As the I AM, Christ is Everything to us for our Experience and Enjoyment Every Day

The name of the Lord Jesus, who is Jehovah, is the I am; as the I am, Christ is everything to us for our experience and enjoyment, for His being I AM means “I am whatever you need”.

When God appeared to Moses and sent him to deliver His people from Egypt, He said, I AM THAT I AM; tell the people of Israel that, I am has sent me to you. Wow.

Then in the New Testament we have the Lord Jesus who, on the one hand, He said again and again, “I am” – the bread of life, the living bread, the resurrection, the way, the life, the Shepherd, etc; on the other hand, He clearly said, before Abraham was, I am.

Why is God the I AM? First of all, our human mind doesn’t fully understand or comprehend what being the I AM means; what the Bible tells us concerning Jesus is that He’s not merely a man – He’s the I AM (John 8:24). He even said that, unless we believe that He is the I am, we will die in our sins.

The name Jesus means “Jehovah the Savior” and “the salvation of Jehovah” (Matt. 1:21).

The gospel of John clearly reveals that Jesus is the great I am; the Jews didn’t have a problem with Him being the light, the living water, or the resurrection, but when they heard that He said He’s the “I am”, they wanted to kill Him, for He identified Himself with Jehovah God.

Yes, amen, Jesus is Jehovah God! We want to declare this to the whole universe that Jesus Christ, a man from Nazareth, is God Himself – Jesus is God! We declare this to the whole creation and especially to the so-called “Jehovah Witnesses” – Jesus is God, Jesus Christ the Nazarene is Jehovah God, the I AM!

The One whom the Jews arrested in the garden in John 18:4-8 is not merely a man but the great I am, the infinite and eternal God. We firmly believe what the Bible says, and we stand on God’s word to be saved!

We have no need to prove the existence or being of God; we are here to declare what the word of God says, and we believe that Jesus is the self-existing and ever-existing God – He’s the complete God, the Triune God (John 14:9-10, 16-18). We believe into Him, we are saved, and we enter into the full enjoyment of the One who is the I AM.

As the I AM, Christ is Everything to us for our Experience and Enjoyment Every Day

What does it mean for Christ to be the I AM? God’s word is most amazing: what the Lord says is amazing, and what He does not say is also amazing.

God says that He is the I AM – this implies that He simply is, He is the reality of everything that is positive, and He is everything to us. If God were to add the word “power” to the words “I am”, we would assume He is not love, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, comfort, protection, and a high tower.

But He simply says that He is, without saying what He is. This allows us, those who believe into Him as the I AM, to add in whatever we need by faith.

In the Gospels we see that, on the one hand, Christ specified what He is – He is the bread of life, the Word, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the living bread, the bread which came down out of heaven, the Good Shepherd, the grain of wheat, etc.

On the other hand, Christ simply said that He is the I AM. It’s almost as if, whenever there was a situation and a need, Christ said, I am the reality of what meets your need.

When Lazarus died, Christ said, I am the resurrection and the life. When there was a feast, He said, Come to me and drink. When He met the thirsty sinful Samaritan woman at the well, He offered to give her living water.

As the great I am, Christ is everything to us for our experience and enjoyment.

There’s a difference, however, between what we want and what we need; we may want a Porsche or an expensive car, but what we really need is a good car as means of transportation. We may want a house on the beach, but what we really need is a flat.

Christ is everything to us for our experience and enjoyment – He is whatever we need (see John 6:35; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6).

What do you need? Just tell the Lord. Be frank with Him; tell Him you need Him to be your inward supply, strength, peace, grace, energy, understanding, and encouragement.

We need to believe that Jesus is the I AM, and we need to take Christ as the reality of all our needs. God doesn’t give us things – He gives us Himself in Christ as everything that we need.

We need to realize what the Lord is to us, and we need to enjoy Him as the One who not only gives us something or does something for us but IS everything to us.

In Exo. 3:14 God said only that He is, without saying what He is; this allows us, those who believe into Him, to add whatever we need, and then experience Him as that reality.

We don’t have to wait until we get to a better state, we don’t have to first improve ourselves, and we don’t have to first change something in our situation – we simply need to tell Him what we need and firmly believe that He is, and we will experience Christ as everything to us.

His name is the I AM – He wants to have a personal and affectionate relationship with us, being related to us in intimacy and love, so that He may supply us with whatever we need.

Lord Jesus, we want to experience You as the reality of “I AM”. You are everything we need for our experience and enjoyment. Lord, what we need is just You. We don’t need more blessing or peace – we need You! Lord, You are our peace, our joy, our comfort, our salvation, our strength, and our energy. You are our faith, our understanding, our encouragement, and our supply. We need You as our real shelter, our life supply, our breath, and our strength to go on. Keep us coming to You, believing that You are, and experiencing You as the reality of all that we need!

Knowing and Experiencing the Reality of God’s Name as the great I AM – He’s Everything to us!

God, the Creator and Upholder of all things, has given us an immense checkbook with His signature on every check – all we need to do is write down what we need, and He is!

If we need peace, He is our peace; if we need patience, He is our patience; if we need protection, He is our protection. The length, the breadth, the height, and the depth of God’s name as the great I am is immense, including everything that we need.

Both in the Old and in the New Testament He wants to be everything to His people, and now in Christ and as Christ, He is everything we need. We shouldn’t behave like poor beggars who ask God for a little bit of victory, joy, and love; we should daily write check after check, enjoying Christ as everything to us in our experience.

When we realize the greatness of God’s name as the I am, and we enjoy Him and experience Him as everything to us in His name, we will be like the psalmists, full of appreciation and love for God’s name.

Those who know and experience God as the I AM can say that the name of Jehovah is a strong tower, and the righteous run to it and are safe (Prov. 18:10). When we understand the meaning and experience the significance of God’s name we will put our trust in Him, for we know His name (Psa. 9:10).

When we know God’s name as the I AM, we can tell Him, “For the sake of your name, O Jehovah, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great” (Psa. 25:11), “O God, save me by Your name” (Psa. 54:1), and “Oh Jehovah, Lord, deal with me, for Your name’s sake” (Psa. 109:21).

God’s name reveals God Himself – His name is the foundation of our faith, and if we enter into the reality of God’s name as the I AM, extraordinary things can be accomplished through God’s name in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Psalmists testified concerning God’s name, saying, “Through your name we trample those who rise against us” (Psa. 44:5), “He guides me on the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake” (Psa. 23:3), and, “I lift up my hands in Your name” (Psa. 63:4).

When we realize that, as the great I am, Christ is everything to us for our experience, we will simply praise His name saying, “As Your name is, O God, so is Your praise” (Psa. 48:10), “In Your name we exult all day long” (Psa. 89:16), and “sing to God, sing psalms to His name… Jah is His name” (Psa. 68:4).

The Lord Jesus is the reality of everything positive in the universe and of all our needs because He is the I am. When He as the I am comes into us as life, He shines within us as light, and this light brings in the divine element of reality into us (John 1:4; 8:12).

The reality that sets us free is the I am; the eternal TO BE sets us free (vv. 32, 36, 58). Whatever we need, He is. We simply need to enjoy Him and experience Him as everything to us, and the way to do this is by enjoying His name.

Lord Jesus, Your name is a strong tower, and we run to it and are safe! We put our trust in You, Lord. For the sake of Your name we are being pardoned, forgiven, saved, and dealt with. Lord, Your name is the I am – You are everything to us. May we experience You as reality of our every need. Guide us on the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. We lift up our hands in Your name, and we praise Your name, we exult in Your name, and sing praises and psalms to Your name. Lord Jesus Christ, our Jehovah God, You are the great I am, and we want to know, enjoy, and experience the reality of Your wonderful name!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 9, pp. 263-267, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 3 (week 15 in the HWMR), “Know That I Am Jehovah”.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Once it was the blessing, / Now it is the Lord; / Once it was the feeling, / Now it is His Word; / Once His gift I wanted, / Now, the Giver own; / Once I sought for healing, / Now Himself alone. / All in all forever, / Only Christ I’ll sing; / Everything is in Christ, / And Christ is everything. (Hymns #513)
  # Jesus! O what a name! / O Lord Jesus! Life-giving name! / Name victorious, name all-glorious, / Name exalted—O what a name! / Jesus! Strengthening name! / O Lord Jesus! Comforting name! / Name to breathe in prayer, calling everywhere, / “O Lord Jesus!” O what a name! (Hymns #1083)
  # The name of Jesus is our stand, / It is our victory; / Not on ourselves do we rely, / But, mighty Lord, on Thee. (Hymns #887)