Knowing God’s identity for a personal relationship

Normally, we get to know people from revelations of themselves to us, cemented with a deep relationship with them. The same with God. When Jesus asked his disciples if they knew his identity, Simon answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” According to Jesus, that was a revelation from God (Matthew 16:15-17). 

God created us for a personal relationship with Him. But, as one preacher commented, “Our world is full of so many people who know just enough about God to know what to say and sing, who do just enough good to feel better about themselves, who have memorized enough out-of-context verses to convince themselves they are fine, and who would quickly call themselves “Christian,” but their eyes do not really see Jesus, their ears do not really hear His voice, and their life is not really in relationship with Him.”

God reveals himself to us through nature and personal spiritual interactions. In Exodus 3:4, through the miracle of a bush which flamed but did not burn, God revealed His identity to Moses as, “I Am who I Am”. God stands, ever-present and unchangeable, completely sufficient in Himself to do what He wills to do and to accomplish what He wills to accomplish in us; for our good.

John 1:1-18 describes the divinity of Christ, the Savior of the world. Jesus, unambiguously, applied to Himself, the “I am” identity. “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58). The Jews accused Him of blasphemy. 
In John 6:51, Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh”. Jesus alone can sustain us, who are but starving beggars looking for spiritual food.

In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I Am the Light of the World”. He is the original and eternal source of light for us who are spiritually blind by sin. Only through a relationship with Jesus can the darkness of our lives brighten. 
In John 10:7-10, Jesus says, “I Am the Gate of the Sheepfold”. He is the only door to life for us who are lost outside God’s paradise.

In John 10:11-18, Jesus says, “I Am the Good Shepherd”. He knows and cares for us who are orphaned, wandering sheep. 

John 11:25, Jesus says, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life’’. He is the key to escaping spiritual death for us who are hopelessly doomed to death because of our sin. 

In John 14:6-11, Jesus says, “I Am the Way, Truth, and Life”. He is the accessible path, the illuminating truth, and the giver of life for us who are lost, ignorant, and dead without Him. 

In John 15:1, Jesus says, “I Am the True Vine”. He is the source of eternal life for us who are dead and useless branches of the vine, apart from him. 

These statements represent not just what Jesus does but who He actually is. They help us to know that God is a relational being that we can know personally. Jesus’ name, Emmanuel, means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). What Jesus becomes for us in any area of life, depends on the depth of our personal relationship with Him.

Owing to a personal relationship with God, Moses became a heroic leader who inspired others to imagine a new and more just future. He stood up to Pharaoh and led his people from a state of bondage towards a new destiny. It is a sin, therefore, for mere mortals to claim the “I am’ identity, by trying to conduct personal and public affairs without God.

With St. Paul we pray, “I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11).