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I am the way, the truth, and the life.

A name with meaning

In the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus Christ introduces himself with the intriguing name "I am." In Jewish culture, every name has a specific meaning. Jews didn't simply choose any name at a child's birth. It was chosen based on circumstances and experiences. Many names are emphasized in the Bible.

The book "The Names of the Bible and Their Meanings" explains all the names in the Bible. It is very impressive how much importance was placed on choosing the right name back then. When the angel announced Jesus' birth, he gave Mary the name for the child: Jesus. After Jesus received the Holy Spirit at his baptism, he was also called Christ. He received many other names such as the Lord's Anointed, Immanuel, Savior, Redeemer of the whole world, and Rabbi (Teacher). All these names have a meaning and describe him. People gave him names. But for some, Jesus was just a carpenter because he had built a house for them.

Jesus Christ, the center

In Colossians 1:16-17 we read: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The Apostle Paul describes here how everything was created through Him. This means that His creation has a specific path. Everything has a movement: from Christ to Christ. All creation was created by Him and will eventually return to Him. The center of creation is Jesus Christ.

Do you know your father?

It was 1978. I was 18 years old at the time, and we had only been in Germany for a few months, so my German was still limited. A small group of ten of us were evangelizing in the square in Cologne's train station, singing songs and sharing our testimonies. An older brother approached me and asked if I knew my father. I said yes. He then asked if I could tell him something about him. I replied that I could.

Then he asked me, "Do you know the Lord Jesus?" That was a bit more complicated, because I already suspected what the next question would be: "What can you say about him?" Isn't it often the case in our lives that we lack the words when we're supposed to talk about Jesus? We say we know God, our Father. He is our Creator and he created us. But what can we say about our heavenly Father?

Are we silent and at a loss for words when we are allowed to speak about God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord? Do I truly know my heavenly Father and my Lord Jesus Christ?

The name of God cannot be expressed in words.

When God spoke to Moses through the burning bush and commissioned him to free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and lead them out, Moses asked God what he should say to the people and how he should present Him so that they would believe him. God answered Moses: “I AM WHO I AM!” And he said, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

Perhaps you've also asked yourself this question: Why doesn't God introduce himself with a name that people would recognize as the God of Israel? God's being encompasses far more than just the God of Israel. Our language is limited, and words are so scarce that it's impossible to capture the name of our God in words. There are simply no words with which we could describe God because God is recognizable in everything we see, sense, and feel. Everything bears His signature.

God reveals Himself to us through His creation.

When we are out in nature, we can marvel at the majestic mountains. In spring, when the first blossoms appear and the leaves grow, we can see new life emerging. In every new life, we see God himself. New life arises, life that is unexplored by us humans and that we could never explore or develop on our own. When we look at the starry sky at night, we see countless stars. We cannot count them, yet God knows them all by name.

We were created to worship God and to praise Him, the living God.

Technical devices are capable of counting stars and learning more about them, but they cannot count all of them. Billions of stars have already been counted. Almost every star is larger than Earth. At a vast distance from Earth, they move in a specific pattern and rhythm. Constellations that we once mistook for black holes can now be identified using technical equipment. NASA (a US federal agency for space and aeronautics) recorded a constellation known as the Southern Cross*.

The constellation's stars form a cross when opposite stars are connected. The brightest of the four bright stars in the constellation, Acrux, is 321 light-years from Earth. One light-year is equivalent to 9.46 trillion kilometers. This is how great our God is. It is incomprehensible to our minds, yet even scientists can recognize the magnitude of God through the constellations.

Our body is a miracle of God

In Genesis 1:1 we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God also created us humans in His image. There was no Big Bang, as Darwin describes in his theory of evolution. We humans are not descended from a primitive human resembling today's apes, but God created us wonderfully and uniquely. This is precisely what the Bible teaches in Hebrews 11:3: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was seen.”

With God, there is no such thing as chance. He created everything according to His wonderful plan. When we look inside our bodies through technology, we can marvel at how wisely God designed our internal organs. Our bodies are a marvel of God, and each organ has a specific function. It is impossible for everything to have formed spontaneously. An adult consists of 100 trillion individual cells. Each cell carries information such as skin color, hair color, personality, and character. Every person has individually programmed cells with different information, programmed by God Himself. Isn't that amazing? Shouldn't we thank and praise God for how gloriously He formed and created us?

God reveals Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came to our earth about 2000 years ago and became human like us. The Bible doesn't tell us whether or what kind of education he received. Presumably, he didn't attend school or study at any institution.

However, at the age of twelve, He conversed with the teachers in the Temple in Jerusalem. He sat with them in the Temple courtyard and not only listened to them but also asked questions about what they said. Everyone who heard Him was amazed by His insights and answers. At twelve years old, Jesus asked learned men questions they could not answer. The men were probably ashamed of Jesus' statements because they could not give Him an answer. But Jesus knew the five books of Moses and the Prophets and answered His questions Himself.

Many books have been written over the past centuries. Yet no book has changed people as profoundly as the Bible. Throughout the world, many people believe in Jesus Christ. However, there are also many opponents of the Bible who attempt to disprove God's existence. For 2,000 years, they have tried to prove that God does not exist—but without success. Our calendar begins with the coming of Jesus to this earth. The fact that Jesus came to this earth and became human cannot be erased or forgotten. Our calendar reminds us of Him. He is the one who introduces Himself to us with the words: "I AM." "I am your Creator and I am your God," He tells us today through His Word.

Today, there are many institutes, Bible schools, and scholars who study this wisdom. Wisdom brought by someone who had never been to school. Jesus left us His work: the Bible, which great scholars study today. They have devoted their entire lives to the Word of God and still cannot fully grasp it. A young man who died at the age of 33 and had never attended school left us this Bible.

Is that even possible? No, from a human perspective, it is not. But if God Himself, the Creator of heaven and earth, is behind it, then everything is possible. Jesus came to this earth and was born of the Virgin Mary, who conceived through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus walked the earth, He was hungry for bread, yet in the person of God, He was able to provide bread for thousands. He thirsted as He hung on the cross, and yet He could say to the woman at the well, “I will give you water to drink, and you will never thirst again” (cf. John 4:14).

God's nature encompasses much more than just the God of Israel.

Jesus suffered pain and took upon Himself the pain of the whole world, enduring it. He hung on the cross and died a bitter death, yet He rose again and gives us life. Jesus Christ took away death's power and conquered it. He was both God and man. In Jesus Christ we see the great ruler of all the world, bearing the inscription: I AM. He is the almighty God who created everything: the heavens and the earth.

God is our Father and cares for us like a shepherd cares for his sheep.

God desires fellowship with us. He wants us to seek and find Him and to recognize the truth. God created us with a purpose. He wants us to reach this purpose one day, to find the way to Him, and for Him to grant us eternal life. An example from Herrmann's life should illustrate how God cares for us: "Herrmann was my father's spiritual father and mentor. My father told me that Herrmann was known in his village as a missionary. He went from house to house and told people about Jesus. He proclaimed the good news to them and led many to Christ, including my father."

Once, Herrmann had a dream: He saw a number of sheep and realized they were his own children. He had the task of driving the sheep to the green pasture. To do this, they had to follow a narrow path. The sheep followed him to the pasture, except for one sheep that strayed from the path. In the dream, he was very busy trying to get this one sheep back onto the narrow path. It took a lot of strength and energy, and he used all the strength he had to bring this sheep back.

At the end of the dream, he succeeded in leading the sheep to pasture. Herrmann understood that the sheep represented his children. He had to work very hard and pray a lot for one of his children. But he trusted God that He would bring his child back. This example illustrates how our God cares for us when we have strayed from the narrow path. In Hebrews 1:2 we read: “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he created the universe.”

We are the inheritance of Jesus Christ

God the Father appointed His Son as his heir and gave Him everything. Jesus Christ is now the owner of this earth, and we, as His children, are his heirs. The Son now manages His inheritance and desires to grant eternal life to ever more people. This is why He came to earth, the Son of God and Creator of the universe. All life on this earth functions according to an order established by God. Only we humans can deviate from this order because God gave us free will. Through Adam, we were all born in sin, and through Jesus Christ, we are born again and saved from all our sins through faith. Jesus Christ is our shepherd and desires to lead us back to Him, to the fellowship with God that Adam and Eve had in Paradise.

In Colossians 1:16b we read: “All things were created through him and for him.” We were created for the praise and glory of His splendor. We were created to worship God and to offer praise to Him, the living God. God’s creation—the sun, the moon, and the stars—all glorify Him. God gave each star a name. He has the entire universe under His control. God wants to tell us today: I am the one behind everything. God wants to lead us to Him so that we may recognize the truth, the only way that can give us eternal life. May God continually remind us through His Holy Spirit that He is our Creator and longs to have fellowship with us.

Our language is limited and words so few that it is impossible to put the name of our God into words.

The painting of the beggar

A poor man named Bernd* lived homeless in a city, often sitting on the side of the road and begging. Bernd had a little friend named Jakob*, who liked to visit him while he sat on the roadside (*name changed). They talked, enjoyed each other's company, and became friends. Bernd asked Jakob where he came from. His young friend then told him about his father and the secondhand shop. Jakob's father sold old paintings and antique furniture. Bernd said that he, too, had once been an artist and had painted several pictures. Jakob then asked him to paint a picture for him.

At their next meeting, Bernd brought the finished picture and gave it to Jakob. Jakob beamed as he accepted the picture and thanked him warmly. Jakob recognized himself in the picture and was delighted that he could keep it. Weeks passed, and little Jakob hadn't been to Bernd's house by the roadside for a long time. But Bernd longed for his little friend and set out to find the house where Jakob lived. Jakob had described his home to him. Upon arriving at the house, the neighbors told him that the father and son were no longer alive.

An auction of the shop and all its possessions was scheduled for the next few days. Saddened by the loss of his loyal friend, Bernd began his journey home. However, he decided to attend the auction and bought himself some new clothes. The next day, he entered the shop promptly as the auction was about to begin. He walked through the display and found the painting he had made for Jakob. The painting hung right where the auctioneer was standing. Bernd wasn't pleased that the painting was also being auctioned off, as it was nothing special to him.

At the start of the auction, the auctioneer said that it was the deceased's express wish to begin with the picture of little Jakob. This picture was worthless to everyone. And the room fell silent. No one wanted it. Bernd felt miserable and rummaged in his pocket, pulled out the few coins he had, and bid them on the picture. The picture was handed to Bernd. Now the auction was to continue. Next, the auctioneer read the will. It stated: Whoever buys this picture, the picture of my son, will own everything else in this entire shop.

This example shows us what our God is like. If we do not have the Son, then we have lost everything in life. If we have not recognized Him in our lives, then our lives have been meaningless.

Jesus introduces himself to us with the words: I am. I am your Creator. I am the one who has carried you throughout your entire life. I am the one who loved you and gave himself up for you. If you do not accept Jesus as your Savior today, then you will not receive eternal life in glory.

The old man with the chair

The story of an old man in the Swiss mountains began at the end of his life, as he lay on his sickbed. The old man was waiting to die. He had only one daughter left. The pastor was invited and visited the old man. When the pastor entered the room, he saw the old man lying in bed with a chair right next to him.

The pastor, surprised, asked him if he often received visitors. The old man replied that he only had one daughter, and she was the only one who visited him. The pastor asked about the chair that stood right next to the bed and whether anyone had been there. "No," the old man answered. "But now that I am on the verge of passing into eternity, I realize that I miss Jesus. I feel as if God is no longer with me. It feels as if I have lost something in my life. But when I pull the chair up to my bed, I pray to the one who sits in it."

I have an inner feeling that Jesus Christ comes to me and sits in this chair when I pull it up to my bed. It comforts me to feel His presence. I long for His presence.” After a few days, the daughter called the pastor and said that her father had passed away. Strangely, when he was found, his body was on the bed, but his head was resting on the chair. We know the background, don't we?

May it be so in our lives that we simply throw ourselves into the arms of the Redeemer. God created us so that we might be with Him forever. The most beautiful thing in life is knowing the One who created us.

Rudy Pankratz (1960-2017)
Canada

 

Sources:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/kreuz_des_Südens
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtjahr
https://www.spektrum.de/frage/wie-viele-zellen-hat-der-mensch/620672
https://wernergitt.de/medien/buecher-2/841/90/werner-gitt-buecher/signale-aus-dem-all-detail
https://www.bibelkommentare.de/index.php?page=dict&show=conc

All websites accessed on July 16, 2021