“God said to Moses, ‘I am Who I am’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14
Yahweh revealed that His name means the UNCHANGEABLE ONE when stating “I AM THAT I AM.” In this Yahweh is saying to the children of Israel, “What I am I always am, I never have been anything but what I am, I never will be anything other than what I am. What I was, I am. What I am, I shall be. I am what I am unchangeable, irrevocably and invariably!”
Moses was to tell the people of Israel that the eternal, self-existent, unchangeable One has sent him! Telling them that “What I was to Abraham — I AM! What I was to Isaac — I AM! What I was to Jacob — I AM! What I was to Joseph — I AM! What I will be in the future, I ALREADY AM! And throughout all your days, in every situation and circumstance, even to the end of all times, when you shall seek my face and call upon me you will find that I will be, even then, WHAT I AM!’
Hallelujah! Long centuries later Yahweh spoke to the prophet Malachi these words:
“I am Yahweh, I change not.” Malachi 3:6
Of Him Who came into the world as the embodiment and visible representation of God the Father, it is written:
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
Jesus made a statement that the first Adam, in all of his glory, could never have made. He said:
“For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.” John 5:25-26
LIFE IN HIMSELF! This is the self-existent life of “I AM,” a life not derived from any source, not dependent upon any other sustenance. This is inherent God life. Thus Jesus could say:
“I AM the life!” John 14:6
No other man before Him could truly say that. But the exceedingly great wonder of it all is that not only did Jesus possess the self-existent life of God, but God has made Him to be A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT. Truly:
“…this is the record that God hath given to us: eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” I John 5:11
“He that hath the Son hath life.” I John 5:12
Notice the result of having the Spirit of Christ in us:
“Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11
How plain. If the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in us, He imparts THE POWER TO COMMENCE ETERNAL, SELF-EXISTENT LIFE WITHIN OUR SPIRIT that will renew our mind, then quicken our mortal bodies! God places in man's spirit the incorruptible seed of His Word. It is placed in the womb of our spirit as Christ is sent forth to form union within our spirit. It comes forth incorruptible and new, changing us into what God has promised: to live like God lives and be His ABODE throughout all ages. John is recording:
“The Father is loving the Son and has given all into His hand. He who is believing in the Son has life eonian, yet he who is stubborn as to the Son shall not be seeing life, but the indignation of God is remaining on him.” John 3:35-36 concordant
He was speaking of this incorruptible life which our Father IS when Jesus said:
“He that believes on me shall never die...” John 11:26
He was not teaching us merely of the possibility of extending our physical existence for another few decades so we would not go to the grave young. He meant our inner spiritual man would grow to form a spiritual body, and assume proper form of the incorruptible GODLY NATURE. The self-existent GOD, the I AM, the Father of our spirit, His awesome reality is coming to dwell within our spiritual body:
"If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body." I Corinthians 15:44
Faith in the life-giving spirit of Jesus has made the Father available to our spirit. The great I AM, the life of Yahweh, God the Father, abides within us in unchangeable light, life, love, truth eternally.
The Lord’s dear people must understand this one simple but sublime truth — THEY HAVE A SPIRIT WITHIN THEM THAT CAME FROM GOD AND THAT SPIRIT KNOWS GOD! Yet many Christians are weak and weary in their spirit, being burdened with church activities that keep them constantly running around from meeting to meeting, from revival to revival, from conference to conference, from preacher to preacher, needing to receive some kind of blessing.
Christians who are primarily seeking blessings are yet “babes in Christ” for sure. Certainly there is nothing wrong with being a babe, if one has been a babe for only a short time. Babies are so cute and cuddly, but Christians should be growing up! You can always spot a babe because they are so helpless. Their consciousness is set on the things they need. They are often in a mess, have colic, need a diaper change, too hot or too cold, have a pain somewhere, are hungry or thirsty. In all these situations the one universally recognizable fact about babies is that THEY CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS THEMSELVES!
A baby is totally dependent upon what others can and must do for them. Someone else must always be ministering to their needs. If they get changed, someone must change them. If one gets fed, someone else must prepare the food and put it in their mouth. If they get washed clean, someone else must do it for them. They are unable to solve, supply, or secure any of their needs for themselves. All their needs must be ministered to them.
Thus we see that there are three characteristics that accompany babies in Christ:
(1) babies are totally dependent upon others, unable to do anything for themselves.
(2) when babies have a need they cry out to let it be known until someone comes.
(3) a baby has more problems than most older children and adults.
This gives us a perfect word picture of babes in Christ. Churches are expert at creating them. Born again believers are loaded down with traditional church problems that are very discouraging. They have been depressed, frustrated, confused, offended, upset, worried, and fearful. These precious ones who remain babes in Christ take up the majority of time in so many church meetings. They often need prayer for strength and God’s patient grace granted to encourage them, counsel them, and pamperingly lift them up.
These babes in Christ will answer every altar call, stand in every prayer line, and sit in the center of the prayer circle. They will follow after every ministry, prophet, healer, and teacher where they may receive yet another blessing or experience. They have the victory when everything is going good, when they are struck with some ecstatic spiritual experience, or when they receive a personal word of prophecy. But as soon as the blessing wears off, they are so weak they can’t make it without another revival or ministry blessing to be fixed.
There are many of the Lord's people that are yet spiritual babes. They are not aware that the all-sufficient, self-existent life, the I AM, can dwell within them. They are unable to appropriate that life for themselves. Their senses have not been exercised to discern that HE WHO IS IN THEM IS GREATER than he that is in the world. They have not experienced nor yet developed into a place of maturity where they know God in their inner man.
They haven’t heard or understood that their spirit is able to be alive and connected with Christ sufficiently to enable them to conquer every enemy and transcend every problem from within. What a tragedy it is that so many preachers and churches keep their people continuously on a diet of baby food, a level of spiritual existence restricted to a diet of milk of the word, training them to remain babies that always need them, keeping their people looking to the pulpit to be fed, encouraged, healed, delivered, pampered, taught and blessed BY THEM.
Meanwhile, God is raising up an army, a people way beyond the babe level in this hour. They know that they HAVE HIS LIFE IN THEMSELVES! There is a glorious company of believers that have Christ formed in themselves. They are strong. They have His faith working in them and are full of His Holy Spirit’s instructions. They have discovered the King's Spirit is flowing like a river, deep and straight into our very own spirit, that sweeps us away to an introduction to the great I AM, to the fullness of the Godhead, abundantly, with victorious light!
There is an army of followers of the Lamb who are not discouraged by situations, nor upset by any circumstance, nor defeated by any test or trial. They are resting constant — not up one day and down the next. They express their prayer requests in private prayer in perfectly free expression to God as their Father. These have grown to be Sons and Daughters who are always encouraging others, but hardly ever need to be encouraged themselves.
Those who grow into the stature of a son are not offended by what others say or do or fail to say or do. The spirit of a Son is not petty, selfish, egotistical, or self-righteous — they are of another spirit. The spirit of a Son is not depressed or burdened. The spirit of a son is not fearful, worried, or confused. Sons don’t quit when the going gets tough.
When trouble and testing comes, Sons stand fast in confidence, waiting upon the Father for direction, not blaming things on the devil, or fighting the devil with devilish attitudes. Sons don’t talk about other people’s problems. Sons are not sad-hearted, sorrowful, nor downcast because the Word and Spirit of God dwells in them richly. Sons have been given a spiritual quickening that awakens them to God.
Sons sing a new song together with Christ, even praise and thanksgiving to God! Sons walk in godly wisdom with deep understanding of truth, trusting in the faithfulness of God in His purposes. Sons rejoice in the expectation of gaining more glory of God. Sons know the ways of victory, so they are quite positive. Even though sorrowing, they are yet rejoicing within. They rest in having nothing, yet they are possessing the most important things of all!
THEY HAVE TOUCHED “I AM THAT I AM” LIFE IN THEIR SPIRIT! That is the big secret working in the Lord’s people! There is One who is perfect, always the same. He empowered Jesus to walk this earth, overcoming ALL THE THINGS that corrupt a selfish vain man. God, our Father, is giving the same spirit Jesus has, the spirit of sonship that makes us sons and daughters again.
We are His overcoming, many membered body of Christ, of which Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren. Upon His corporate son rests the fullness of the Spirit of Yahweh, the spirit of the "I AM", the self-existent life of the Father. The Godhead has sent Christ to dwell in our spiritual body, teaching and instructing us BY THE SPIRIT until we are made completely one with Him.
Can you imagine Jesus, on the road to Samaria, sitting down on a rock and calling to Peter, James and John, saying, “Fellas, I want you to come over here and pray for me. I really need to be ministered to today. I need your help. Ever since we left, a terrible fear and depression has hit me. I want you to lay your hands upon me and rebuke this thing. I think it started last week when the Father showed me that someone close to me is going to betray me. I’ve been so upset ever since. Some other things have been troubling me lately too and this weariness in my body isn’t helping any. I need the victory to be able to minister in Samaria. Please help me get over this. Pray for me."
Do you think the disciples ever had to encourage Jesus? Or lay hands upon Him? Or counsel Him? Or rebuke the devil from Him? Or soothe His troubles? Jesus told the truth saying:
“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life...” Matthew 20:28
Jesus does not come to receive what we have to give but to GIVE HIS QUICKENING LIFE TO OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. HE HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF to give even us a taste of what is of the Father, the “I AM” whose Life is in Himself. In this life is contained every element of victory, wisdom, knowledge, righteousness and power a son could ever need.
What all Christians need is to be one spirit with the "I AM." God the Father sends the spirit of Christ, a holy spirit, to be fully established within our spirit. Our spiritual power should grow till HE ONLY leads us when we are in need of encouragement as we find abiding within our spirit an encouragement that has come from the "I AM."
Our Father dearly loves each of us and is actively Fathering us to develop stature in quality of character in our inner spiritual body. He makes us to know that we are not dependent upon anything else but His unchangeable, controlling power. This is the manifestation of God’s life promised to come to our freed spirit in the undivided all-sufficient life that describes Himself to us as “I AM THAT I AM”!