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J.I. Packer writes that “…so many make faith harder than it need be, by finding difficulties in the wrong places…the real difficulty…lies, not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of incarnation. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man…Once we grant that Jesus was divine, it becomes unreasonable to find difficulty in any of this [atonement, resurrection, etc.]…The incarnation is in itself an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains (45-47, emphasis added).

John wrote his Gospel “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31, emphasis added). One of the primary messages that John wished to convey was Christ’s personal deity. Perhaps this is why he recorded so many quotes of Christ simply saying, “I AM.” You see, Jesus had a simple way of communicating this profound truth that He was God made man. He said to the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58, emphasis added).

The Jews were offended by Christ. He had pointed out that they were sinners (Jn. 8:7) who did not know God, His Father (Jn. 8: 19). He had stated that they were of this world (Jn. 8:23) and of their father the devil and did the devil’s will (Jn. 8:44). Subsequently, the Jews dishonored Christ and asked him “Who do you make yourself out to be” (Jn. 8:53)? It is to this question that Christ provides the very succinct answer: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (Jn. 8:58, emphasis added) to which the Jews responded by picking up “stones to throw at him” (Jn. 8:59).

“The Jewish leaders recognized at once that he [Jesus] was not speaking in riddles or uttering nonsense: when he said, “I am,” he was repeating the very words God used when he identified himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14). Jesus was claiming for himself the title “I AM,” by which God designates himself as the eternal existing One, the God who is the source of his own existence and who always has been and always will be. When the Jews heard this unusual, emphatic, solemn statement, they knew that he was claiming to be God. “So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59) (Grudem, pg. 545-546).

Why was this seemingly simple phrase, “I am”, so infuriating to the Jews? It was because Christ was making a claim to deity. J.I. Packer explains: “The Gospel [of John] is punctuated with ‘I am’ statements that have special significance because I am (Greek: ego eimi) was used to render God’s name in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14; whenever John reports Jesus as saying ego eimi, a claim to deity is implicit” (pg. 106).

James White notes that John uses this phrase (ego eimi) to refer to Christ twenty-three times. In seven of these references, ego eimi is absolute. Many of our Bibles have added the pronoun he with the words I AM, however, the original Greek merely says, I AM. (If this information interests you, you may find the rest of Mr. White’s article insightful.)

“The baby in the manger at Bethlehem was none other than the eternal Word of God” (pg. 49), the great I AM. “The Christmas message rests on the staggering fact that the child in the manger was — God (pg. 50).

So we return to our opening discussion of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (emphasis added). Wendy Alsup wisely notes that, “He exists’ alludes to a special name of God used to reveal himself, ‘I AM.’ ‘The Hebrew word translated ‘LORD’ in the Old Testament is ‘YHWH,’ meaning ‘the existing one. It is based on the same word, Hayah, that is translated ‘I AM’ in Exodus 3:14″ (pg. 32).

“God’s existence alone makes the rest of life’s inconveniences and struggles fade in comparison…Many Christians in today’s churches seem much more convinced of the reality of their problems than the reality of their God” (Alsup, pg. 32-33).

“Whether we are single or married, stay-at-home moms or working women, we tend to get so tied up in the minutiae of life that we miss the biggest truth, the ultimate reality. God must be big in our minds. God needs to be at the forefront of our thought processes. He needs to be the first consideration in all of our daily circumstances, not the last resort that we consider after exhausting all other options. Believing in his existence–focusing with trust on this reality–is fundamental to a faith that pleases God” (Alsup, pg. 33).

My friends, know this God become man. Study passages such as Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 that show us exactly what and who He is. “These passages present Jesus as God who came to live among us to show us his glory firsthand…If you want to know God, you must know Jesus Christ” (Alsup, pg. 34). Christ said to the Jews, “…unless you believe that I AM he you will die in your sins” (John 8: 24). Matthew Henry writes: “Note, There are many who claim-kindred to God yet have no acquaintance with him. It is only the name of God which they have learned to talk of, and to hector with; but for the nature of God, his attributes and perfections, and relations to his creatures, they know nothing of the matter, we speak this to their shame, 1 Co. 15:34. Multitudes satisfy themselves, but deceive themselves, with a titular relation to an unknown God” (1575). Henry goes on to say:“How he [Christ] proves his knowledge of his Father; I know him and keep his sayings, or his word…Note, The best proof of our acquaintance with God is our obedience to him. Those only know God aright that keep his word…Hereby we know that we know him (and do not only fancy it), if we keep his commandments” (pg. 1576).

God knew that we would not perfectly obey, thus, God became man in Christ, the Great I AM. This is what we celebrate this Christmas: “The baby in the manger at Bethlehem was none other than the eternal Word of God” (pg. 49), the great I AM. “The Christmas message rests on the staggering fact that the child in the manger was — God (Packer, pg. 50).” “The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join himself to a human nature forever, so that infinite God became one person with finite man, will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe” (Grudem, pg. 563).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-4, 14).

Works Cited:


Alsup, Wendy Horger. Practical Theology for Women. Illinois: Crossway Books, 2008.


Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. England: Inter-Varsity Press with Michigan: Zondervan, 1994.


Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.


Packer, J. I. Knowing God. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1973.


White, James. “Purpose and Meaning of “Ego Eimi” in the Gospel of John
In Reference to the Deity of Christ.” Alpha and Omega Ministries. 12 Dec. 2011. http://vintage.aomin.org/EGO.html.

About the author: Elizabeth is a sinner saved by the grace of God. By His grace, she serves as a helpmate to her godly husband, and they seek to reflect Christ’s relationship to His bride, the Church, through their marriage. By His grace, they attempt to mirror the Father as they train five precious blessings to fear the Lord and walk in His ways. They chose to home educate so that they will have more time for this training. Elizabeth loves to grow in the knowledge of my Savior and seeks to read books that will help her to that end. Her goal is to apply the things that she is learning by the strength that God supplies. You can find her blogging at The Hankins Family.

Browse through the series here

You are most welcomed to read a complementary series on The Names of God. Part one here, 
Part 2, Taking Refuge in the Name of the Lord, here.
Part three, The Fullness of the Name of Jesus Christ is here.

The Word

At the beginning of his gospel, in some of Scripture’s more mysterious words, John writes, referring to Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). I remember, as a child, puzzling over how it was that Jesus could be called the Word. The Bible as God’s Word I understood, because the Bible is God talking to us, telling us what he wants us to know. But Jesus is a person, not a book, I thought. How can he be God’s word? Yes, it was childish thinking, but even now, I’m not sure I know all of what John meant when he used that name for the eternal Son. Why does John call him the Word?

The Greek word that’s translated Word means “message,” so at the very least, John is telling us that Jesus is God’s message. Jesus is God’s message because he spoke the truth of God, and he also (or even primarily) revealed the truth of God in what he did and who he was.

Later on in the same chapter, John tells us, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). That’s Jesus he’s writing about—Jesus, the Word. As he walked and talked and loved and died, Jesus was showing us the truth of who God is. Do you want to know of God’s grace and love? Look at Jesus. Do you want to understand his holiness? Jesus reveals that perfectly, too.

What’s more, John uses the title Word for the Son in a chapter bursting with Old Testament allusions (Check John 1 with a cross-reference Bible to see what I mean.), so it would be a mistake not investigate what the word of God represented there, because John undoubtedly has that in mind, too. In the Psalms we read that it was “by the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6), so God’s creative power was called his word. God’s word sustained the world, too (Psalm 147:15-18), and delivered his people (Psalm 107:20). God’s word was the power by which he accomplished his purposes (Isaiah 55:10-11). In the scriptures John had, the term word is used to refer to God’s power and will and mind and presence in creation, providence and salvation. You see where this is going, right? Jesus is the one through whom God accomplishes his before-the-foundation-of-the-world purpose and is his ultimate power of salvation. What God’s word is and what it does in Old Testament revelation was embodied in Jesus Christ.

When we put it all together, we get a picture of Jesus as the embodiment everything that God is: all his communicable attributes—the characteristics of God that we can hope to copy; and all his incommunicable attributes—the characteristics of God that belong to God alone, the ones that were veiled when God’s Son lived among us. In a kind of twist that belongs only in the best and truest story, it’s by the veiling of these attributes of “godness” that the God no one can see becomes visible to us. Jesus is the self-expression of God—God’s own message of himself to us—because everything God is, Jesus is, and we can see and know him. The eternal Word became a human being and lived with us, revealing the unseen God to us, because “the Word was God.”

And as the incarnate Word, Jesus brought us a message about ourselves, too. When he kept God’s law perfectly, he taught us what we ought to be. “His life and teaching,” writes J. I. Packer, “set holiness before us in a way that both instructs and condemns us.” The gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and death reveal the whole truth of our sin by showing, first, how far we fall short of the perfect standard kept by the human Jesus; and on top of that, showing what it cost to make right what our sin made wrong.

The writer of Hebrews says that in Old Testament times, God spoke to his people by means of his prophets, “but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1). Prophets spoke and wrote God’s words, communicating God’s message in the Old Testament scriptures; but the full and final revelation of God is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God’s ultimate message; Jesus is the Word.

About the author: A Canadian woman, a widow with four grown children and passionate about studying God’s Word. Her favorite Bible verse is 2 Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”. She likes knowing that the same power that brought the whole of creation out of nothing by command is the power that shone in her heart bringing new creation there. And she likes pondering the beautiful and mysterious phrase “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Find her blogging at Rebecca Writes.

You are most welcomed to read a complementary series on The Names of God.
Part one, The Name of God is found here, 
Part 2, Taking Refuge in the Name of the Lord, here.
Part three, The Fullness of the Name of Jesus Christ is here.

Wrapped in flesh that disguised His majesty, He looked like an ordinary son of an ordinary man. And yet He was the Son of God, stepped down from His throne to become the Son of Man

…taking His place in a cattle stall. How could swaddling cloths contain His glory?

…healing the sick and forgiving the sinners. How could they look into His eyes and not be changed?

…teaching even the most-learned men about His Father’s Kingdom. How could they not marvel at the very sound of His voice?

…raised up, not in adoration but on an ugly cross. How could we esteem Him not?

The Son of God became the Son of Man so that we might become children of God.

From John Piper:

[Jesus] calls himself Son of Man very often. [Note: more than 80 times; it is His favorite self-designation.]

I think the reason he did so is because, on the face of it, Son of Man is an ordinary phrase for “human being.” He was born of a man. And there’s no offense there: who isn’t a son of man? But those with ears to hear could hear Daniel 7, in which he was claiming a very exalted role in the history of redemption. And he meant to do it.

Jesus was very subtle in that he was always opening his identity to those with eyes to see, but he wasn’t opening it so blatantly that everybody would come and make him king. He had to steer a very narrow course in disclosing his identity, not just openly saying, “I’m the Messiah, I’m the King of the World. Come and acknowledge me as King.” He didn’t talk like that.

He was quiet. He was subtle. And he would make claims that were explicit in certain settings and implicit in others. And only when the time was right—mainly when he was on trial for his life, and they said, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God?”—did he say, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man coming with great power and glory.” So he confessed his open deity right at the point where he knew he would be crucified for it.

“Son of Man” has the double meaning of human being and, according to Daniel 7, exalted heavenly one. And Jesus means to communicate both of those.

Daniel saw Him:

“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

(Daniel 7:13-14, ESV)

So did John:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:12 – 18, ESV)

And, praise God, so shall we:

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:30 – 31, ESV)

About the author: Melissa is a blasphemer forgiven and a woman loved. She lives in Virginia with her husband and teenage daughter. She enjoys cooking, reading, and ministering to young ladies. She blogs at Breath of Life.

Browse through the series here. You are most welcome to read a complementary series on The Names of God.  Part one, The Name of God is found here; Part 2, Taking Refuge in the Name of the Lord, here. And part three, The Fullness of the Name of Jesus Christ is here.