I AM= GOD IS

On Wednesdays we celebrate “walking in the Word” through study & application of Biblical doctrine. Rightly understanding Biblical doctrine fuels doxology, delight in Jesus, & gospel centered discipleship. Today we conclude the substance of this series by celebrating the abundant life that is God’s self-existence.
 
Previous posts in this series include: Knowing God, God is Eternal, God Never Changes, God is One, and a guest post by Dan Burns. 
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Key Verses:
Exodus 3:14 “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.’” 15 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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
 
John 5:26 “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”

Today’s invitation is to know God, the fullness of life, so that we may experience “abundant life” in Him. (John 10:10) God is independent, not needing anything or contingent on anyone to be God. Because of His independence, God is the fullness of life in Himself- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Theologians use the word, “plentitude” saying, “God is the ‘plentitude’ of life” when describing the doctrine called “the aseity of God.” 
 
Knowing God’s fullness of life in Himself deepens our discipleship through enhancing our trust in God, cultivating humility in following God, enriching worship of God, encouraging perseverance, and motivating sacrificial service.
 
Creatures exist in absolute need of food, water, love, protection, etc. Creaturely existence is comprehensively contingent, needy of nouns (people, places, and things) for our being. God needs no one and nothing to exist. God is the fullness of life in Himself, everlasting life (Psalm 90:2) and all things are created for Him, to Him, and through Him- for His glory- forever. (Romans 11:36).
 
Moses encountered God through the burning bush, seeing a fire that did not need anything to burn. Fire necessarily needs fuel, oxygen and wood, to burn. God does not need anything. When The Lord introduced Himself to Moses, He did not say, “I am ______.” The Lord said, “I AM.” God is the fullness of life in Himself- GOD IS, and from the abundance of life God created the world from nothing: “In the beginning, God created….” (Genesis 1:1) From the comprehensive independence of God, the plentitude of life in Himself, Jesus claimed to be life in Himself (John 5:26, “the Life…” John 14:6) so He could give abundant life to all who believe in Him. Jesus is the “I AM” (John 8:58) who existed as life before life was created.
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Kevin DeYoung says it well: “God didn’t get lonely or bored or scared. He doesn’t need anything from anyone. He is the great “I AM.”…the Bible starts with the God who never started.” 
 
Herman Bavinck adds an exclamation point: “God is exclusively from himself, not in the sense of being self-caused but being from eternity to eternity who he is, being not becoming.” (Reformed Dogmatics, vol 2, p 151)
 
The term “Aseity” is rooted in Latin, “of oneself” or “from oneself.” God needs nothing for life, so His creatures find life in Him. Paul says that “In Him we move and have our being…” (Acts 17:24-28) God is the author of physical and spiritual life as we experience it. God has no beginning and no end, but when we begin to comprehend divine aseity our discipleship is deepened in at least five ways:

• Trust in God: If God is life, comprehensively and without contingency, then we confidently trust Him for everything in life. This means we are totally dependent on God for all of life- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Humility: God is life, so every good and perfect gift of life comes down from Him (James 4:10). To live in dependency on God is to grow in humility in our service to God as we live by His word and through His work.
• Worship: In a doctrinally dense portion of Romans, Paul bursts into doxology. “For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory, forever!” (Romans 11:36). Seeing the sufficiency of God in God Himself fuels worship of God, the fountain of life.
• Christian Perseverance: God is never needy, weak, exhausted, or lacking. God does not slumber or sleep. (Psalm 121) God is steadfast, and when we are radically dependent on Jesus in our discipleship, we will persevere through pain, problems, and persecution. Because God is everlasting, He gives power to persevere by providing strength to His saints. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
• Sacrificial Service: The doctrine of divine aseity helps disciples see our life as participation in God’s mission to give abundant life. Responding to God’s grace, we imitate God, as His children, by walking in love as He loved us- Giving Himself for us. (Ephesians 5:1-2) This necessarily means we live to give life to others, sacrificially sharing the life Jesus gives to us.

 
God is the fullness of life, eternally in Himself, independent of anyone or anything for His existence. God invites you to know Him through the person and work of Jesus, that you may know life, have abundant life in Him, and be a giver of life to a world looking for life.
 
Richly Dwelling

• God needs no one and no-thing to be God. You are a ball of need to be human. How does the comprehensive independence of God and the radical neediness of yourself inform your faith?
• Which of the practical applications of the doctrine of divine aseity is most inviting? Do you see how they can be a reality for you when your faith is in Jesus?
• How can you- right now- worship Jesus for the fullness of life being in Him, from Him, through Him, and to Him? What would it look like for you to live a life of worship for Jesus by inhabiting this reality?

 
Key Verses:
Exodus 3:14 “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.’” 15 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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
 
John 5:26 “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself."

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