Exodus 3:14-15 (NIV)
I AM WHO I AM
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the 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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
John 5:16-30
The Authority of the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
John 14:6-14
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 8:23-30
God Sent Jesus
23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
John 8:54-59
Before Abraham Existed, Jesus Existed
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
John 17:24
Jesus Was With God Before Creation
24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."
As Jesus went around to the towns and villages that He taught in, He gave the people that He talked to and taught His worldview...Jesus' perspective is eternal...And this worldview shocked many, especially those who did not believe in Him...His view of this world included not only earth, but included all the heavens and earth...In all of the heavens and earth, Jesus saw The Living God, and talked about Him all the time...He gave us and those He taught much information about God, who He called His Father...Jesus' life and His worldview centered around God...He saw and believed that God was the One who created the universe...He said that "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working."....So God and Jesus must be working on keeping the universe and everything going and living that they created -if you believe what Jesus said...Jesus saying what He said her about Him and God both working, He is making a comparison to Himself and His Father...So by saying that both God and Him are working this very day, He includes Himself, again, with God...Many of those around Him did not believe that He and God were One...So they wanted to kill Him...But Jesus does not stop there in His teachings and talks to those opposing Him by comparing Himself to God...He goes on to say, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what he sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does...For the Father LOVES the Son and shows Him all He does...Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed...For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it...Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father...Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him...
These are powerful words and comparisons that Jesus is making about Himself and God...He goes on to add that whoever hears His word and believes in God and the One God sent will have eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed from death to life...Jesus taught and teaches us the eternities and about God and eternal life...God made us in His Image...We are to love God and love our neighbors...The Kingdom of God, which is the Kingdom of Heaven is a Glorious and Sacred Place...It is an Eternal Place...It is where we want to be and exist...While we are on earth, we can only imagine what heaven and eternity might be like...But Jesus came from there, so He knew and knows of heaven...He was sent from above by God, so He knows of Heaven...Heaven is a place that even during eternity and an infinite time being there, we will never be bored, because God and His Son are there...
Even though God lives in eternity, He can dwell in space and in time...And He did just that, and showed Himself to us via His Son Jesus...And as one reads the above verses, you can see that Jesus seems to be and have lived in another time and space...Jesus called Himself the Son of God, but also the Son of Man...Jesus never believed that He was here on earth by chance...God sent Him...He believed and admitted that He was from above and not of this world...He said He and God were One...He believed that God would raise Him from the dead...God who sent Him, was also still with Him...Anyone who got to see Jesus, also got to see God and did see Him...In His Priestly Prayer to God before His arrest, He said, "Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I AM, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You LOVED Me before the creation of the world."...So Jesus confesses that He was with God before creation began..."He said He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life...And in one of His boldest statements said that He is the Only Way to God...And in another one of His most boldest of statements to the Pharisees, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth before Abraham was born, I AM"...And the very name of God is I AM...So Jesus believed He was God and not only talked about Himself and God being One in an indirect way, He did things that were God-like and Divine, like going around forgiving people...He told His Disciples He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one gets to God except through Him...He called Himself the Light of the World, the Resurrection and the Life, the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, and even the Messiah...
Astonishing Words from an Astonishing Man...