The Seven "I Am"'s | Jacob Grass

[0:00] It is good to be on the old Zoom again. If you wouldn't mind turning to John chapter 6,!

[0:30] I'm really kind of bummed that we couldn't meet together today. I went to the store and I bought a whole bunch of candy and I was going to pass it out if you got correct answers. So I guess I'll just eat it on my own.

[0:42] So that's all right, though. So we're going to be in John chapter 6. And we're going to look at verse 35. But I want you to notice two things.

[0:55] Number one, Jesus will say, I am. And these verses we look at. And then number two, notice when he says life.

[1:09] Because he'll say life a lot. And there's some verses where he doesn't say life, but he implies life. And we'll see that. And I really just want to take the Bible as its whole truth.

[1:21] And I really want to not go super deep into it and just take it at its level and see what we can pull from it. I'm a very visual thinker. I like to take notes.

[1:33] And how this one is going to be laid out, in my mind, is there's going to be seven points. And those are the seven I am's. And then if you just draw a line in the page, and on the other side, it's going to be compared the same seven points, the same seven I am's.

[1:51] One's going to be Jesus. And the other side of the page, that's God. And we're going to look at both of them. So let's dive into the text. But before we do that, let me just open in a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this opportunity just to be in your word and in your presence and for the reminder this morning of your son and just what he did for us on the cross.

[2:17] And that he is our high priest and our Lord of Lords, but he was also that sacrificial lamb who died for our sins. We're thankful for that. Please, Lord, just speak through me and just help us to go out of this glorifying you and ready for our week, Lord.

[2:33] And I just pray all these things in your name. Amen. So let's start. John chapter six, verse 35. Jesus says this. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

[2:44] Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. And whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

[3:02] These people are coming to him and they say, hey, give us this bread. We want to be fed again. But Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life.

[3:14] So he takes what they want and they want this physical. They're desiring the physical to be fed, to be full, you know, to fulfill their physical needs.

[3:27] And he switches it to spiritual. And he always provides more than enough. And we see that in when he feeds the 5,000.

[3:38] And we'll see it later on when we look in Isaiah. But he always provides more than enough. And that's not only physical, but that's also spiritual. And notice that he says that he's the bread of life.

[3:52] And so he not only possesses this satisfying quality that he wants to give, but he also possesses life. And he wants to give it to people.

[4:04] And we are in a time of hunger. I think that people's hearts are really open during this time of the coronavirus and the things going on.

[4:17] People are realizing that maybe with their family members dying or getting sick or maybe they lost their job, they may be realizing that family is not everything. They might be realizing that their job, that their status, that their finances aren't everything.

[4:35] And this is a time where Jesus, you know, through us, Jesus can say, you know, I am the bread of life. Come to me and you will be satisfied.

[4:46] You know, all these people are so hungry, looking for something that will fulfill their spiritual hunger. And Jesus is that something. So what I want you to write or think about is Jesus the satisfier.

[5:00] He satisfies our needs. And then we're going to turn over and go ahead and go to John chapter 8. So in John chapter 8, verse 12, it says this.

[5:16] Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

[5:27] So here again, we see that Jesus not only offers light, but he offers life. And this will be a recurring theme, as I said earlier.

[5:40] So not only are we satisfied now from John chapter 6, but now we can also see. We can see Satan's holes, Satan's schemes, his snares.

[5:54] But this is something that's interesting. Not only does he let us see, but this life-giving light that he's talking about is also reflected in his people, in his servants, in us.

[6:09] It says in 1 Thessalonians 5 that we are children of the light. So even though we live in a dark world, we still possess this light that people can see.

[6:24] And I think that's something that's truly amazing. And we see that in John chapter 1. We see that. Let me just read it really quick.

[6:37] He says, In him was life, and that life was the light of men. This is talking about Jesus. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it or understood it.

[6:50] And so this life-giving light is not only in Jesus, but it's also in us. When you go outside at night in a field, and you look up on a clear night, and you look up and you see the stars, you don't see the darkness.

[7:14] The things that you see are the constellations. You see the brightness of the stars. And that's how our lives should reflect, because we are children of Jesus, of God, the one who gives light, who says, I am the light.

[7:27] We're children of that, and we can display that. So ultimately, what I want you to think about for this passage right here is Jesus, our guide.

[7:40] Or if you want to put this, you can go ahead and put Jesus, our guide, slash, our light. And I just, I don't know. I think it's amazing that not only would Jesus guide us and be our light, but he also says, you're children of the light.

[7:58] You can be the light also. And I think that's super cool. He's not just some, he's just not some idol or figure that we look up to, but he's a friend and a father.

[8:11] And, you know, he offers that same light and calls us children of light. And I think that's, that's something that's super cool. So anyway, moving on. John chapter 10, verse 9.

[8:22] Let's look at it. I'll wait till you turn there. I really like this one. John chapter 10, 9 says this. It says, I am the door.

[8:33] If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. And so here we don't see Jesus talk about life, but at the same time, he is kind of talking about life.

[8:49] Because he is, what he's doing here is he's offering salvation from the outside world. John chapter 10 is all about sheep.

[9:00] And if you read from verse 1 to the end, you won't, you will see the word sheep occur a lot.

[9:12] And so in chapter 9, he's saying, I'm the door. In other translations, it says, you know, I am the gate. And if you think about it in a practical sense, when these sheep were out roaming the fields alone, there were, and it explains this there in verse 10, but there would be thieves that would steal your sheep.

[9:33] There would be wolves that would come and kill the sheep, right? But then Jesus, Jesus says that I am the gate. So you can come into my pasture and you will be satisfied.

[9:44] You'll have food in my pasture, right? You'll not only have food, but you'll also have myself. Jesus says, you know, we'll have the shepherd. But we'll also be with our other sheep.

[9:55] We'll be in fellowship. And so he offers salvation from the outside world. And I think that is, that is so cool.

[10:06] And we see that all the time in the book of Psalms. When God says, you know, I'm your refuge. I'm your strength. I'm your fortress, you know, run to me. And it's just cool to see Jesus claim that here.

[10:20] He says, you can come into me and you can be protected from the outside world. I work at the hospital right now in the ED. And even though I'm not really interacting with patients a whole lot, I still am around like the coronavirus and even other sicknesses and illnesses that are contagious.

[10:41] And, you know, I'm really conscious about washing my hands and what I'm touching, like even leaning against the wall or putting my elbows like on a desk or something like that.

[10:54] It's really almost, I'm almost like paranoid about it. But then I come home and I shower and I wash my clothes. And I'm not, I'm not worried as much, right?

[11:06] Because it's okay if I lean up against the wall or put my elbows on the table or something like that. And it's, it's the same concept that Jesus says, you don't have to worry anymore because you have protection in me.

[11:21] I am your fortress. So Jesus is our satisfier and Jesus is our guide. But for this one, just go ahead and write Jesus, our fortress. And then we're going to turn to John chapter 11.

[11:35] So in John chapter 11, verse 25, this is actually really cool. He's, he's talking to Martha here.

[11:46] And he says this, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

[11:57] And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Um, so we're going to be looking at how Jesus in this passage, how he holds our future.

[12:12] Um, our future is completely sealed in Jesus. Um, and it's sealed so much that we can actually talk about it in the past tense.

[12:23] And that happens in Ephesians. And we'll look at that in a second. But notice how, how sure our salvation is. He says this, he says, Whoever believes in me, though he die, he shall live.

[12:35] So it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Remember what Paul said? He says to live as Christ and to die is actually gain because we'll be with the father, right? And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

[12:48] So if we live and we believe in Jesus, then there's, there's nothing that can stand against us. There's no sickness or suffering or trials that can stand against us because we have this life.

[13:00] And I just want to turn over. You guys don't have to turn there, but you can go ahead and jot it down if you want. But Ephesians chapter two, um, in verse four, it says this.

[13:11] This is Paul and he's talking about our future and our resurrection. So he says, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ.

[13:30] By grace you have been saved. Now this is what I want to focus on. Verse six here says this and raise this up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

[13:42] So even Paul talks about our resurrection in the past tense. He says, and raise this up with him and already see this with him.

[13:53] It's like it already happened because it's so sure we have such a sure salvation. Um, and I, I think that was comforting for Martha to know that, um, her salvation was sealed.

[14:05] And I think that's cool. Um, go ahead and write down Jesus, the one who holds our future. And then this next one is going to be a shorter one.

[14:17] Uh, but we'll still look. John 14, six, a classic salvation verse. I love this verse. Um, it says, uh, says this in John chapter 14, verse six.

[14:28] Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Um, if we look back in verse five, Jesus is actually talking to Thomas here.

[14:43] And, um, Thomas was, uh, he was, he was scared. He was, uh, if you look at verse five, it says, Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.

[14:58] How can we know the way? And then Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. Notice life again. See that? No one comes to the father except through me.

[15:09] Um, and so Jesus is our comfort. Um, we can be comforted in the fact that we know the way, right?

[15:19] We, we know the way we know the truth and we know the life. We can be comforted in that. And Jesus is comforting his disciples in that. If you look at the next verse, we'll actually see a glimpse.

[15:30] Jesus claiming to be God. Um, verse seven says, I've known me, would have known my father. For now on you do know him, have seen him.

[15:41] So that's a, that's a claim and, um, and to be God. And it's, it's because it's right after an I am claim. And I think that's so cool that Jesus is claiming, he says, I am the way, you know, uh, the old Testament in Exodus, um, uh, when Moses goes, uh, to the burning bush and God says, I am, it means Yahweh.

[16:05] And that was such a sacred, that was such a sacred name. They wouldn't even use the vowels in it. It would just be YWH because they wouldn't write it out completely. It was such a sacred name, but yet he claims that I am.

[16:17] And then he goes on to say that I am, I am the father are one. And I think that's so cool. And what's interesting is that, um, well, actually I'll get to that later.

[16:31] Let's, let's, let's move on. Um, John 15. And I know, I know I missed an I am back in John 10, but we'll get there.

[16:41] So turn to John 15, John 15. Verse one, this will be a short one too. He says this, he says, I am the true vine. My father is the vine dresser.

[16:54] Uh, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. And so here we see that Jesus, um, is our source of life.

[17:08] Um, because he says, I am the true vine. If you look at, uh, at verse five in chapter 15, he says, I am the vine.

[17:19] You are the branches. Um, so just think of it like a tree. Um, if you have this huge, uh, trunk, well, that's Jesus. And it's, it's taking life from the ground.

[17:31] It has the life in it and it has all the nutrients and the branches. They're sprouting off every which way. And that's where they get their life. And if they're torn off from the trunk, then they die.

[17:43] Right? So that one is plain and simple. It's Jesus, our source of life. So if you missed the last one in John chapter 14, that was Jesus, our comfort. And now this one, uh, Jesus says, um, I am, you know, he's our source of life.

[17:59] So Jesus, our life. Um, and then here's the last one. We're going to look into, in, in John. And I think it's a really important one. And, um, it's in John chapter 10, verse 11.

[18:16] So this is right after Jesus, uh, says, I am, I am the door or the gate. In John chapter 10, verse 11, Jesus says this. He says, I am the good shepherd.

[18:29] The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Um, so we saw that Jesus is the satisfier. We saw that, um, uh, that Jesus is our guide and he's our fortress.

[18:45] Uh, he's our comfort. Um, but here we see that Jesus not only leads, but he's the one who loves. And I think that's, I think that's super important, um, to the whole gospel story is not only does he offer all of this that we've been talking about, but he offers eternal life.

[19:05] Um, and Jesus, you know, he, he is not just a good shepherd, but he's the good shepherd. You know, he's the greatest shepherd. And I think that's, uh, so cool.

[19:18] And, um, the charge against Jesus that killed him was actually blasphemy that he was claiming to be God. And I think it's so cool that the thing that we can take so much comfort in is the thing that actually hung Jesus on the cross.

[19:35] Like how humiliating is that? Um, you know, like in Philippians, we see that Jesus was so humble that, um, he became even lower than a servant and died a sinner's death on the cross.

[19:48] And that was for our sake. Um, and I, I don't know, I'm just thankful, especially this morning to remember that Jesus died on the cross, um, for my sins and that, you know, he is the high priest, but he's also, you know, that lamb and he died for my sins.

[20:05] Uh, and something that's super cool about our salvation, um, that's unique is if you look forward in John chapter 10, verse 27, is he not only offers this life willingly and lovingly offers this life to us, but he guarantees it forever, which is something that's insane.

[20:28] It says in verse 27, my sheep, this is Jesus, uh, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Keep going. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

[20:41] Verse 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. And then notice this in verse 30, right?

[20:52] I and the father are one. So there's his claim, right? He claims to be God. He is God. He is the, I am. Um, I don't know.

[21:03] It's just, it's just cool. Um, so this one, Jesus, the one who loves. And that's, that's the seven right there. Um, now we're going to turn over to Isaiah.

[21:17] We're going to look at Isaiah chapter 41. And so while you're turning there, I just want to explain something. Um, Mr. Kevin asked me to share a message at youth group the other night.

[21:28] So I shared that passage in John and, uh, I've actually been reading in Isaiah. Um, and I saw these qualities of God.

[21:38] And in my mind, I could relate them to the qualities of Jesus, um, in the book of John. And I thought it was so cool that, um, not only does Jesus claim that he is God, but it's represented in his actions and the things he does for us.

[21:53] Um, so in Isaiah 41, we're going to see the same. I am claim, um, from God here. Um, so Isaiah 41, um, verse eight, and then we're going to go through verse 20.

[22:09] And I'll just read that really quick. It says this, um, but you Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you who I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, you are my servant.

[22:29] I have chosen you and not cast you off. Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

[22:43] Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them.

[22:56] Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord, your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. I am the one who helps.

[23:08] Verse 14. Fear not, you from of Jacob, you men of Israel. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth.

[23:22] You shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them.

[23:33] And you shall rejoice in the Lord, and the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. Verse 17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I, the Lord, will answer them.

[23:45] I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

[23:58] I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plain, and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this.

[24:14] The Holy One of Israel has created it. So, remember, in the back of your mind, keep in mind those I am's we looked at, and what Jesus was saying.

[24:28] And let's dig into Isaiah 41 really quick. This won't take too long. It says in verse 17 and 18, So here, again, just like Jesus gave the bread and, you know, said, you'll never hunger or thirst.

[24:50] We see here that God is the satisfier.

[25:07] God is also, look at this, out of the dry, notice that, out of the dry and the bare, I will spring fountains.

[25:17] And the wilderness, in the desert, these pools of water. And he, again, provides abundantly, just like Jesus did.

[25:29] He says, not only will I have a small stream or a trickle of water, he says springs of water and fountains of water and a pool of water. I think that's so cool.

[25:40] And the poor and the needy can seek water, and they can be satisfied in God. So if you want to think of this as, you know, a comparison, go ahead and put right across from it, God, our God, or sorry, God, our satisfier.

[25:57] And then we get to the next one where Jesus says, you know, I will guide you. I'm your light. We'll see this in verse 13 of Isaiah 41. Let's read it.

[26:07] It says, for I, the Lord, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. So here we can easily see that we are led. If you think of a father and a child walking across the street or going through a crowd or even, you know, going through a, you know, a dark place or the child is relying on their father to guide them.

[26:36] And the claim that God makes here is so personal. He doesn't say, you know, I'll be in front of you or, you know, I'll prod you along.

[26:48] But he says, I'll hold your right hand. He says, I will grab your right hand and I will lead you, physically lead you. You know, that's all through Psalms, all through Isaiah.

[27:00] He's, he's taught, he says, I will lead you. Even in the Old Testament with the pillar of fire and the smoke, we see that. And in like Psalm 23, he leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

[27:14] So we, we can see that we are led and it's a personal, it's a personal relationship that I were led.

[27:24] Not just, hey, follow me, but hey, let me lead you. And I think that's super cool. So here we see God, our guide.

[27:35] We saw God, the satisfier, but now we're seeing God as a guide to his people. This is written to Israel, his people out of the mouth of Isaiah, the prophet. So next we're going to move on to the third point.

[27:47] And that's God, our fortress. We saw that in Jesus when he said, I'm the gate. And if we look at verse 11 and 12, it will kind of explain it. It says, behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded.

[28:02] Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them. Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. So basically what this is saying is that our enemies have no chance.

[28:18] You know, when we go to God, our fortress, and our protector, our enemies have no chance.

[28:29] I was reminded of what we've been going through in our messages, I guess, in Joshua. When they walk around the battle of Jericho, or when, yeah, when they fight the battle of Jericho, and they walk around the walls, and they're all jeering at them and making fun of them probably.

[28:49] And they all thought they had no chance. And then the walls came crumbling down, and they utterly destroyed the city. And Jericho had no chance against the Israelites because the Lord their God was on their side.

[29:01] And that same God is on our side. And he says here that, Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded. And, you know, they have no chance against us.

[29:13] So do you want to write down God, our fortress slash protector? So we see that God is our satisfier and our guide. But now we're seeing that he's our fortress and our protector.

[29:25] And it's starting to be evident that Jesus and God are claiming the same things. And I think that's super cool in just this short passage. So verse 19 and 20, we're going to see God, the Resurrector.

[29:41] We saw that when Jesus claims, I am the resurrection and the life. We're going to see God restore something right here. In verse 19, it says, I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, the olive, and I will set in the desert the cypress, the plain and the pine together.

[30:00] Keep going. Verse 20. And that they may see and know, may consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this. The Holy One of Israel has created it.

[30:10] So here we see this wilderness and a lot of some translations will translate that desert or even wasteland. So this land that was completely barren, this desert that had no source of life at all.

[30:25] God says, I will put there all these trees, the cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, plain pine, and cypress. I'll put them there and they will thrive so that they, so that his people will see and know that he is God.

[30:39] And so we see this barren land and God resurrects it into something beautiful. Me and my mom were walking yesterday at a, it's like a, it's just like a glade.

[30:52] It's out here in Hillsboro, but it's just this dry grass and these cracked, you know, rocky terrain. But out of that, there's all these wildflowers and trees.

[31:05] And it's, it's just so cool to see, to see this, you know, place that was barren to have, you know, with the rain and the springtime to have all these plants and trees and flowers.

[31:17] And I, I just think that's super cool. So we see here that God is our resurrected. And one day we can look forward to the future when we will be raised up with him, when, when, when he comes again.

[31:32] And in the, in the twinkling of an eye, we'll be raised up with him. So, so we are restored. So we can go ahead and put God, the resurrector, if you would, if you want to.

[31:44] So we saw God, our fortress in the last one. Now we're seeing God, the resurrector. And now we're seeing God, our comfort. This is the next one in verse 10.

[31:55] This is straightforward. So I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it says, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

[32:08] Um, and I would like to notice though, how it doesn't say that I will make sure there are no stumbling blocks or trials or temptations or anything. He doesn't say that. Instead, he just says, I am right.

[32:19] Or I actually, he says, I am with you. I am your God. He says, I will strengthen. I will help. I will uphold. Um, James chapter one says, count it all joy.

[32:29] Um, when you encounter trials of various kind, um, for, you know, that the testing of your faith, um, produces steadfastness. So he doesn't say that, Hey, you're not going to, you're not going to have any trials.

[32:41] You're not going to have temptations. You know, even Jesus was tempted here on earth. We know he was fully man, but instead he says, but when like, but instead he says, I am with you. I'm your God.

[32:52] I will strengthen you. I'll help you. Um, and what's interesting is when we saw Jesus comforting Thomas, his disciple, well, Thomas went on and Thomas ended up being martyred in India by, uh, some, uh, uh, Hindus there, I guess.

[33:12] That's what I read. And, you know, I think he was martyred because, because he knew the way, because he was comforted, because he knew that trials brought steadfastness.

[33:25] And I, I do, I do think he, he remembered what the Lord said to him. I am the way I'm the truth and the life. And I think that impacted Thomas. And that's why he was martyred.

[33:36] Um, so any side note. Um, so God, our comfort. Um, next we're going to look at God, um, our source of life. We saw this in John 15 and we'll see it again here in verse eight through nine.

[33:50] It says, but you Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corner saying to you, you are my servant.

[34:02] I haven't, I have chosen you and not cast you off. So, um, at first glance, you don't see anything mentioning life. And that's interesting because our point here is that God is our source of life.

[34:18] Um, but if you dig a little bit deeper, deeper into this, we see that this is talking about God's chosen people. And if you look at verse eight at the end there, it says the offspring of Abraham, my friend.

[34:31] Now, if you can think back to Genesis, um, like chapter 17, Sarah bore a son who became a great nation and they were full of Kings and priests and warriors, right?

[34:44] This is Israel. And through God, Abraham and Sarah became the source of God's people. Maybe, uh, Abraham and Sarah became the source of God's redemption plan, actually of Israel.

[34:57] Israel. And, um, God is our source. He's, he's our source of life. Um, and we have a redemption plan through him. And I think that's, that's, that's, uh, that's something that is super cool.

[35:10] And we can take, um, take joy in that. And the last, the last verse I would like to look at here to kind of sum things up, um, uh, that was God, sorry, that last one was God, our source of life.

[35:25] Um, the last verse I'm gonna look at is, uh, verse 14. Um, um, we did this study, um, as I mentioned earlier, we did it in youth group and, uh, I did the message on John and then I had, uh, the small groups break up and look for similar qualities, um, that Jesus claimed his I am with God.

[35:49] And I'm really just kind of taking these, um, from Isaiah. I'm taking them from the guy, the guys in my small group who explained, you know, what this meant to them.

[36:00] And, um, this was a really good one that Casey pointed out. And I'm just going to kind of explain it. So verse 14, or this is the last one where we look at God, the one who loves.

[36:12] Remember Jesus said he is the good shepherd and that's where we got, um, Jesus, the one who loves, but now we're looking at God, the one who loves. And in verse 14, it says this, God says this, fear not you worm, Jacob, you men of Israel.

[36:29] I am the one who helps you declares the Lord. Your redeemer is the Holy one of Israel. So, so at first, at kind of a first glance, it would seem that God is kind of about to rebuke Israel and maybe even show his power and authority.

[36:46] If you, if you look, if you look closer into this text, it says you worm, Jacob, you men, Israel. I mean, those aren't super good compliments, you know, um, to be called a worm.

[36:58] You know, God is, you know, he says, you know, look how small you are. Look how puny you are. And if you think about it, it seems like God is about to rebuke him. But instead he's saying, you worm, Jacob, you men of Israel, despite your men and you're so small.

[37:16] He goes on and says, fear not, because basically I know how small you are. I know how afraid you are. And I know that you're scared of the journey, but I'm the one who redeems you.

[37:28] And I'm the one who loves you. Look at that in verse 14, right at the end. I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord, your redeemer. I'm the one who redeems you. Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

[37:41] You know, if you think of David and Goliath, um, Goliath is shouting at David and throwing, hurling insults at him. And, you know, he's saying, uh, what are you, what am I a dog that you come out with me with sticks?

[37:57] Let me feed your flesh to the birds. Um, and, uh, but God says, you know, the Lord, my God is the one who fights my battles. Um, so, you know, David understood that even though, um, he is a man, he is a worm that God helps him, that he is his redeemer.

[38:18] Um, but just kind of think really quick. If you've ever read any of the Old Testament, um, especially, you know, Samuel, King's Chronicles, um, if you look at, like, 2 Kings, you'll see, um, Isaiah the prophet.

[38:34] And you kind of have to remember what was going on here. Um, a good portion of these kings were doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Um, over and over again in the book of 2 Kings, it says, uh, once again, they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

[38:51] They did not follow out the ways of their forefathers. Um, they made idols to false gods. You see this all the time in 2 Kings. Um, yet this is what the Lord says.

[39:02] This is, you know, at the same similar time, timeframe, um, speaking to the prophet Isaiah, he says, Fear not, you worm, Jacob, you men of Israel.

[39:14] I am the Lord who helps you, declares the Lord. Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. So he's not, he's not giving up on his people. He's not saying, you know what, since you're not following me, I'm going to rebuke you, you worm of Israel.

[39:27] He says, no, you worm of Israel. I'm going to redeem you. Um, you know, I am the Lord. So, um, with all this in mind, um, You know, knowing that Jesus is God, knowing that Jesus came to earth and made claims to his disciples, even to other people.

[39:49] And God makes the same claims here. It's super cool that, um, just to see the correlation between God and Jesus and how our God is so great.

[40:00] And, um, that he really is, um, uh, the God who satisfies. He's the God who leads us. He's our fortress.

[40:10] He's our protector. He, he's our resurrector. He may, he gave us new life. He's our comfort. He's our source of life. And he's, he's the one who loves ultimately.

[40:20] And we can really be thankful for that today and the rest of the week. Um, it's good to remember these things of God, these seven I am's.

[40:30] I know it's a lot. Um, and it's, you know, you could go into in-depth whole study on one of these, but I just want to give like an overview and, you know, take God off.

[40:43] Jesus and God offers all of this. Um, and so it's, it's foolish for us not to accept it. It's foolish for us not to follow him, not to let him lead us, not to let him guide us, not to, um, praise his name, not to, um, trust him to be our comfort.

[41:00] It's, it's foolish. Um, so we can, we can take comfort in, um, in the I am's of Jesus, in the I am's of God. And, um, I'll just close in a word of prayer.

[41:11] God, thank you so much, um, for who you are, for showing yourself, uh, in the New Testament and the Old Testament for never changing, uh, for being the same God.

[41:22] Lord, I pray that we take these truths from your word and just apply them to our lives today. Um, and that you would just be glorified in the things we do in our actions and our attitudes.

[41:33] And we would, um, uh, as, uh, Dave Stow was mentioning earlier, Lord, that we would just, uh, use your burden, which is light. Lord, we would let you guide us. We would, uh, put our, cast all our cares on you because you care for us.

[41:47] So we just, uh, lift all these things up to you in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen.