THE I AM CHAPTER

THE I AM CHAPTER

                John chapter 8 is one of the most astounding and mind blowing chapters in the entire Bible. In this chapter Jesus literally blows the doors off of all conventional thinking. For instance, in verse 51 Jesus said: “Truly, truly (another emphatic statement of truth) I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

                If we take this statement seriously, we suddenly begin to grab for our inflatable seat cushion because our doctrinal plane is about to go down. Well, Jesus’ statement had the same effect on the Pharisees who, like us, believed in the resurrection. But even for them this was too much and they blurted out:

                “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets also; and you say, ’If anyone keeps My word, he shall never taste of death’ surely you are not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; who do You make Yourself out to be?”

                Well, if we need two witnesses to establish a truth then we have a second statement along the same line from Jesus in John chapter 11:25, 26 saying:

                “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

                Here again, Jesus is basing His statement on His authority as the I Am.

                There is no greater foundation that we Christians can stand on than the foundational truth that Jesus was and is indeed the I Am.

                Again, being unseated from conventional thinking, the Pharisees said to Jesus: You are not yet fifty years old and have You seen Abraham? And Jesus answers them with another bombshell and another emphatic ”Truly, truly” statement saying: “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” John 8:58

                This is no small statement and it must have left the Pharisee’s jaws on the ground. With this statement Jesus wraps up the entire history of Israel and ties it with a bow and says to them; “Before your nation was born I was around. Before the Law, before Moses, before your father Abraham existed I was around.

                Here we see hints of the Melchizedek Priesthood which came before the Levitical priesthood and before the Law. He was the High Priest to whom Abraham paid tithes long before such laws existed. He speaks here of an authority greater than the Law and preceding the Law. Here Jesus’ statement established the fact that the letter of the Law could in no way compete with the Spirit of the Law which He alone could bring for the letter produces death, but the Spirit gives life.

                Here Jesus establishes the fact that they were brought into the world to establish a ministry of death while He was here to establish a ministry of life. The Law can only lead us to the foot of the cross, where we must die and be born again and in this new life we will live by the Spirit and not by the letter.

                This is why Paul can say with authority that the Law was not written for the righteous man, who has passed from death into life, but for the sinner who is still alive as a child of the first (fallen) Adam. 1 Tim. 1:9

                Interestingly enough, Jesus made His greatest statements, His greatest outward revelations of Himself within the context of a woman caught in adultery.

                Are there even greater statements being made here than we realize? After all, Israel itself is a woman caught in adultery and yet in Romans 11 we see an astounding thing:

                Paul says: “I do not want you brethren to be uninformed of this mystery lest you be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and thus all Israel will be saved… and he goes on to explain that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:25-29. Is Jesus not forgiving the woman caught in adultery here?

                Likewise the church is another woman that has been caught in adultery… so the harlot church is going into perdition, but in His abundant grace, Jesus’ final call is to those who are caught with her, “Come out of her My People. The adulterous woman has committed fornication with the kings of the earth, therefore come out of all of these adulterous religious systems and prepare as a Bride adorned for her Husband. Here we don’t see a tolerance for sin, but an amazing grace and willingness of Jesus to forgive and to be reconciled to His Bride.

                In the statements of Pope Francis and indeed in the teachings of the Catholic Church we hear the words of the great harlot herself saying, “You cannot have a personal relationship with Jesus. You must come to Him through our organization or you cannot be saved.” And this statement is mirrored by other organizations as well, each one pretending to be the gate to eternal life and yet against the backdrop of all of their blasphemous claims we see a greater authority. It is the all- consuming authority of the great I AM, who says to us: “Come unto Me and I will give you rest.”

                We, who would be the Bride of Christ, can take great comfort in John chapter 8. We may belong to a denomination or an organization that pretends to be the gate to heaven, but we, in fact, if we belong to Jesus, have come through a different gate which no man can attend to and that gate is Jesus Himself.  Jesus said:

                Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it.” and then He immediately says, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing.” (Mt. 7:13,14) And here again we are reminded of the beast that rises from the earth in Revelation 13, that looks like a Lamb but speaks as a dragon.

                Can we not see just how epic Jesus’ every statement is when we have a prophetic view of God’s plans and purposes for us? Even Christians seem mostly lost in a world of confusion simply because they no longer have a prophetic context. Nothing in life makes any sense to them simply because they no longer know God’s overall plan of salvation or what it is that Jesus is training us for. We don’t understand our trials and our disappointments. We wallow in them simply because we have no greater view than the present moment.

                But our context for all truth is in being fastened to a Rock that cannot move and that Rock is none other than the great I Am. And Jesus did not shy away from telling us just who He was when He said to them:

                “I AM the light of the world” John 8:12

                “I AM not of this world. I say therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM He, you shall die in your sins. John 8:23

                “When you lift up the Son of Man, (on the cross) then you will know that I AM He. John 8:28.

                “If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31, 32.

                “Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word he shall never see death.” John 8:51

                “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad.”

                “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” John 8:58.

                There are many more of Jesus" I AM" statements throughout the Gospels, but the point is that we, each one of us personally, must have this Rock to stand on that is none other than the great I AM. This I AM has more authority than the particular church we belong to and in these last days, we must fasten ourselves to the I AM like never before.

                The book of Revelation warns us that there is a great false church rising in these last days. She is known as the “Mother of Harlots” And we see her forming right now as the global religion of the beast. In 2015 at the last blood moon, Pope Francis established himself as the one who would form this great global harlot. (A global religion made up of all the religions of the world together. It is a harlot because it has committed fornication with pagan worship and mixed it together and it will force all everyone on earth to worship the Beast and his image and we must not be a part of it.

                We see that the Catholic organization of the Vatican as basically heading up this final global religion and it is fitting for her to do so since she has always been good at mixing Christianity with paganism. But this great harlot is known as the “mother of harlots” and wouldn’t you know it? We see many denominations and church groups making a pilgrimage to Rome to join forces with the coming global religion of the beast. And I say that if you see your particular group going to Rome with hat in hand, then get out of it and find a church that is still faithful to the word of God and the Spirit of God and is indeed fastened to the Rock and it must teach that we are born again through faith in and participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus. “We cannot compromise on these fundamental issues that are currently being sidelined by many emerging groups.

                This is why I say that we must each one of us fasten ourselves personally to the great I AM. We must live by an authority greater even than that of whatever church we belong to, because if our church turns out to be just another daughter of the mother harlot and follows after her, then we must be fastened to the greater authority of the Great I AM Himself. WE must follow after Him.

                Don’t let any church organization tell you that you must come to God through them. We have one Gate and one Shepherd and one fold and that fold is one that no organization can lay claim to.

                This is not to say that we cannot be faithful and contributing members of our church… far from it. In fact Jesus has established the church in this world for fellowship, for instruction, for making disciples, for training in righteousness and for growing up into Christ. What I am saying is that the church will become a much stronger and glorious power in the world if each of its members is truly fastened to the great I AM.

                But if a given church departs from the I AM and seeks security in numbers and goes after the great harlot church of the last days, then we must by all means depart from it. We must be fastened to the Great I AM and that authority in our lives must be greater than the church that is slipping away. We must come out of her and be not partakers of her sins.

                The wonderful news is that just like the woman caught in adultery, Jesus will say to those who come out: “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” John 6:37.

                “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6

                Are you simply riding on your religious train today, casually presuming that your train is on the right track? Well, you must make sure that your train is founded upon the authority of the Word and made alive by the Spirit and that it is fastened to the solid Rock, the great I AM. But beyond that, each one of us must also have that anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19, 20.

                God has no grandchildren. He has only sons and daughters. And we are brothers and sisters of the one Son who has passed through the heavens to become our High Priest. He is the great I AM upon whom we have placed all of our hope and faith.