John 8 has to be one of the most scathing sections of Scripture between Christ and the Pharisees, not to mention the book of Matthew. In verses 56-57 Jesus made a statement that they could not accept. It was refering to Abraham seeing 'my day' and 'he saw it, and was glad.' In response to what Jesus said, the Jews made this comment: "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" to which Jesus replied: "...before Abraham was, I am." (v.58).
Before Abraham existed, Jesus did. Jesus (I hate to use the word 'claimed') claimed to be eternal, when He used the term "I AM." This means that all the attributes that belong to God also belongs to Jesus Christ. In essence Jesus is God.
I am writing this because I am amazed at the significance of the term "I AM" and how the God of the Old Testament is similar to Jesus in the New Testament. The "I AM" statements are strikingly similar, in both instances, what they are saying is that God is eternal, self-existing, and immutable. I also happen to believe that a person must recieve the Jesus of the Bible in order to be saved. You can't trust in just any savior. We live in a day where people have their own way to heaven. BUT Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven. And it is not the Jesus imagined by false religion. It is this Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, God's eternal Son.
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