The Jesus Problem
&
The Seven I AM's
By Jim Searcy
This is of VITAL importance for those in Messianic Congregations

You can talk about God and most people will tolerate that. However, when you mention Jesus, even among some groups that would dare to claim they are Messianic believers, there is a problem.

Anyone who would say that the word Jesus is derived from "Yea Zeus" is promoting a LIE far removed from truth or scholarship. Anyone who would NOT say Jesus is the name of the I AM, denigrates His name, and effectively is making the One who said He is The I AM, to be a liar or worse.

Anyone who would denigrate the name of Jesus is NOT speaking by the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of Truth and Holiness. The Ruach Ha Kodesh is not to be found in such a Yea Zeus lie. Can you imagine what those who would denigrate the name of The I AM will say when they MUST stand before The I AM, having promoted such a denigrating lie regarding His most well known name on earth in plain English? Those who regard truth will come to know that there simply is no "SH" sound in the Greek language, and an "A" or "AH" ending on a proper name in Greek, is feminine. That is why Yeshua's name, was written in Greek by the Apostles, as Iesous. Iesous is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word Yeshua, meaning salvation, or the salvation of YHVH. The Greek name Iesous, in today's plain English is JESUS. Jesus is the name by which The I AM is most widely known today. But that is NOT the Jesus Problem.

Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Christadelphians, Mormons, Wierwille Rabbis, and even many who try to present themselves as Christian or Messianic believers, will end up in hell because of their wrong answer to theJesus Problem. I hope that you all will keep a printout of this particular GJiGT article handy, and have the courage to share it with the many who are bound by religious counterfeit sprits, leading to eternal destruction in the hell created for the devil and his angels. The Seven I AM's in John's Gospel is the short best answer I know for the right answer to the Jesus Problem.

Here is the Jesus Problem, clearly stated by the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeshua THE Messiah, Himself, said – "If ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins." That is the Jesus Problem. He very explicitly stated, with NO doubt, with absolute certainty and clarity, His claim that He IS the very SAME I AM who spoke to Abraham. He is the very same One who told Moses from the burning bush in answer to Moses' question about His name, that Moses was to tell them, I AM that I AM, tell them I AM hath sent thee. That IS the Jesus Problem. Jesus very clearly taught that He IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their wrong answer to the Jesus Problem will end the followers of every other religion in hell just as the Koran in Sura 19.71 tells the Muslims so explicitly. The Jesus Problem is that if you do NOT believe that Jesus is God, you SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS. So to the rabbis, imams, priests, gerus, and religious teachers who garner fame, fortune, and large followings, the question is - What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Anyone who does NOT believe that Jesus is God will end up in hell because of their wrong answer to the Jesus Problem.

People do not want to believe Jesus is God. The Problem is that Jesus said He IS God, the same I AM who communicated with Abraham and Moses. Almost everyone will tolerate religions, however, very few do not have the Jesus Problem. For most people, even some who would DARE to call themselves Christian or Messianic believers, the Jesus Problem is the greatest problem they can possibly have. Jesus clearly said we MUST believe that He IS God. He absolutely and explicitly said that He IS God, The I AM. That fact is the Jesus Problem. The Jesus Problem is that He leaves NO other option.

Everyone is simply forced by what Jesus said of Himself, to either say that they are believers, who believe He IS who He said He IS, or they then must logically conclude He is a liar, insane, or worse. That is The Jesus Problem.

I do not know about you, but I profess to be a Messianic Believer, and that means I profess that Jesus IS the I AM. I profess to be a Christian and that means I believe Jesus IS the I AM. I will strongly rebuke in the Name of Jesus, any Jehovah's Witness that dares to claim to be a Christian within the sound of my ears. I will strongly rebuke in the Name of Jesus, any Mormon who claims to be a Christian within the sound of my ears. I will strongly rebuke in the Name of Jesus, anyone claiming to be a Messianic believer who would say anything untrue or denigrating about the name of Jesus. I firmly believe that God is every bit as well pleased with the Jew who lifts up and exalts the name of Jesus, as He is with the Gentile who lifts up and exalts the name of Yeshua.

The Jesus Problem is that Jesus unmistakably claimed to be God. If Jesus IS God then we better fear Him, we better obey Him, and we better NOT denigrate any of His names, or misrepresent what He said.

He presented and said of Himself that He is the ONLY way to have a relationship with God. He said He is the ONLY way to have forgiveness of sins. He said He is the ONLY way of salvation from the hell that was created for the devil and his angels. Christian and Messianic BELIEVERS know they deserve hell as surely as they KNOW why they will NOT get what they deserve. It is the grace of God unto salvation found because of their genuine FAITH of Jesus Christ as God the Son, BOTH Redeemer and Creator, and ONLY Saviour and ONLY Mediator between God and man. (John 3:16-18, 14:6 & I Tim 2:5)

That is much too exclusive for most to accept. However, for anyone who does not accept that, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, Jesus said - if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins. Before Abraham was I AM. The Judean leadership associated with the Temple knew EXACTLY what He meant, and immediately decided to be judge and executioners taking up stones to stone Him to death for blasphemy. (John 8:54-59) It is for the charge of claiming to be God that the Judean leaders of the Temple delivered Him to be crucified on that Wednesday, Nissan 14, in 30 AD.

Not only did Jesus claim equality with God as His Father, but He also asserted that He was one, (Echad, NOT Yachid, ECHAD in the Shema in Hebrew), with the Father. In John 10:30 He very directly said, I and my Father ARE one. The Judean leaders of the Temple complex understood perfectly and took up stones to stone Him.

In Mark's gospel account of the trial where the Judean temple leadership condemned Him to death, (Mark 14:60-64) we read: And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM: (the same as He told Moses in Ex 3:14), and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent
his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

The Holy Bible, especially in the New Testament, clearly presents Jesus as God, and very clearly attributes characteristics to Him that can only be true of God. For a full 9 years after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven to take His seat at the right hand of God the Father, ALL, 100% of His followers, were devout Jews. Cornelius was the first Gentile to receive the Holy Ghost and become part of the church of the Messiah. All of those thousands of Jews who were disciples and followers of Jesus, were monotheistic to the core, believing in the ECHAD, One God, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), of Deuteronomy 6:4.

Saul of Tarsus likely was one of those in that assembly of Judean temple leaders for the trial, which condemned Jesus to death. Yeshua was condemned for His claim that He is The I AM. Because of Saul's extensive rabbinic training, he was most unlikely to call Jesus God. However, Saul did come to KNOW Yeshua as God, The I AM. Saul of
Tarsus, great rabbi, persecutor of the Messianic believers, after God knocked him off of his high horse on the road to Damascus, was born again and chosen by the will of God to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, better known as Paul. The Apostle Paul expressed that truth and right answer to the Jesus Problem in Acts 20:28 saying - Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with HIS OWN BLOOD.

I particularly like the opening of Paul's epistle to the Messianic Jewish Believers found in Hebrews 1:1-8: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

The great rabbi Saul, who was born again to become the Apostle Paul, also wrote:
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Col 1:12-20)

Those are great things to share with Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, cult members, and deceived deceivers who might claim to be Messianic believers. Those scriptures in Heb 1:1-8 and Col 1:12-20 are good to share with anyone who is bound for hell because they have the WRONG answer regarding the Jesus Problem.

THE Seven I AM's

Something that can be very helpful to those who are being lead away from the Doctrine of Christ in these last days of strong delusion, are the seven I AM's in the Gospel of John. Now a days it is not just the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Christadelphians, and the Way International, and other heretical groups, but many in the Messianic congregations, are being lead to have their faith shipwrecked, by so-called Messianic rabbis who deny that Yeshua is God the Son, The I AM, who appeared and spoke to Abraham and Moses.

The seven I AM's in the Gospel of John make it explicit, and indisputable, and undeniable, that Jesus is God, The I AM. There can be NO tolerance for those who would try to claim to be Christian or Messianic believers who would say otherwise. Yeshua is The I AM, Hayah in Hebrew, or Ego Eimi in Greek, He is God the Son, BOTH Creator and Redeemer.

Exodus 3:14-15 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Jesus positively identified Himself as The I AM.

There are seven instances in John's gospel where The Lord Jesus Christ uses this PROFOUND PROCLAMATION of Who He IS, The I AM, Yahweh, The Lord of Hosts. The Jews Knew EXACTLY what Jesus was telling them. That He is, Yahweh, The I AM, the Lord of Host, Almighty God, Creator as well as Redeemer, Why? Because the Jews to whom He spoke, invariably took up stones to attempt to stone Him for blasphemy.

We miss some of the seven I AM's in our English Bible, because the translators sometimes believed it necessary to add the word "he". In the KJV you will notice the italics indicating the word was added and is not in THE ORIGINAL GREEK TEXTUS RECEPTUS. But in every case the Greek simply has, Ego Eimi, The I AM.

Here are the seven places where Jesus publicly proclaims that He is The I AM. Note: The added words, which should be in italics in your KJV Holy Bible, are removed here as in the Textus Receptus Greek text, which illustrates the point more vividly.

John 4:25-26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I AM that speak unto thee.

Using the words I AM, hayah in the Hebrew, or ego eimi in the Greek, Jesus publicly proclaims that he is THE Messiah, or THE Christ, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, that He is one and the same I AM who appeared and spoke to Abraham and Moses.

John 6:19-20 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, I AM; be not afraid.

After demonstrating that He had the power to walk upon the water, Jesus proclaims that He is The I AM.

John 8:24 For if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.
 

Jesus declares EXPLICITLY that if anyone rejects the truth that He is The I AM, ye shall die in your sins. That is a polite way of saying you will be damned to the second death of eternal hell, if one rejects that Yeshua, Jesus, IS GOD, the same I AM who appeared to Moses in the burning bush of Exodus 3:14.

John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I AM, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. There have been many false Messiahs who would never think of dying for someone else. Jesus proclaims when He has been lifted up on the cross, then we will know that He is The I AM. This is because Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would die for the sins of His people.

Isaiah 53:5-6 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (As Abraham PROPHESIED to Isaac, God will provide Himself, a Lamb. Genesis 22:8)

The method of His death is also significant, for Zechariah told us that the Messiah would be pierced. Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

John 8:57-59 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Here Jesus CLEARLY proclaims that Abraham knew Him. He then says that He is The I AM. The Jews UNDERSTOOD what He said. They understood that told them that He is The I AM. They thought He was committing blasphemy, and tried to stone Him.

John 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I AM.

The resurrection from the dead is the greatest proof that Jesus is The I AM, that is spoken of in the Bible. Many false Messiahs have come and gone, they died, and their bodies remain in the grave. But Jesus is different, for He rose from the dead. He is seated in His glorified RESURRECTED body at the Right Hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens; (Hebrews 8:1) ANY MESSIAH WHO DOES NOT BEAR THE MARKS OF HIS CRUCIFIXION IN HIS RESURRECTED GLORIFIED BODY IS A FALSE MESSIAH AND ANTICHRIST.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

John 18:4-8 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I AM, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I AM: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:

When Jesus made His proclamation that He was The I AM, His enemies fell to the ground.

Only Jesus could give us the most highly privileged name to which we may refer to God – yes, we may call the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ OUR Father. Alleluia Yeshua.

Only be very strong and of good courage. Be succoured. Stay IN the Word.

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