The Great I Am: Messiah

As we have seen over the past few months, Jesus declared in John 8:58: “before Abraham was, I Am.”

It is an extremely significant statement!

By making the declaration that He is the “I Am,” Jesus is stating unequivocally that He is God.

So, John 8:58 gives us the foundation for another 8 “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John.

The “I Ams” of the Gospel of John:

Which total 9 when you count the original John 8:58 passage

The 9 “I AM” statements of John’s gospel are:

“I am” (8:58)

“I am the Messiah” (4:26 NLT)

“I am … the bread of life” (6:35).

4. “I am … the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5).

5. “I am … the gate” (10:7, 9).

6. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11).

7. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25).

8. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).

9. “I am the true vine” (15:1).

This afternoon let’s look at what is actually the first “I Am” statement in the Gospel according to John:

John 4:25–26 (NLT) The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

The way the NLT translates this verse we hear Jesus clearly telling the woman at the well that He is the Messiah.

For her, Messiah meant: “The One who will explain everything to us.”

She wasn’t looking for …

someone to deliver her or the other Samaritans.

or someone to to throw Rome out of Israel.

Or even someone to become the political/religious leader of Israel.

She just longed for Someone to explain what was happening and why.

Someone to explain why this life is so-o-o hard.

Why is there so much pain and heartache?

Why do the innocent suffer?

Does God care?

Those and so many other of the great questions of life.

Jesus was and is certainly the Messiah that declares and explains all things.

Maybe you need that Messiah kind of right now.

Seek Him.

We have begun a week of Prayer & Fasting.

Sure, we have needs — many of them.

Among the greatest needs is to pray for a move of God among us.

In particular I am asking that we pray for revival.

I use that word and yet I have concerns.

I believe we actually want something more than revival.

Like Frank Viola, a writer and blogger on the edge of Christianity, I have observed that:

Revivals merely resurrect a dying church back to zero.

Once the revival ends, the churches affected by it continue as they were before.

Same practices, same mindset, and same traditions.

It’s business as usual.

Christian community dies, enthusiasm dies, and the functioning of the body of Christ dies.

More than that, I have watched Brownsville AG.

I am amazed the church still exists.

God wants that church to continue — though I cannot tell you why.

The “Brownsville Revival” brought untold destruction to that church.

I am sure that God did many mighty works there, but at the same time I would certainly hate to see what happened there, in the aftermath of “revival,” happen here.

So, on this first day of a week of prayer and fasting

As the devil fights us tooth and nail to KEEP us from fasting and praying.

I ask that we pray for the church, this church.

Pray for leadership, pray for the members, pray that we all experience something better than what many today label revival.

Pray that what too many think is “perfect” be destroyed to enable the impossible that God wants to accomplish.

Let’s pray for game-changing, Spirit-inspired innovation.

But rather than filling all our prayer time with a recitation of a list of needs…

If, like the Samaritan woman, we long for Jesus to explain all things ...

Maybe we can spend some time listening?

Maybe we can pray with our Bibles open before us, asking the Lord to speak to us through His Word.

Maybe we can listen for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Why don’t we do that now?