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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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March 30, 2014
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Contents:
1) The I Am (Harold Tabor)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
The I Am
by Harold Tabor
The great question among all the Jews was whether the Messiah would
come during their lifetime. When John the Immerser came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, the Jews of Jerusalem sent
priests and Levites to ask him: "Who are you?" The Jews were not
only expecting the Christ, but Elijah and the prophet (John
1:24). John the Immerser would only reply that he was the
Forerunner of the Christ (John 1:23, Matt. 3:1, cf. Isa. 40:3-5,
Mal. 3:1, 4:4-6). He was not the Christ, Elijah, or the
prophet (John 1:21).
Although John was to come in the "spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke
1:17), he had a twofold purpose in his preaching. He was to
turn the hearts of the fathers back to obedience and he was to make
ready for the Lord (Luke 1:17). Jesus identified John as the
fulfillment of the one to come in the spirit of Elijah (Matt
11:14). John identified Jesus twice as the "Lamb of God that
would take away the sin of the world" (John 1:29-30,36). Jesus
was that Lamb (1 Pet 1:19), even the Christ.
After the death of John the Immerser, the same question arose
regarding Jesus. Even Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do men
say that the Son of Man is?" (Matt. 16:13). Their opinions
were diverse: some thought he was "John the Immerser, others Elijah
and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets" (Matt.
16:14). During this ministry, there is no question about the
humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. About eighty (80) times in the
four gospels the phrase "son of man" is used of Jesus. There
was the expectation of the Prophet and the King of the Jews to
restore the greatness of Israel. There were those who thought
of Jesus as the Prophet (John 4:19; 6:14; 9:17; Luke 24:19).
But the great question asked of Jesus was "who are you?" "Are
you the Messiah, which is interpreted, Christ?" There were
those like Andrew who thought that he was the Christ (John 1:41).
This great statement of Jesus comes in various ways. The
general phrase "I am" is used over two hundred times in the four
gospels. Jesus' responses with the statement "I am" in his
teaching are most notable in the Gospel of John. These phrases
include "bread of life," "light," "door," "good shepherd,"
"resurrection and the life," "way, truth and life." But the
most important statement is when Jesus says, "I am"! He
declares his identity as the Son of God (his divinity).
The main purpose of the Fourth Gospel is clearly stated, "that [we]
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing [we] might have life through his name" (John
20:30-31). This was clearly declared in the Prologue of the
Gospel (1:1-18). The Word (logos) was "in the beginning," "was
with God," and "was God" (1:1). He is the Creator of all
things, and is the source of life and light (1:3-4). The
Divine person "came" into this world (1:11); he "became flesh, and
dwelt among us" (1:14); and he who did so was "the only begotten of
the Father" (1:14); the "only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father," and who has expounded (declared) him (1:18).
Jesus clearly declares his higher nature. He said: "I am from
above" (8:23); "I am not of this world" (17:16); "I and the Father
are one" (10:30); "He that has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9;
8:19; 12:45). He also declared his eternal pre-existence that
he shared with the Father (3:13; 6:62; 8:42; 17:8).
But the most important statement of his divinity comes after the
Feast of the Tabernacles (John 7:1; 8:20, 59), as Jesus taught in
the Treasury. Jesus uses the personal pronoun "I" forty-eight
times in this discourse (vv. 12-59), more than in any other
discourse. While the Jews understood his humanity, they did
not understand his divinity. Jesus made the statement "I am"
or "ego eimi" three times in verses 24, 28, 58 without a predicate
and three times with a predicate (8:12, 18, 23).
When Jesus began his discourse with the phrase, "I am the light of
the world," the Pharisees responded with the charge, "You bear
witness to yourself; your witness is not true" (8:12-13).
Jesus responded, "My witness is true." He also charged them
with not knowing where "I come or go" and stating that "My judgment
is true." The law required two or more witnesses to confirm
truth or "true." One of the "I am" statements is next.
Jesus says, "I am he that bears witness of myself and the Father
that sent me bears witness of me" (8:18). This is a clear
"witness" of the Deity of Jesus. The Jewish response was
"Where is your Father?" Jesus again says, "I am from above;
you are of this world: I am not of this world." Jesus claims
Deity again in contrast to his virgin birth. Man does not know
his origin apart from revelation. Jesus next makes a doctrinal
statement with the "ego eimi" phrase for the first time. The
statement is: "except you believe that I am, you shall die in your
sins" (8:24). The Pharisees still do not understand the
statement of Jesus (8:25, 27). Jesus makes the second
doctrinal statement with the "ego eimi" by stating, "When you have
lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am, and that I
do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these
things" (v. 28). The third non-predicate use of "ego eimi" is
when Jesus claimed his eternity at the last of the discourse.
Jesus continues his discourse with the conditional statement: "If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (8:31-32). The
Jews' response was: "We are the seed of Abraham and have never yet
been in bondage to any man: how do you say: You shall be made free?"
Obviously their concept of freedom omitted the Egyptian bondage,
Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, and the present Roman
"occupation."
Jesus responds by saying that he knows they are the physical
descendants of Abraham. But Jesus said, "If you were Abraham's
children, you would do the works of Abraham," and "If God were your
Father you would love me: for I came forth and am come from God"
(8:42). Abraham is mentioned in nine verses of this discourse
(8:33,37,39,40,52,53,56,57,58). But the last two are
significant because of the topic of the timelessness of Jesus.
The Great Controversy
The last phrase is "Before Abraham was, I am" (8:58). This is
the third time in this discourse that the "I am" is used in the
absolute sense without a predicate. It is also the third
emphatic statement signified by the phrase "Verily, Verily"
(8:34,51,58). In not one of these "I am" passages (8:24,28,58)
does the third personal pronoun "he" follow the "I am" in the Greek
text. The "he" is italicized and placed there by the
translators in the English text to complete the supposed
meaning. But the assertion of Jesus is to his absolute,
timeless existence and not to his personal identity. Jesus is
timeless in his divinity. His humanity is a matter of
genealogy and his virgin birth is unique.
Jesus did not say: "Before Abraham was, I was," but "Before Abraham
was, I AM."
The difference is that Abraham "was born," came into
existence. This is aorist indicative Greek tense and indicates
that Abraham "came into being" or "was existing" or "was
born." Abraham had a definite beginning in time.
When Jesus was born at Bethlehem as a baby, he already is existing
as Deity, the logos (John 1:14). The use of "I am" declares
that Jesus did not come into existence before Abraham did.
Jesus never came into being at all as Deity, but existed before
Abraham came into being. In the Prologue, this is the
declaration of John. Jesus, the Word or logos, existed before
all creation (John 1:1). This is the same contrast that Jesus
existed before Abraham was born, between the eternal and the
created. This also shows the error that Jesus was a created
being.
"I am" is a title of Deity! If the Jews did not correctly
interpret the statement and meaning of Jesus, identifying him with
the nature of Deity, why did they "take up stones"? Beyond all
doubt, the Jews did understand what Jesus was saying.
Jehovah or Yahweh is the most important personal name for God in the
Old Testament (Exod. 3:14; Isa. 41:4) and is from the verb "to be"
or "I am." Jehovah (Yahweh) is a combination of the
Tetragrammaton (YHWH) with the vowels of Adhonay (Hebrew --
Lord). This transliterates as Yehowah, but read aloud by the
ancient Hebrews and modern Jews as adhonay. It is uncertain
when the vowel letters of adhonay were added to the four-letter
Hebrew word JHWH to form the English word Jehovah. Most early
English translations simply inserted adhonay or Lord following the
Jewish tradition, in order not to use the name of God in vain (Exod.
20:7).
In Genesis 15:7, Abraham was told that "I am Jehovah that brought
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees." In Genesis 28:13, Jacob was
told that "I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God
of Isaac." In Exodus 3:14, God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I
AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I
AM hath sent me unto you." In Exodus 6:2-3, Moses was told "I
am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob,
as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to
them." Several explanations are given in commentaries below.
Exodus 6:3: The words may be considered as used comparatively:
though God did appear to those patriarchs as YAHWEH (JEHOVAH), and
they acknowledged him by this name, yet it was but comparatively
known unto them, they knew nothing of the power and goodness of God,
in comparison of what the Israelites were now about to experience
(Adam Clarke's Commentary).
Exodus 6:2-3: In other words, the full import of that name was not
disclosed to them (Barnes' Notes).
Exodus 6:1-9: 1. From God's name, Jehovah, v. 2, 3. He
begins with this, I am Jehovah, the same with, I am that I am, the
fountain of being, and blessedness, and infinite perfection.
The patriarchs knew this name, but they did not know him in this
matter by that which this name signifies. God would now be
known by his name Jehovah (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole
Bible).
Exodus 6:1-6: The divine promise not only commences in v. 2, but
concludes at v. 8, with the emphatic expression, "I Jehovah," to
show that the work of Israel's redemption resided in the power of
the name Jehovah (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old
Testament).
By the personal name of the "I AM," Jehovah or LORD has revealed
himself as the Eternal one and Deity who always exists.
There is a remarkable similarity in Psalms 90:2: "Before the
mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and
the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God."
This statement implies the continuing existence of Deity without
reference to time. Time is marked into sections of past,
present or future. But eternity is continued existence without
reference to time. Again, the contrast is between the created
and the creator or Eternal One.
Another passage is Isaiah 44:6, "Thus saith Jehovah, the King of
Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am
the last; and besides me there is no God." The statement of
Revelation 22:13 suggesting the Eternal nature of God. "I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End." All of these verses contradict the Islamic and
Mormon concept of God.
Jesus was truly a human being in every way that can be predicated of
unfallen man (Heb. 4:15). Jesus was one person and not a
double personality. Jesus lived with all of the fleshly
appetites and died in the flesh on the cross. Yet Jesus was
truly a Divine being united in the one person. The eternal
Logos entered a whole human nature at the supernatural
conception. From that moment, the two natures coexisted and
lived in one body. Within the one Person of Jesus, there were
two natures inseparably united, and yet not mingled or confounded,
wholly Divine, and wholly human, one common life. The end
result is the incarnation, the God-Man (theanthropos). The
dual natures in Jesus were without confusion, change, division, and
separation. There was the Divine that always remained the
Divine and the human always remaining the human, yet the two natures
always remained continually as one common life.
The humanity of Jesus; the divinity of Jesus; the one person of
Jesus and the two natures of Jesus: around these four points all the
Christological controversies of the first four centuries after
Christ have centered.
The Great Controversy continues today with the question, "Who do you
say that I am?"
"Jesus said to her [Martha], 'I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall
live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never
die. Do you believe this?' She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord,
I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come
into the world'" (John 11:25-27).
The response to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the
deciding question. It is the crowning proof of the Divinity of
Jesus. Seeing is believing. The Apostle John declared:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled, concerning the Word of life -- the life was
manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us
-- that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you
also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3).
Thomas declared "My Lord and My God." Jesus said to him,
"Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John
20:28-29). Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of
God?
-- Via Truth Magazine, December 1, 2005, Volume XLIX, Number 23:
http:// www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume49/23- december-01.pdf
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News & Notes
I
recently heard from Linda Blevins. Her mother, Virginia
Fontenot, is now receiving an infusion of avastin every
three weeks, along with an oral dose of chemo. While having
previously gone about two months without medication and having
surgery to reverse a colostomy, her cancer markers had gone up;
but have now come down from 88 to 36. Linda continues to be
with her mother 24 hours a day and says that her mother is too
weak to be left alone and especially now that she is also taking
avastin, which can increase the risk of a stroke or
hemorrhaging. Let those of us who are Christians continue to
remember Virginia in our prayers, as well as Linda and her husband
Howard.
Richard Crews will be having rotator cuff surgery April
16. Let us pray that all will go well for him.
Let us also continue to remember the following in prayer for their
health: Shirley Young, Cheryl Crews, Peggy Lefort, and
Terry and Pam MacDonald.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)