I AM and God?

We are often searching for answers to find out who Jesus was or what His teachings really meant. John includes eight different situations in which Jesus gives what are known as the “I Am” statements. Instead of continuing to simply wonder about who Jesus is, we can take an in depth look into the “I Am” statements that Jesus made while He was here on earth. Conclusions can be drawn by looking at the statements Jesus makes and looking into what they mean. He uses an emphatic “I Am” to bring out important teachings about his person. Most of these statements are known by Christians.

Moving on to the verse 5 of the Gospel of John, we see a mention of the dichotomy of light and darkness. This dichotomized concept of light and dark is resented in the following words, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) This idea seems to have been a reframing of the concept of light and darkness in the Genesis chapter of the Hebrew text, which is phrased in the following

On January 29, 1908, Lew-Is the Light saw the light. After a severe talking to by local police, he agreed to stop his letter writing and claiming he was Jesus. Fortunately Lew-Is did not return after the Empire Day tragedy to request more “tithes.”

It is also interesting to note that even though John makes it very clear that the author is Jewish, the Gospel is written primarily for a Greek audience. Because of his knowledge of the Old Testament, which he continually quotes, his understanding of Jewish ritual and culture and he knew and understood the prophesy of the coming Messiah, there is no doubt that either John was Jewish himself or he studied Judaism very well. However, the lack of concern for proving the prophecies set down in the Book of Isaiah supports evidence that this was not a testimony to a Jewish audience. Throughout the gospel, Jesus is shown as being both fully God and fully human, a concept that is more synonymous with Greek culture. Also, the very beginning of John states that Jesus was with God

light about him--that comes out of his face. But it's not the light of one man. I swear to you, John, it's the

the light is his way of saying he knows God is with him. In his reference of fate, he says

This leads us to question the source of light. It seems that the light is referring to Jesus Christ according to John. Mouw then began to find the similarities and differences between the description of the Holy City in both Isaiah and Revelation. John speaks in general terms of “the glory and honor of the nations,” while Isaiah describes the processional in considerable detail, identifying animals and vessel’s commercial goods (Mouw 99). Both Isaiah and John describe the Holy City as a placed where darkness and distress will be banished. Isaiah believes that “the glory of the Lord” or “light” has risen upon the City. Mouw states that God created us to subdue the earth and incorporate our filling in it. He believes God incorporates our history and culture with us to the new age. Mouw explains that most Christians are unaware of the importance of this life and unconcerned with cultural issues. He says that the individualistic aspects of Christ’s work is not a bad thing, but can become dangerous: “There is nothing that is intrinsically inappropriate, then, about an understanding of the gospel that strongly emphasizes the individualizing love of God” (Mouw 109). Mouw then starts talking about the difference between individual and structural sin. He believes that the God sees institutionalized sin and individual sins the same and the church should be concerned with both. Mouw

This statement to “walk in the Light” would seem to suggest that it is not something that we can be as it would probably be written “be the light.” John recognizes that one cannot be the light so he is exhorting the readers to walk in the light which is the sphere in which God resides (Walvoord and Zuck 885). To do this action would be to no longer merely “say” but to do. Walking in the Light is what will restore and keep fellowship with God as Darkness has no place in Him.

When Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well, it was the first time he plainly declared his divinity and it was the first instance that John tells us that Jesus gave an aretology statement. This story comes right after John the Baptist testifies of Christ. He says that “I am not” and it is Jesus who is the “I am”.

others see the light of god was coming from them. They had to set a

Throughout the New Testament are recounts of the miracles that Jesus performed to give proof that He was indeed the Son of God and the Messiah foretold of in the Old Testament. John chose to recount only seven of the many miracles that Jesus performed. He felt that these seven, more than any of the others, showed definitive proof that the Messiah, the Son of God, had come as promised.

A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. He wants us to shine as brightly as we can because if we are a light under a bowl, our light will be extinguished and we will no longer have a burning passion for Christ and his works. We must spread our light by going out and create a burning passion within others. If we do not fulfill our purpose through Christ, then we are

I do think the alliteration of the word light is an effective mean to emphasize upon a specific idea. In particular, the repeated use of light is able to convey a sense of hope or guidance as I often associate the concept of light with positive connotations. In a similar manner, the words of Jesus and his subsequent followers are portrayed as a form of spiritual awakening, which will lead those in the dark to the light. Yes, these lines in the Gospel of John are able to illustrate Jesus’ relationship as a form of enlightenment or intellectual awakening.

Throughout the book of John, Jesus did many signs and miracles. Through these signs, Jesus attempted to show both the multitudes as well as his disciples one small truth about Him—His is God. In this gospel, Jesus goes toe-to-toe with many of the Jewish spiritual leaders (i.e., Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc.) in order to show the people who He truly is. Scholars disagree with how many Messianic signs Jesus performed, but one thing remains—every single sign pointed back to the fact that Jesus was who He claimed to be. The signs performed by Jesus show both the Israelites of old, as well as the people of today, that He is, indeed, God.

We, as one body of Christ, were made in the image of God. God is the creator and savior of all. He is very loving and caring to all his creations. I believe that we, the people, were created due to his endless and overwhelming love. Because of that, we were called to be God’s disciple and to be more like him in every way. And so, this leads to being a Christ-like Character. What does it mean? What does it mean to be a person like Christ? Someone who exemplifies Christ-like character means that people can look at that person and feel God’s presence in him or her. A Christ-like character means to be like God himself. 1 Corinthians 1:1 states “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes.” My dad, who is currently a Pastor at a Korean Presbyterian church, is an example of this. He is a man of God and a disciple who needs to be shared about.