“I AM”
Have you ever watched a science fiction movie or one of the superheroes movies where someone seems to have the power to make things levitate and people move beyond the realities of human thinking? Why is this? It’s just a movie based on fiction, fictional characters and fancy computer-aided graphics of almost limitless possibilities. For in reality people cannot make others fly, or make things morph into something else. However, in the Bible we read how the God of all the universe made inanimate objects shake, shutter and rattle due to His presence – Isa 6:4. Even Jesus Christ walked through solid walls after His resurrection from the dead. Doesn’t’ this amaze you? Isn’t this power something that ‘blows your mind’? This is reality; this is truth if you believe the Bible is the infallible word of God. There is no fiction represented here or in any of the pages of scripture. Scripture is not a fictional movie, it is serious and should generate total respect for and adoration of God.
Today, we have become inundated and conditioned with movie fantasy with all kinds of special effects. To some, I suspect, some or all of this fiction has approached a kind of reality for them. That seems a stretch to say such things but am I really that far off? Do people ‘wish’ these things were real so they could easily escape their world of pain, suffering, torment, unhappiness, persecution, and live in a world of fantasy and fun?
We must come back to the reality of the God of the Universe being real, present and alive. Even though God is Spirit, He is nevertheless more alive than anyone cares to think about in this indulgent, permissive and rebellious society we live in today. I am reminded of the "Holiness of God" teaching by RC Sproul in which he recounts just what is meant by the Holiness of God. He reflects on Isa 6, when the seraphim were crying “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isa 6:3 KJV). Even in those three cries of God’s presence and power (holy, holy holy…), inanimate objects such as the structure of the temple shook. I am also reminded that all creation groans waiting for the coming of the Lord again – Rom 8:22.
The brass tacks of my message today is focused on the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ and that we must again realize that He is real and all of creation is in His hands. His power and might are endless. However, we cannot totally understand or comprehend His vastness due to our limited minds. This is where faith kicks in gear and we walk by our faith and not by our sight -2 Cor 5:7.
Last night I was rereading John 18:3-9 (NAS, KJV), wherein Jesus displayed His Divine power and presence when the “Roman cohort (a band of of up 480 men) and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons to arrest Him (emphasis added)". Jesus knowing all things including their hearts and minds asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They replied – “Jesus of Nazareth”. Then the most remarkable thing occurred – “as soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground” – John 18:6 (KJV). Did you hear that – they all fell backward and to the ground! They could not even stand in the declared presence and power of whom they were looking for (and getting ready to mess with).
What power and authority must have been manifested at that time! Examine Ex 3:14 (NKJV) – “And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'” You talk about power – God’s name is the great I AM – with such power and might and Holiness our [weak human] strength fails and all we can do is to fall to the ground in His presence. We have no strength to stand before the presence of the Living God. Many other times in scripture, prophets and teachers fell to the ground at the very mention of His name or the manifestation of His presence – (e.g. 2 Chr 5:14, 2 Chr 7:1-2, 1 Kings 8:11). We know nothing of this today but there will come a day when mankind will know the power and might of the Lord. That day is coming quickly; I believe we will see evidence of this in the upcoming last day wars found written in the pages of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 & 39.
Folks, this is the time to get your life right with God and His Son Jesus Christ. When you think about His magnificence do you think about His power? Are you aware of His awesomeness and that He is not just another man – He is GOD, Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, El, HaShem, Adonai. He is the self-existent One and holds your life in His hands. Call upon His name and receive His Son today. Your sins will be forgiven and you will spend eternity with Him in heaven one day.
-BPWatcher
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
– John 11:25-26 (KJV)
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