Jesus Did the Business of "Is-ness"

What Did Jesus Do?

Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.
John 8.58

A lot of wanna-be gods like to claim to be, but there it only one God who is—the Great “I Am.” You see, “I Am” means “is,” as in, “The One (God) who Is” as opposed to all the gods who pretend to be, but are not. And, when you are the One Who Is, your business is, well, “is-ness,” the creation, direction, rule, and, if need be, the redemption of, all that is.

Now Israel was privileged to know “I Am” because He had personally revealed himself to the patriarchs, and in particular had told Moses His name. It was a point of pride, among a people who were far too proud given their many shortcomings and waywardness, that, puny and insignificant as they were as a people, their God was “I Am,” while the gods of all the many more powerful and numerous nations were nothing more than lifeless idols. The truth is, throughout the history of the world there has been a confrontation between I Am, who is God, and all the many “not-gods” who are, well, not.

The Son, who from eternity past was as fully I Am as both the Father and the Holy Spirit, was born into the world to carry on the family business, if you will, the business of “is-ness.” Jesus was all about, to resurrect an expression from the ’60s, telling it like it is, as in speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And the works that Jesus did, well they were not the illusions and magic tricks that the priests of the not-gods performed to fool people into following their idols, but the very real actions of the Father, accomplished in order that people should believe and give glory to the only one who deserves it—I Am.

One of the problems Jesus had was, being barely thirty years old, convincing people that he was I Am. For I Am not only is, but He was, and He will forever be. Only I Am could have been around in Abraham’s time in order for the patriarch to see His day and be glad in it (8.56), and yet be standing before the children of Abraham more than a millennium after Abraham’s death and offer them the words of life. (8.51)

Part of the trouble when you are I Am is that the world, and even your elect, are so easily impressed and led astray by the many convincing counterfeits that claim to have their own truths. Today millions are enraptured by all kinds of “virtual realities,” while re-imagining I Am to suit themselves, if not rejecting Him outright. It was no different in the time of Jesus.

What do we make our business? Do virtual realities capture our interest, time, and treasure? Do we allow for competing truths to undermine The Truth? Do we serve one or more “not-gods”?

Or do we rejoice and live in the reality of God and what God has done, is doing, and will yet do? Do we test all wanna-be truths and reject any and all claims that depart in the slightest from The Truth? Do we know and serve and glorify I Am? That’s the business of “is-ness,” and that’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4