BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM

By Tim Sullivan

Any Christian who argues against the divinity of Christ probably does not understand the meaning of the word. "Divine" means "relating to, or coming from God." Jesus Christ is divine. He is the only begotten Son of God. In this definitive way, Jesus is set apart from all of mankind.

Jesus was and is so much more than a perfect man. He is the only creature ever born with a dual nature, of man and of God. In his humanity, he was “in all points tempted like as we are.” During his forty days in the wilderness he faced the essence of every temptation that besets man, but in his divinity he was “yet without sin.” This makes him uniquely able to succour anyone in his hour of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16:
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Over the years, "Christology" or the study of the person of Christ has been the reason for many divisions in the body of Christ. Even people who call themselves students of the Bible are prone to isolate certain verses that support their argument and disregard verses that do not mesh with their point of view. One of my earliest teachers was fond of denouncing problematic verses as "not in the original text" - a claim that his followers accepted without question.

The words of C.S. Lewis pinpoint the real quest: "Not to what I think Thou art, but what Thou knowest thyself to be."

The mind of the flesh obscures spiritual vision. But that will not always be the case. The instant Christians "see him as is he" they will "know even as also [they] are known."

1 Corinthians 13:12:
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

1 John 3:2:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

In the Beginning

The Gospel of John and the book of Genesis are the only books in the Bible that commence with the words, “In the beginning.”

Genesis 1:1:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

John 1:1-2:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.

From the first moment of creation, the natural world has been governed by time. But one day “there should be time no longer.”

Revelation 10:6:
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

The creation is governed by time, but the God of Creation is not. God precedes "the beginning." Before time began, God’s plan for the salvation of his people was as good as fulfilled.

Revelation 13:8:
... the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Christ lives in that realm that supersedes time. He is the Word that was with God in the beginning. The Word is not a what. The Word is a who. Jesus is the Word of God.

To be sure, Christ's earthly birth is important. If Christ did not come in the flesh, mankind could not be saved.

Romans 8:3:
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

2 John 1:7:
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

However, Christ did not begin that way. The Word was made flesh.

John 1:14:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

To truly know Christ is to know him beyond the confines of flesh and time.

2 Corinthians 5:16:
... though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

To see Christ as he is, one must see him as he was . . . in the beginning.

John 1:3:
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

All things were created by him and for him.

Colossians 1:16-17:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Unless a person is willing to disregard these verses of Scripture, Christ’s role in the creation cannot be denied.

Ephesians 3:9:
... which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Thy Throne, O God, is for ever

Jesus said "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true" (John 5:31). But surely there is no witness of Christ more valid than that of God his Father:

Hebrews 1:8-10:
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.

Some Christians deny the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) because, they say, the word "trinity" is not found in the Bible. But the word "Bible" is also not found in the Bible. The phrase "God the Son” is not recorded in the Holy Scriptures, but the implication is plain to all but those who are predisposed against it. The Father refers to his Son as "O God" and then speaks of himself as "Thy God." This is reminiscent of Psalm 110:1: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

In verse 10, it is written that Christ was in the beginning with God when the heaven and earth were created, effectually bridging Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1!

Did Jesus Make Himself God?

The religious leaders of Christ's era accused him of blasphemy saying that he had made himself God.

John 10:33:
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

It would be blasphemous indeed for a man to make himself God. But Jesus did not make himself God. God made himself a man!

Hebrews 2:16:
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Philippians 2:7-8:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The Jews knew that if a man were to declare himself begotten of God, he would be making himself equal to God.

John 5:18:
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Christ knew that it did not take anything away from God to say that the Son is equal to the Father.

Philippians 2:6:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

God and Christ are equal because they are one.

John 10:30:
I and my Father are one.

Before Abraham Was, I Am

When God appeared to Moses in Horeb, Moses asked, “When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” “I AM THAT I AM,” said God, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:13-14).

Jesus did not say, "Before Abraham was, I was." He said, "I am."

John 8:58:
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

In a manner of speaking, “God the Father” began the sentence, and “God the Son” finished it.

I AM the bread of life (John 6:35)

I AM the light of the world (John 8:12)

I AM the door of the sheep (John 10:7)

I AM the good shepherd (John 10:11)

I AM the resurrection, and the life (John 11:25)

I AM the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)

I AM the true vine (John 15:1)

He is "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8). He is the great "I Am."

Presented December 18, 2016 in Baton Rouge