Him and k eep His w ord. 5 6 Y our f ather Abraham r ejoiced t o see My da y, and he sa w it and w as glad. ”
57 Then the Je ws said t o Him, “ You ar e not y et fifty y ears old, and ha ve Y ou seen Abr aham?”
58 Jesus said t o them, “Most assur edly, I sa y t o y ou, be fore Abr aham w as, I AM. ”
BECAUSE JESUS IS “I AM” I KNOW WHO HE IS
● He is nothing less than God Almigh ty ● “Before Abraham was, I AM. ” John 8:58 ● The people lis tening t o Jesus had t o r espond in one of tw o w ays ○ They c ould t ake Him a t His w ord. ○ They c ould r efuse t o belie ve Him. ● Those ar e s till the only choices people ha ve t oday.
BECAUSE HE IS “I AM” I KNOW WHAT HE HAS DONE
● He has cr eated the w orld and e verything in it ● “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:3 ● We belie ve the Lor d is the cr eator of lif e.
BECAUSE HE IS “I AM” I KNOW WHO I AM
● I am His cr eation ● Every one of us is a unique, one of a kind e xpression of His cr eative po wer ● “You are from beneath; I am from abo ve. Y ou are of this world; I am not of this world. ” John 8:23 ● I ha ve t o r ecognize His authority o ver m y lif e
BECAUSE HE IS “I AM” I KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE
● It c an be summed up in one w ord – F allen ● To be f allen is t o be a tr agic figur e who has allo wed sin t o sha tter the imag e of God in your lif e ● “You will die in your sins; f or if you do not belie ve that I am He, you will die in your sins. ” John 8:24. ● “Most assuredly , I say t o you, whoe ver c ommits sin is a slave of sin. ” John 8:34 ● “He who is of God hears God’ s word; there fore you do not hear , bec ause you are not of God.” John 8:47 ● As f allen human beings, w e ha ve so separ ated our selves fr om our Cr eator tha t w e ha ve no hope of finding our w ay back t o Him
BECAUSE HE IS “I AM” I KNOW WHO HE BECAME
● Since y ou c annot find y our w ay t o God, Jesus c ame t o bring y ou back t o the F ather ● “If God were your F ather, you would lo ve Me, f or I proc eeded f orth and c ame from God; nor have I c ome of Myself , but He sen t Me. ” John 8:42 ● Jesus, the Son of God, bec ame Emmanuel, God with Us ● “And the W ord bec ame flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glor y, the glor y as of the only begot ten of the F ather, full of grac e and truth. ” John 1:14
BECAUSE HE IS “I AM” I KNOW WHAT HE CAME TO DO
● He c ame t o R edeem ● “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will kno w that I am He. ” John 8:28 ● As Jesus, God c ame on a r escue mission t o seek and t o sa ve tha t which w as los t
“I AM” CALLS YOU TO TRUST HIM WITH YOUR LIFE
● “I f you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ” John 8:31-32