He Is: I Am Who Iam Exo 3:13-16, Isa 42

Intro: Good Morning FE, it is great to see you here this very cold morning. For those who do not know me, my name is Josh Aguilar, I am one of the Elders here at FE and we are glad you are here with us to make much of God. We started a new series where we are learning who God is by learning the names God uses to describe himself in the Bible. When you look through the Scriptures names were important, people were intentional on what they named their children, sometimes you will see when people have an experience with God, they named the place they were based on the experience they, when Jacob had the dream with the angels ascending and descending he named the place Bethel, which meant the house of God. Names were important.

When we look at the names of God, they describe who God is, His character, His Attributes, they give us a glimpse of the glory of who God is. Last week we learned that our God is El Shaddai, God almighty. This week we are going back to a passage that is familiar to us, because if you were with us during the fall, we went through the book of Exodus, today we are going to open up our Bibles to Exodus 3 to look at another name of God.

Exodus 3:13–15 (ESV)

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘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: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “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.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

13 Entonces dijo Moisés a Dios: He aquí, si voy a los hijos de Israel, y les digo: «El Dios de vuestros padres me ha enviado a vosotros», tal vez me digan: «¿Cuál es su nombre?», ¿qué les responderé? 14 Y dijo Dios a Moisés: YO SOY[i] EL QUE SOY[j]. Y añadió: Así dirás a los hijos de Israel: «YO SOY[k]me ha enviado a vosotros». 15 Dijo además Dios a Moisés: Así dirás a los hijos de Israel: «El Señor, el Dios de vuestros padres, el Dios de Abraham, el Dios de Isaac y el Dios de Jacob, me ha enviado a vosotros». Este es mi nombre para siempre, y con él se hará memoria de mí[l] de generación en generación.

For a quick refresher Moses was on the run because he killed an Egyptian because of how they were treating the people of Israel. Moses has been tending the sheep of his father in law for years now. One day has he is tending his sheep, he sees a bush that is burning but the bush is not being consumed. Then he hears the voice of God call him and tell take off your shoes for the place you are standing is Holy.

The Lord begins to reveal that he is going to us e Moses to deliver the people of Israel, we know what happens Moses goes through his list of why he is not adequate for the job, which is true he isn’t. In this conversation with God, he asks what shall i say to the people when they askw who sent me, what is his name? God answers him “ I Am Who I Am, I AM has sent me to you, The Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent me to you”

When we look at this name, which is probably the most important name of God in the Old Testament, it is used more than 6828 times, just about triple the time than any other name for God. In Hebrew the name has for letters, transliterated as YHWH, no vowels. Some people the pronunciation to Yahweh or Yahveh. The Jewish people came to regard this name as holy, and in an effort to not take the name of the Lord in vain, when they came to this name for the Lord while reading, they would use the word adonai which means “my lord”. The translators of the Bible have chosen to distinguish when this name is used by capitalizing the name, LORD. Some some of your translations will have the word LORD in all capitals, this is how you know the name Yahweh is being used.

The problem for us english and spanish readers and speakers is that this name for God translated in our language as LORD, does not communicate to us a proper name, like Josh, or Alfredo or Sarah. But clearly Yahweh is God’s proper name. This is important because the Lord does not want to be know as some generic deity or a god who is distant and not involved. God wants to be know as the LORD, he gives us his name, which describes who he is and what he wants to do.

When we look at this name The Lord, what does it mean? What does it describe about who God is?

I Am Who I AM means the Lord is Sovereign and Independent

When we look at this name, we discover the Lord means he is sovereign over all. The Lord is asking moses to take on the most powerful country on earth at the time, Egypt. He gives Moses orders to go tell Pharoah to “Let my people go”. Why is God asking Moses to do this? How can he ask Moses to do this? Because God is in control, he is in charge, he is sitting on the throne orchestrating his plans. The Lord is sovereign ruler of the everything that is reality, he rules the heavens, he rules the earth, he even rules over hell. There is nothing that is out of the Lord’s reach. He is in control, nothing surprises him, nothing catches him off guard. The Lord is sovereign.

Because the Lord is sovereign, The Lord acts independently. What I mean when I say the Lord acts independently, I mean that he doesn’t need advice from you, from me, from the angels. Everything the Lord does is perfect. In Exodus 33:19 we see the Lord use this phrase “I am who I am” in a similar way when he comes to how he chooses to work. This is when Moses asks teh Lord to see his glory and the Lord says no can see my glory and live, but I will give you a glimpse and this is what the Lord says

Exodus 33:19 (ESV)

And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

19 Y Él respondió: Yo haré pasar toda mi bondad delante de ti, y proclamaré el nombre del Señor delante de ti; y tendré misericordia del que tendré misericordia, y tendré compasión de quien tendré compasión.

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” In other words, I am the Lord, who is Sovereign and Independent, I sit on the throne and I do what I please and I will accomplish my purposes.

I Am Who I Am means the Lord exists, is ever present, ever active and is involved in the affairs of the world.

In Hebrew there is only one verb to describe existence and active presence. This is the verb the Lord uses to describe himself here in this passage, I AM. There are some who would believe that God is transcendent, that the Lord exist, he is high and lifted up, but he is not involved in the world. This is called deism.

But when the Lord says I Am Who I Am, I Am the Lord, he is saying I exist and I an actively present and active in your world. As believers, we believe the Bible teaches God is omnipresent, which means he is present everywhere. But the divine name the Lord, not only describes the Lord who is everywhere, it describes the Lord who is omnicompetent, in other words where Moses was weak, the Lord would be at work to accomplish his purposes. This is why the Lord has an answer to all his excuses on why he can’t go to deliver the people of Israel. The Lord wasn’t asking Moses to accomplish the deliverance of Israel on his own, the Lord said “I am will be with you”. Moses was just the human agent God used to accomplish his purposes. It was the Lord who delivered Israel, Moses was a participant in the mission of God.

I Am Who I Am means the Lord is self sufficient and the source of all things.

When we look at the burning bush, this is a picture of the Lord’s self sufficiency. What do you need to for a fire? We need some sort of fuel to feed the flame. Yet what astounded Moses about the burning bush, is that it was on fire and yet there nothing fueling the flame. Because the Lord doesn’t need anything outside of himself, the Lord is self sufficient, he doesn’t need anything. This also means the Lord’s divine sufficiency can help us with whatever circumstance that may arise because he is sufficient.

The Lord is not only sufficient but he is the source of all things. When you think back far enough to before anything was ever made, there was the Lord, nothing came before Him he is the great I am, he alone just existed. He is the source of everything that is real in this world.

The question we need to ask is what are the implications? What does this mean for us?

1. The Lord Exist and he defines reality because he is the creator of all that exists and all that is real.

Isaiah 42:5 (ESV)

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

Así dice Dios el Señor, que crea los cielos y los extiende, que afirma[f] la tierra y lo que de ella brota[g], que da aliento al pueblo que hay en ella, y espíritu a los que por ella andan:

The Lord says all the is created and lives in breath comes from me, I am the source of all things. If you have been sleeping through this message or not paying attention, please please please wake up and pay attention. We live in a world where the redefinition of reality is happening right before our eyes. Where wrong is being redefined and made right by our society. This is happening in all spheres of life, political, economical, social.

Listen up, If the Lord is the source of all reality, then The Lord is the one who defines reality. The Lord sets the parameters, The Lord tells us what we can do and what we cant do. The Lord defines gender identity. The Lord defines what is the good life because he is the source of all things. He is the source of all reality. We need to stop looking within to find who we are, we need to stop letting society define who we are, we need to look to the Lord, the creator and source of all things and let him define who we are.

2. The Lord is calling people to himself and those he calls he transforms to conform to live holy lives

The Lord says

Isaiah 42:6–7 (ESV)

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Yo soy el Señor, en justicia te he llamado; te sostendré por la mano y por ti velaré, y te pondré como pacto para el pueblo, como luz para las naciones, 7 para que abras los ojos a los ciegos, para que saques de la cárcel a los presos, y de la prisión a los que moran en tinieblas.

The Lord is speaking to the nation of Israel here and Isaiah is prophesying about the purpose of the Lord for Jesus

Jesus is called in rightousness

Jesus will be kept by the presence of God

Jesus will be the new covenant for the people

Jesus will be a light for the nations

Jesus will transform lives

The Lord is still in the business of calling and transforming lives and all that is true about Jesus in this passage is true about those who chose become his disciples and follow him.

Disciples of Jesus are called in righteousness

Disciples of Jesus will be kept by the presence of God

Disciples of Jesus are called to proclaim the new covenant to people who don’t know Jesus

Disciples of Jesus are to be a light to the nations

Disciples of Jesus are to lead people to the Lord who will transform their lives.

The Lord is still transforming lives through the person of Jesus who came to die in our place, to pay the price and take the punishment of our sin. Jesus who died in our place and rose again on the third day to gives us life and set us free from the power of sin and transform our lives. Thank the Lord he is actively calling people and transforming lives.

3. There is no one like the Lord

Isaiah 42:8 (ESV)

I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

Yo soy el Señor, ese es mi nombre; mi gloria a otro no daré, ni mi alabanza a imágenes talladas

There is no one like the Lord, we can spend the rest of our lives learning about the Lord and not even come close to learning all there is to know about the Lord. The Lord is one God, revealed to us in three person Father Son and Holy Spirit, this is the doctrine of the trinity. The reason I bring this up is because when Jesus walked the earth, he had a conversation with the Pharisees and in this conversation he said John 8:58

John 8:58 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesús les dijo: En verdad, en verdad os digo: antes que Abraham naciera, yo soy.

Jesus was using the divine name, the Lord here. He was telling them, I am the Lord. Jesus is the Lord, yet there is one Lord who reveals himself in three person, Father, Son and Spirit, the tri unity of God. Hard to understand but revealed to us in the Bible, so we believe.

Church there is no one like the Lord, he is Holy, unique, original, he has no rival, no one compares to his greatness, he is glorious, above all things, the source of all things, sufficient for all things, sovereign over all things, knows all things. There is no one like the Lord, who left his throne, stepped into our reality, took on the form of a servant and became a man, fully God and fully man, lived the human experience, yet without sin, bringing freedom to those bound by sin, healing the sick, casting out demons, transforming lives, preaching repentance from sin. There is no one like the Lord, who was beat for our sins, tortured for our freedom, nailed to a cross to pay the penalty for our sin, suffered and died in our place. There is no one like the Lord, who conquered death, who conquered the grave, who destroyed the works of the devil, who rose from the dead to set us free from the power of sin, and transform our lives through the person and work of Jesus who is the great I am, Jesus is the Lord, there is no one like the Lord.