Jesus' I AMs

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Jesus' I AMs

Post #1

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John 14:6 . . I am the way

The Greek word translated "way" is somewhat ambiguous. It can not only indicate a route-- a path, a road, or a trail --but also progress.

For example, it takes roughly five months for people afoot to complete the entire route of the Pacific Coast Trail from Campo California to Washington State's border with Canada.

Resourceful hiker trash report their daily progress on social media platforms like FaceBook and YouTube. Successful thru hikers-- those who complete the journey --publish one final progress report when they reach their ultimate destination: the Canadian border.

That's the sort of progress report that Jesus announced on the cross when he said "It is finished." His crucifixion was trail's end, and he capped the journey by crossing the border, viz: by rising from the dead.

People who have come to faith in Christ, do not need to retrace his steps because they already did. God-- by means of some strange procedure that I do not understand at all --reckons them crucified, died, buried, and resurrected along with, and in, His son. (Rom 6:3-11, Gal 2:20, and Col 3:2-3)
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Re: Jesus' I AMs

Post #11

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John 8:23-24 . . You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Jesus had a tremendous advantage over his opponents. Before coming into the world as the flesh of John 1:14, the Word was with God (John 1:1) which means his religious training and his personal experience are far more reliable, and far more advanced than theirs. Everything Jesus knew about the Father was given to him straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, rather than from Judaism's rabbis who, even to this day, tend to disagree among themselves.


John 3:31-34 . . He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. I am of the earth, and my understanding is limited to the things of earth, but he has come from heaven. He tells what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! Those who believe him discover that God is true. For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God's Spirit is upon him without measure or limit.

John 8:26 . .He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him.

NOTE: According to Matt 12:42, Luke 11:31, John 1:1-14, and Col 2:3; Christ's wisdom trumps Solomon's, so beware using proof texts from Solomon's thoughts to moderate Christ's.
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Re: Jesus' I AMs

Post #12

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Matt 28:20 . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

I would've expected Jesus to say "I will be with you" but "I am with you" is better because it assured Jesus' men that his departure forty days later would not cause an interruption in their association, viz: Jesus' accompaniment with his men is permanent and perpetual.

The Greek word translated "age" is aion (ahee-ohn') which is the very same word in the beginning of chapter 24 at verse 3 which reads:

"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us-- they said --when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

It's been construed by some that "the end of the age" spoken of in Matt 24:3 and Matt 28:20 is the end of the world predicted at 2Pet 3:10 and Rev 21:1 but judging by Jesus' attending comments, I'm pretty sure it's limited to the space of history between when he was here last time till the day when he returns next time.

When Jesus made the promise in Matt 28:20, he had roughly 120 core supporters (Acts 1:15) and several hundred rank and file (1Cor 15:6) yet he made the promise to only the eleven apostles.

Anyway, in order for the Lord's promise to be valid, it had to include the apostles' afterlife existence seeing as how they're all gone now and the end of the age is not yet.

God made a similar promise to Jacob in the 28th chapter of Genesis which reads:

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

That promise had to include Jacob's afterlife; which suggests a plausible explanation for Jesus' comment at Matt 22:31-32 where he said:

"But about the resurrection of the dead-have you not read what God said to you: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
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Re: Jesus' I AMs

Post #13

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John 14:6 . . I am the truth.

Before coming into the world as a creature, God's son was a divine being known as the Word (John 1:1a)

The Word is translated from the Greek noun logos (log'-os) which basically refers to something spoken as opposed to something going on in one's thoughts, viz; logos refers to voice, i.e. speech.

God's spoken words first appear in the Bible at Gen 1:3 where it says:

"Let there be light"

So we could legitimately paraphrase John 1:2 to read like this:

"All things were made by God's voice; and apart from His voice was not any thing made that was made."

Thus it's seen that God preferred to command the cosmos into existence instead of cogitating it into existence.

"By the voice of God the heavens were of old" (2Pet 3:5)

God's speech is more than sound and syllables; it is an extension of Himself, i.e. His speech is charged with an energy so powerful that it can make inert objects become alert with consciousness; e.g. John 1:4

"In God's voice was life"

Seeing as how the words that come out of God's mouth are no less divine than Himself, then I think it's valid to concur that His speech is a sentient being.

Please don't ask me how God's voice is a sentient being because it is just too far beyond the capability of my below-average IQ to comprehend.

So then, when Jesus said "I am the life" I think it safe to paraphrase him as: "I am that life", i.e. the life in God's voice; and seeing as how the life in God's voice is an extension of Himself, then we certainly cannot refuse to recognize The Word as more than just a divine being, instead, as the supreme of all beings.


1John 1:1-2 . .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, of the Word of life-- for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.

So the life that's in God's voice is a sentient being who always was, always is, and always shall be. That (almost) makes perfect sense because if God always was, always is, and always shall be; then of course His voice would be no different in that respect.

The part that's difficult to grasp is how God's voice is a sentient being when the human voice is just noise; and the moment it speaks words, they fade away to nothing and can't be recalled with any more ease than recalling the ring of a bell or the toot of a horn, i.e. spoken human words are DOA (dead on arrival) and that's because the human voice isn't a sentient being.

Now, this sentient eternal being we've been examining isn't merely academic doctrine; it's a supernatural presence.


1John 5:11-12 . .God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have God's son does not have the life.

The eternal life spoken of in that verse, and in 1John 1:1-2, is of course the self same life that Jesus spoke of when he said: "I am the life". (John 11:25 and John 14:6)

If I could take some liberties here, I might paraphrase 1John 5:11-12 to read like this:

"God has given us His voice, and this voice is in His son. He who has the Son has this voice; he who does not have God's son does not have this voice."

God's voice, a.k.a. His son, a.k.a. eternal life, isn't aboard Jesus' followers by means of a physical presence, rather, a spirit presence.


Rom 8:9-10 . .You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
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