REFLECTIONS
November 14, 2010
 
 
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways…”
Isaiah 55:9
 
 
I Am
 
One can only wonder what Moses thought. There he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep when strange things began to happen. First he saw a bush burning a short distance away. When he noticed that the fire was not consuming it, he moved closer to get a better look at this unusual site. Then God spoke to him and called him to such a daunting task that Moses countered with a battery of protests. One of those was “What shall I say is the name of the one who sent me?”
We can imagine that God’s powerful voice answering, “I AM WHO I AM” would have made James Earl Jones sound like a soprano. And God continued, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ Say to the Israelites, ‘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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”[1]
I AM is God’s name. It is also his being. His answer to Moses revealed that he is ever present, always was, always will be. God always is.  He crafted the past, foreknows the future, and for God, both are a part of what is.
When the Jews challenged his identity, Jesus responded with the same answer, "…before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)  On other occasions, Jesus added, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) "I am the good shepherd. (John 10:11)  "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12) “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:48) "I am the true vine.” (John 15:1) “I am the gate.” (John 10:9) "I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) [2]
And finally He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev 22:13)  Like God the Father, Jesus is ever present, always was, always will be, and always is. He crafted the past, foreknows the future, and for him, both are a part of what is.
As Moses learned and Jesus taught, God’s ways are not our ways. The First and Last, and the Beginning and End are one. To us his ways are a mystery. So one can only wonder: when we reach the throne of God and kneel at the feet of I AM, will everything that once was unite with all that is yet to be and ever more become what is?
 
“You are the light of the world.”
RichardÌ

[1] From Exodus Chapter 3
[2] Italics added.


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