Teaching Notes

God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " - Exodus 3:14

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." - Revelation 1:8

Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. - John 14:10

Who do you say that I am? I often hear debates about who God is, who Jesus is and what or who is the Holy Spirit. While all this debate is going on trying to prove or disprove God, I believe God is asking each of us a vital question. That question he speaks to each of our hearts is, who do you say that I am? Did you know it really does not matter how many times I tell you something about God if you refuse to believe it as the truth. Oh, it does not change that truth, it simply means you have not accepted it within your hearts and that is where God wants to make the change within us.

How or where can you find the truth about God? The first place is in his own words. If you wanted someone to know something about you, would you want them to trust the opinion of someone else or would you want them to heart if from you? Well God is the same. Now before you say, how can I hear from God, that is what his word is. The Bible, though written by men, was inspired by God because it is his truth as he told it to each of the writers. Let's take a look at a few of the things God says about himself in his word.

In the first scripture, God spoke to Moses and gave him instructions on being the deliver of his people. But Moses wants to know when the people ask me who has sent me, who should I say has sent me. This scripture in Exodus 3:14 is God's response to Moses' question. "I AM THAT I AM" signifies God as the great Jehovah and it tells us somethings about God. It tells us first he is self-existent. He does not recieve his life from some other source and he is now and has always been. He is eternal and not a created being. It tells us he is unchangable. He is the same today, tomorrow, yesterday and forever. It tell us he is incomprehensible, we will never be able to totally search him out, he is far above our understanding. He tells Moses tell them I Am has sent you. To be sent by the "I Am" means that you and I are equipped by the God of the universe, the God that is self-existent and self-sufficent. He does not change and therefore he will not leave us along and he will be with us as we carry out the journey he has called us to. Do you know God as the great "I AM". Have you experience his awesomeness today?

The next scripture Revelation 1:8, continues to explain who God is. This scripture says he is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. The scripture says who is (present tense), who was (from times of old, even before man was here on earth), who is to come (future tense). This is also true of Jesus for he is the one who is, and he is the one who was from time eternal and he is the one to come.

The last scripture in John 14:10 is Jesus asking the question of do you know me? What he is asking is do you know that I and my Father are one? He is telling those with him that all his words are the words of God. He is not speaking only as himself but he speaks for the Father.  The question to this world today is the same. Who do you say that God is? Who do you say that Jesus is?

If your answer is that God is eternal and that he is and has alway been then you answer according to God's explanation of himself. If you say that Jesus is his son and that he too was with God through all eternity. If you say that Jesus came to earth not to speak his own thoughts and wishes, but he came to speak the words of his Father and to fulfill the will of the Father then you understand Jesus as he spoke of himself.

So I ask you today, who do you say they are? Better yet, who is God to you? Who is Jesus to you? If you do not know God as father and Jesus as Lord, today can be the day you change your understanding, your position and your relationship. How do you want to answer this question?