God Reached Out!

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in Exodus 6:2. It says, “And God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord…” That settles it. God has identified Himself. It is important to know that the God we worship and serve is the one true God who created and rules over all things.

God went on to speak further with Moses, explaining how He would motivate Pharaoh to let the people leave. In verse 6:3, God continues, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”

Earlier Moses was having some trouble with his God-given mission to deliver the Hebrew people from the oppression of the Egyptians. Moses was afraid the Hebrews wouldn’t follow his leadership. Yet God had already told Moses to tell them who He was with these words in Exodus 3:14: “And God said unto Moses I AM THAT I AM: and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

According to Strong’s Concordance, in the Hebrew language “Jehovah” means “eternal, the self-existent”. The words “I AM” mean “to exist” in an emphatic sense. More interesting, the Hebrew word for “I AM” and “LORD” and “JEHOVAH” are the same.

God revealed His identity to Moses. We pass people by on the street, in the mall, and at our workplace, but we don’t always know who they are. Our names do not identify our character or explain our existence. They are merely labels. Further study of the various names of God reveals His character.

When we introduce ourselves to people, we tell them our name. We usually tell a little about our self as an explanation of who we are, not just what we are called. So too did God tell us who He is and what He is called. God revealed Himself.

After God revealed Himself, centuries later, He reached out to mankind. How? He sent His Son, Jesus to be born as a man. Jesus was born. God was now flesh. Jesus reveals Himself as well. In John 10, there are several verses that begin with “I am” that tell us about Jesus:

“I am the door of the sheep” John 10:7
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…” John 10:9
“I am come that they might have life…” John 10:10
“I am the good shepherd” John 10:11

All these “I am’s” mean the same thing, “to exist”. The word used here is different from the Hebrew word, for the word used in the New Testament is Greek. To me it is clear. God came down to interact with man in a physical way, demonstrating His power and His might. Jesus explained quite succinctly: “I and my Father are one.” John 10:30

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, remember that we are celebrating far more than the birth of a baby who would one day give His life that we might have eternal life. God fulfilled His plan to redeem us and we rejoice in His forgiveness and deliverance. Let us not forget we are also celebrating God; the One who came down to be with mankind and to interact with us, to demonstrate His love for us. God reached out to us! That’s love!