"Before Abraham was, I AM!"

John 8:58.

I was thinking about this verse the other day and planned on writing something, but I never got to it, so I decided to write about it now.

There's something about this verse that just emanates power. That's probably how I'm supposed to feel when reading it because God Himself, in the Person of Jesus, is declaring His eternity, His everlasting power. "Before Abraham was, I AM!" Before Abraham was even born, God exists. From a grammatical standpoint, we all know that this sentence is very wrong. Jesus should have said, "I was before Abraham," or something similar, but instead, He said, "I AM before Abraham was." Why? Well, for one thing, God gave Moses "I AM" as His name in Exodus 3:14. But I think there's more to it than that, something extra behind why "I AM" is His name. In order for God to know everything that has happened in the past and everything that is happening now and everything that will happen in the future, and in order for Him to be in control of the future and be able to remember the past so that He can fulfill everything He promised, God must be outside of time. If God existed within time, He would not be able to know the future; therefore, God must exist independent of time. He makes this clear by saying, "Before Abraham was, I AM." In this one statement, Jesus condensed the name of His glory: the One "who was and is and is to come." He exists from beginning to end; nothing precedes Him, and nothing succeeds Him.

"I AM!" God exists! He is everywhere at all times. He is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. He is yesterday, today, and forever. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Living Water, the Living One who sees us (Lahai Roi; Genesis 16:13-14) and knows us. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Prince of Peace, God Almighty (El Shaddai). He is our Savior. He is Yahweh. And He is, for all eternity, above all things. To God be the glory!