Bible Study Series - The 7 'I AM' Statements of Christ
In the Old Testament, God the Father called Himself ‘I AM THAT I AM’ (Exodus 3: 13,14) to identify Himself to the Israelites. Christ used the phrase ‘I AM’, 7 times in the Gospel of John. This is one of the reasons that the Jewish religious leaders were upset with Him. By using this phrase to describe Himself, Christ was equating Himself with God the Father. For the Jewish people, this was considered blasphemy. But, they should have realized based on their own Scriptures that Christ had come as the Messiah and was in fact equal to God the Father.
Exodus 3:13,14 - Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Today, we’ll discuss the first two ‘I AM’ statements of Christ.
I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)
JOHN 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Christ is reassuring the disciples before His death. He is giving them hope of His return. When Thomas asks Christ how they will know the way to follow, Christ’s response is that He is the way.
With this ‘I AM’ statement, Christ is reinforcing 3 truths.
Christ is THE way that leads to the Father. Salvation doesn’t have many paths, there is only one way to reach heaven and that is through Christ. There is no amount of work or striving that we can do to get there on our own. It is solely through Christ.
Christ is THE truth who gives us understanding and knowledge of God the Father. The truth which the wise men couldn’t understand was revealed to us.
Christ is THE life. Christ is the source of life. He has power over death which was proven by His own resurrection.
How does this apply to us?
This ‘I AM’ statement reminds us of the importance of faith. It is not good works or any striving of our own that will get us to heaven. We have the privilege of getting to heaven only through Christ and God’s grace. He is the only way to the Father. This statement also reminds us that Christ is the truth that we need to believe in. We should be careful not to add or take anything away from the message of the Gospel or the message of Christ. He is the only truth. This statement also gives us hope for the future. Since Christ is life, a Christian does not need to fear death. Since we are His children, we know that we will one day be with Him in glory.
I Am the True Vine (John 15:1)
I Am the Vine (John 15:5)
JOHN 15:1,5 - “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
These ‘I AM’ statements are also given as a message to the disciples before His death. He is taking the time to teach them more doctrinal truths before He leaves them. In this instance, Christ uses the analogy of vines and vineyards because they were prominent at that time. Some also say that the vine was also considered a Messianic symbol for the Jews.
With this ‘I AM’ statement, Christ is showing fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. In the Old Testament, Israel is repeatedly referred to as the vine, usually in connection with not bearing good fruit and therefore reaping judgment from God. Here, Christ calls Himself the TRUE vine. This shows that He is the genuine vine that is taking the place of the vines mentioned in the Old Testament. This TRUE vine will bear more fruit than the vines of the past. This statement also shows that God the Father is the vinedresser. He is the one who gave Christ to us to be the TRUE vine, to bear fruit. In addition, the statement in verse 5 shows another dependent relationship between Christ and the church. The relationship between the vine and the branches is even more dependent than the relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep which we looked at earlier. The branches cannot survive without the nourishment of the vine and with that nourishment the branch bears fruit.
How does this apply to us?
Since Christ is the TRUE vine that bears fruit, unlike Israel which was a vine that bore no fruit, we should be rooted in Christ so that we can also bear fruit for God. Our first identification should be in Christ. We are Christians before we are anything else. Since we are His branches, we must have full dependence and connection with Christ. The branches of a vine have no purpose other than to bear fruit. It can be used for nothing else. As a Christian, we must honor God and do good with our lives (bear fruit). This will be shown in our lives through our character and our actions.
