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Do you ever feel like you have information overload? Your brain just can’t take everything in and make sense of it in any way that allows you to carry that information with you into something meaningful.
That’s how I feel about this “I AM” study.
So I’m going to do something I haven’t done in any of my previous studies and try to boil down what we’ve learned through this study into its key points. I want to answer 3 questions:
What do we learn about Jesus from his “I AM” statements?
What do we learn about Jesus’ relationship with God the Father?
What do we learn about Jesus’ relationship with us?
Just as a reminder, here are Jesus’ 7 “I AM” statements (plus his simple “I AM” claim):
John 8:58: “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 8:12: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 10:7: Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”
John 10:11, 14: 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
John 11:25-26: 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 15:1, 5: 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
What do we learn about Jesus from his “I AM” statements?
The most important thing to understand about Jesus’ I AM statements is that through these statements, Jesus is proving his identity as God. He is the one with power and authority over life and death, particularly eternal life.
In John 8:58, Jesus identifies himself with God by saying, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” Through this, Jesus declares his eternal nature and his self-sufficiency. Through his I AM statements, Jesus proclaims that he is the Son of Man who came from heaven to do God’s will. As the one who came from heaven and who is eternal and who is intimately connected to God the Father, Jesus establishes his authority and his identity as God.
Jesus uses this authority and power to bring eternal life to those who choose to follow him. Jesus gives the food that leads to eternal life. He is the light that brings people out of darkness and into life. He is the one who gives living water, the Spirit of truth.
What did Jesus do that gave him the power to bring eternal life to us? He laid down his life. Not only did he lay down his life, he also had the power and authority to take his life up again in the resurrection. By his resurrection, Jesus destroyed the power of sin and death. Because of this, his resurrection power extends not only to himself but also to us. He has the power and authority to raise people up on the last day and to judge whether we go to eternal life or to eternal condemnation.
Because Jesus is the only one who has been resurrected through his own power, he is the only way to salvation. He is truth, so we can trust in him. He is the true vine that is connected to the source of life, and he will never stray from the truth. This is why we can believe in him. He knows the ones who follow him, and he knows who chooses to reject him. For those who choose to follow him, he gathers them from wherever they are, calls them his, and gives them eternal life.
What do we learn about Jesus’ relationship with God the Father?
Through the I AM statements, Jesus reveals a lot about his relationship with the Father. His words reveal an intimate relationship and deep connection that is inseparable. Jesus makes it clear that he is in the Father, and the Father is in him. Jesus knows God and has seen God, and God knows Jesus and has glorified him.
Because of this intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, the Father placed his seal of approval on Jesus and sent him to earth to do the Father’s work. Throughout his time on earth, when he was doing the Father’s work, Jesus longed to be back in heaven with the Father. In fact, Jesus is the only way to the Father.
The passages surrounding Jesus’ I AM statements speak of a love between Jesus and the Father. The Father loves Jesus because Jesus laid down his life in order to provide a way of salvation to anyone who chooses to follow him. The Father gave Jesus the authority to take up his life again after his death, thus establishing a way to eternal life.
Anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life, and Jesus will not lose anyone whom the Father has entrusted to him for salvation. As the gardener, God will prune those whom he has entrusted to Jesus so that they can produce fruit and remain healthy and strong in their connection to Jesus, the vine. In this way, Jesus and the Father work together to bring in those who belong to Jesus and keep them from going astray. They will ultimately bear fruit for God’s kingdom.
What do we learn about Jesus’ relationship with us?
The key theme through all of Jesus’ I AM statements related to his relationship with us is that he is our connection to the Father and to eternal life.
Without Jesus, we are lost in the darkness of sin. With his light, he exposes our sin so that we can confess and repent and turn from our sin. This light exposes our need for a Savior and guides us to the path of salvation. We find that Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
Our responsibility in this is to choose to believe in the person God sent, which is Jesus. If we choose to follow Jesus, if we believe in him, we will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty. He will provide us with everything we need, including protection from the enemy. We have no ability to save ourselves from the enemy. Jesus is the only way for us to be saved because he gave his life for us and then resurrected to conquer sin and death.
If we believe in Jesus, we know him as our shepherd and listen to his voice. He knows us by name and brings us into his fold. As our shepherd, he leads us where he wants us to go. If we follow him and listen to his voice, he will give us satisfaction, safety, and a full life. We listen to his voice by spending time in God’s word and in prayer. This is what it means to remain in the vine. He also gives us his Spirit to guide us in life. If we remain in Jesus, Jesus provides the connection between us and the Father.
This relationship with Jesus isn’t only for this life. If we believe in Jesus, he will resurrect us into new life for eternity; we will never face eternal death, or eternal condemnation. As we wait here on earth, Jesus is preparing a place for us in his Father’s house, and he is planning to come back to take us to be with him. We will then experience the fullness of eternal life when we are finally in the presence of the Father.
As we wait for this glorious day when we will be with the Father, we have been tasked to go and do the works of the Father through the life we have been given in Christ. We allow the Father to prune the sin and distraction from our lives so that we can go and bear fruit for the Father’s glory.
Conclusion
These I AM statements give us the gospel in a nutshell. God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are working together to provide salvation for those who choose to follow Jesus. Jesus has the authority over life and death, which he clearly showed by his death and resurrection. He is the one that the Father sent to earth to provide a way of salvation for us.
Without Jesus’ saving act, we would be lost in darkness and sin. But he provides the light to guide us out of sin and into eternal life. He is the only way back to the Father. He gives the Spirit to help us remain connected to Jesus and to have power to do the work of the Father. But none of this is possible without Jesus, the Son whom God sent to earth, giving his life for us. Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
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