Good Morning Gorgeous!
It’s Christmas Eve! People all over the globe are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. People are worshipping Him and marveling in AWE at the greatest redemption ever!
The redemption of humanity back to right relationship with the Lord.
The redemption of all that was lost by man was victoriously taken back by God Himself. He mercifully clothed Himself in flesh to walk among men and redeem all that was previously lost and broken.
And to be clear. Jesus is GOD!
The Bible is so clear on this and Jesus Himself declares it and affirms it when He refers to Himself as “I AM.”
Check out the scriptures with me!
In the final chapter of Revelation, Jesus says,
“I AM the root and offspring of David and I AM the Bright Morning Star.”
These names are related to the other name Jesus gives Himself which is simply, “I am”.
Let’s dig into them.
When Jesus says that He is the root and the Offspring of David, He is saying I am the start of the line of David. I am the root which is the beginning and the sustaining life force. Without the root, it couldn’t not survive. It is similar to when He is named the Cornerstone. It is the life force of the plant. He is the Creator of the line of David, the Sustainer of the line of David, AND He humbled Himself and chose to temporarily leave His deity in heaven and be born into the earth THROUGH the line of David as Offspring of the line of David.
By naming Himself the Root and the Offspring, He is demonstrating that through the manifestation of Jesus, He is BOTH fully God and fully Man. He is both the source of life AND also born through as offspring of man. And that birth is what we celebrate at Christmas!
In many of Jesus’s names, He clarifies that He is God. That is still hard for some to grasp. But Jesus is SO clear time and time again that He is Lord.
Here is an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees where He almost got stoned for stating that He was God.
First, the Pharisees ask Him, “Who do you think you are?”
Jesus replied, “Abraham rejoiced at seeing my day. He saw it and was glad. ”
Well since Abraham was the beginning of the Israel people and is called the Father of their faith, this confused them greatly. How could Abraham have seen Jesus and rejoiced? This was too much for them. They didn’t understand. They responded with an earthly response. You aren’t even old enough to have known Abraham!
But then, Jesus said something that they WOULD understand.
He referred to Himself by the name that was given to Moses when Moses asked God who he should tell the Israelites he was sent by. He told them that before Abraham was born, I am.”
They recognized exactly what He was saying from an Old Testament interaction between God and Moses.
God told Moses, “Tell them that I AM sent you!
Basically, I am who I am. I am who I say I am. I AM. Period. And the Jews of Jesus’s time knew the Torah. They KNEW God’s name was I am.
So when Jesus said that He was “I am, ” they recognized very clearly that He was telling Him that He was God.
And they didn’t believe Him. They picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus slipped into the crowd away from them.
He slipped away because it wasn’t yet His time to give His life. He would lay His life down willingly and sacrificially, no one was going to take it without the consent of both the Son and the Father in agreement.
Friends, this Jesus that we are celebrating His gentle, mild, humble birthday, this Jesus is the Almighty Himself manifested in a form we could see, touch, and be in relationship with. He loved us so immensely that He became a man to live a perfect sinless life and redeem all that was lost by Adam and Eve.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Let us marvel in AWE of who You are. You are the Lord, our Savior, the Brightest Morning Star and simply and yet fully I AM with no other explanation needed. Let us honor You this Christmas by submitting our heart to Your rule and reign. We recognize You Lord as who You say You are. The Lord. Let us trust Your Word even when we don’t understand, even when we don’t get it, let us be a faith filled people who simply say, “If He said it, I will believe iy.” Lord, strengthen us to simply BELIEVE You and every Word You have spoken. When we are confused by hard teachings, let us not dismissed them, but ask for discernment and help to grasp that which you are trying to teach us. And today we trust that You are I AM. You are who You say You are!
In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
Blessings!
Vanessa Lynn
