December 2020  by Sheologie

Does the Great I AM Define You?

The story of Moses and the burning bush is told time after time in Sunday schools the world over. You’ve probably heard it and know it well. But did you know it’s one of the best texts in the Bible to understand the immutability of God—the fact that He never changes?

When Moses was living as a shepherd in the desert, he came across a bush that was continually burning but not consumed. So he said, I’m going to turn aside and check this out. And when he did, he had this amazing conversation with God.

God started out by telling Moses, “‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: ‘…Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt'” (Exodus 3:6-7, 10).

Moses wasn’t so sure about that. He said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?… Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (vv. 11, 13).

God answered, “I AM WHO I AM…. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you…. The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations'” (vv. 14-15).

This incredible name identifies God’s unchangeable character—His immutability. Notice first of all that His name is “I AM WHO I AM”—not “I was” or “I will be.” God always is who He is. He’s not just the God of old dead guys. He’s the God of now. He was and He will be. His character doesn’t change, and there’s nothing and no one who compares to Him.

The name “I AM WHO I AM” is also self-contained, as in nothing else defines God. You might tend to define yourself not by who you are, but by who you’re related to, like your husband and kids. “Hi, I’m married to so-and-so and have three children.” But God doesn’t do that. God is God. Nothing and no one else gets to define Him.

And I would challenge you that no other human should really define you. If you become a widow, you still are who you are. If you are never able to have a child, you still are who you are. Nothing in this world completes you, for “you are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10).

Maybe you’re waiting for someone or something in your life to come along and define you. But know this: you are already defined by the Father. So instead of feeling like you have no identity and you’re going to find yourself in a new career, a new relationship, or whatever new thing it may be, look to the one who never changes, to the great I AM WHO I AM. “In Him [you] live and move and have [your] being” (Acts 17:28). In Him you are complete.