Last Sunday I presented the first
message in the New Teaching Series: Revealed in Red. In this series we are going to look at a few of the
events that occurred in the last few hours of Jesus' journey to the cross, and
while He hung on the cross. We will examine the last words of Jesus - words
printed in red. The first words of Jesus we examined was "I am He" - words that He said in
the garden when the soldiers came for Him. The Gospel of John contains seven I
Am statements that Jesus made about Himself to reveal his true identity.
From the stone cold, dead &
empty way of man’s religion into a living and joyful relationship (1), we are
saved by grace through faith (2), not by our own futile works (3), into his
supernatural care and provision (4). With our eyes on Him not the world we
achieve the supernatural (5), receive the wisdom of the Holy Spirit (6), and
are restored from Death to Life (7).
Now let’s look at the seven “I am” statements to see what
they’ll tell us.
1.
The Bread Of Life
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread
of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me
will never be thirsty.
(John 6:35)
The context was the Manna in the
wilderness (Exodus 16:13-18). By this statement we know it was meant to
be a model of the Messiah. Whoever partakes of Him will never again know
spiritual hunger. Like the manna of Exodus 16 every one who seeks Him will find
Him (Matt. 7:7-8), but each of us has to find Him for ourselves. No one
can receive Him for us, nor can we receive Him for anyone else. We all get an
amount sufficient for our salvation. No one is lacking, none of Him is wasted.
As for our thirst, remember how
Jesus told the woman at the well that the water He offered would cure her
thirst forever. Pointing to Jacob’s well, before which they were standing, He
said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever
drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
And then on the last and greatest
day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the
Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this
he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)
The Psalmist wrote, As the deer
pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
In Jesus our spiritual hunger is satisfied and our spiritual thirst is
quenched. Once we have the Holy Spirit, our search for spiritual fulfillment
comes to an end, and we never need any other sustenance. The God shaped hole in
our heart is finally filled.
2.
The Light Of The World
When Jesus spoke again to the
people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Literally this means that those who
join Jesus as one of His disciples will not be ignorant of spiritual matters
but will have the power of understanding especially of the spiritual truth that
brings eternal life. When we take the time to learn and apply these truths in
faith we discover that the old adage is true. Whatever the spiritual question,
Jesus is the answer.
Are you feeling down trodden or
discouraged? Overcome by the worries of life?
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will
say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in
Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:4-7, 19).
Do you carry a burden of guilt
because of your sins?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
Do you have money problems?
Give, and it will be given to you. A
good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured
into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38). “You will be made rich in every way
so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity
will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:11)
Or health problems?
Is any one of you sick? He should
call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the
name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person
well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:14-16).
I’ll say it again. Whatever the
spiritual question, Jesus is the answer.
3.
The Gate
I am the gate; whoever enters
through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)
This is a reference to the Kingdom
and recalls the words of the 23rd Psalm, “He makes me lie down in green
pasture.” Salvation is found through Jesus, He is the gate to the Kingdom.
Having entered through Him we will have the freedom to come and go as we
please, dwelling in a state of peace in the midst of plenty. Surely goodness
and mercy will follow us all the days of our life, and we will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.
4.
The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
(John 10:11)
No one expects sheep to be
responsible for themselves. Owners hire shepherds for that purpose. A Shepherd’s
job is to accept responsibility for the safety and well being of his flock. Most
shepherds only take that to the point where it would threaten their personal
safety, rightly deciding that their life is worth more than that of a sheep. A
few would be willing to risk their lives to protect their sheep, but our
Shepherd knowingly and willingly died to save us, because there was no other
way.
5.
The Resurrection and The Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the
resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he
dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John
11:25-26)
This is an amazing statement. The
Lord had already said that whoever believes in Him would not perish but would
have eternal life. (John 3:16) Here he provided more detail, saying that
even though a believer experiences physical death, he will still have life. He
was referring to the resurrection of those who die in faith. And then He said
there would be some would never die, but would pass from this life directly into
the next one. If we didn’t already know about the rapture, we wouldn’t see
this, but since we do we can understand that He was talking about that one
generation who will be alive when He comes for the Church, and will receive
eternal life without dying first. And once again the Lord confirmed that the
single qualification for eternal life is to believe that His death paid the
entire price for our sins.
6.
The Way, The Truth, And The Life
Jesus answered, “I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
There is no other way into the
presence of God than by accepting the Lord’s death as payment in full for our
sins. As Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no
other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts
4:12) Jesus is the only remedy God has provided for man’s sin problem. He
is the only way to eternal life. This is the truth of God’s Word.
7.
The Vine
“I am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5)
It’s important to understand that
salvation is not a fruit bearing event, so in this statement Jesus was talking
about our life after we’re saved. Of course a non-believer cannot bear fruit,
and even after we receive salvation believers are not automatically fruitful.
But if we yield our life to Him, (Romans 12:1-2) and respond to the
prompting of the Holy Spirit He sent to guide us (John 14:26) we can
bear much fruit.
If not our lives will be unfruitful,
because without Him we can do nothing of spiritual value. We’ll still be saved,
but we’ll be of no more use to the work of the Kingdom than the unfruitful
branches the gardener discards at pruning time. Paul confirmed this in 1 Cor
3:12-15. The unfruitful believer will be saved, but as one escaping through
the flames.
This is not a matter of success or
failure from a worldly stand point. It’s a matter of motive. Many of us will
see some of our greatest accomplishments burn in the fires of judgment because
we achieved them with wrong motives, like self-satisfaction, or recognition
from others, or even a desire to “make points” with God. Only those things that
are prompted by the Holy Spirit and where our only motive is gratitude for all
we’ve been given will survive. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed
time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in
darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will
receive his praise from God. (1 Cor. 4:5)
These are the seven “I am”
statements in the Gospel of John
Jesus is the One who spiritually
sustains us (1). Through Him we gain spiritual understanding and wisdom for
living (2). He has given us free access to the Kingdom (3), having paid our
entrance fee with His life (4). Whether we die before the rapture or are taken
live in it, He has guaranteed our eternal life with God (5). He is the only one
who can do this (6) and for the balance of our life on Earth, the things we do
in His strength, out of gratitude for what He’s done for us, are the only
things that matter (7).
Shadrach Meshach Lockridge was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation in San Diego, California, from 1953 to 1993. He was known for his preaching across the United States and around the world
