Names of God: I AM

If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."  And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"  God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, '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." Exodus 3:13-15

I remember that for a long time, whenever I would read the account of God speaking to Moses in the burning bush, I would think to myself, "Why does God refer to himself as 'I AM'?" It seemed so strange then, but as I've done more study, I've come to understand there is a lot of meaning in those two little words.  Not only do they mean God is real, they also mean he is self-existent.  The name "I AM" defines God's characteristic of aseity, as explained by this quote from J. I. Packer:

"God is self-existent, God has always been. . .Our Maker exists in an eternal, self-sustaining, necessary way, ­necessary, that is, in the sense that God does not have it in Him to go out of existence, just as we do not have it in us to live forever. We necessarily age and die, because it is our present nature to do that; God necessarily continues forever unchanged, because it is His eternal nature to do that."

The author and giver of life has life in himself, and he derives his unending energy from himself.  He doesn't need anything outside of himself to exist.  Instead, he gives us everything!  And for those truths, we have great reason to rejoice! 


For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.  Romans 11:36