It’s About God: The “Who” Precedes The “What”Sample

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The God without a birth certificate

… ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘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’ (Exodus 3:12-15).

“I am who I am,” God told Moses, as Moses doubted himself and his abilities when he heard the assignment that God had in mind.

Who is this God, of whom we desire to know His will? He is the compassionate and caring One, but He is also I AM THAT I AM. What does that odd phrase mean? It means that God is both timeless and self-existent. Past, present and future, he is I AM THAT I AM. There was never a time past when God hoped to be something He was not; and there will never be a time future when He will wish He could have been something else. God is always exactly who He is. He is perfection. He has no past date of birth. He has no future date of death. He is, and has always been, the ever present “dash” in between. No one created Him. No one can slay Him. He is timeless.

The writer of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). The capitalized “LORD” in His speech to Moses is actually Y-H-W-H, a word so holy that it was not even spoken in Jewish culture. It is mentioned 6,000 times in the Old Testament and represents the covenant name of God. It means, “I am who I am.”

This same YHWH is our present-tense covenant God. Do you need hope? Well, He doesn’t just give hope; He is hope. Do you need strength? He doesn’t just give strength; He Himself is strength. Do you need love? He doesn’t just give love; He is love—present-tense, active love. The God of God’s will is the “I am that I am.” He’s the Lord God Almighty—the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and you! Beth Moore says it like this: “God is the God of your was, He is the God of your is, and He is the God of your is to come.”

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