“The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements”

 

Introduction:

 

A.     The main purpose of the gospel of John is to convince its readers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (20:30-31).

 

B.      The seven “I Am” statements are designed to clue us in to the character, person, and purpose of the Messiah, which also gives way to authoritative teaching for you and I.

 

C.     Seven great lessons we can learn from the Messiah and His teaching are:

 

 

I.                  I am the bread of life (Jn. 6:35,38)

 

A.    The meaning behind Jesus words here is He is the spiritual sustenance we need (Matt. 5:6, Jer. 15:16, Ps. 19:10, Ezek 3:3, Eph. 6:4, Matt. 4:4, Job. 23:12).

 

B.     Since Jesus is the bread of life we must consume His teachings and lifestyle (2 Pet. 3:18, 2 Tim. 2:15, Acts 17:11, Jn. 7:17, I Pet. 2:2).

 

C.     To fail and consume the teachings of Jesus is to be in a state of spiritual anorexia (Amos 8:11, Heb. 5:12ff, Lk. 4:4).

 

II.               I am the light of the world (Jn. 8:12, 9:5).

 

A.    Light represents the purity, brightness, and holiness of Jesus (, Ps. 119:105, Jn. 1:4, 3:19-21, 2 Cor. 4:4, Rev. 21:23, 22:5, I John 1:5, I Pet. 2:22, Heb. 4:15).

 

B.     Since Jesus is the light of the world, we must walk in His light (Ps. 36:9, I Jn. 1:7, Rom. 8:29, Jn 8:12b, I Pet 2:21, Rev. 14:4).

 

C.     This means that you and I cannot become sinful again and walk in light (Rom. 6:4, Rom. 3:23, Hab. 1:13, Ezek. 18:4, sin stains).

 

III.           I  am the door (Jn. 10:7,9).

 

A.    A door figuratively represents an entrance into something (Rev. 3:20, 4:1; Matt. 25:10).

 

B.     What has Jesus given us entrance into spiritually?

 

1.      Happiness (Eph. 1:3, Phil. 4:4, Prov. 16:20).

2.      Forgiveness (Matt. 26:28, Col. 1:14, Heb. 8:12, Acts 22:16).

3.      Heaven (Rev. 4:1, Jn. 14:1, Matt. 25:46, Rev. 14:1)

4.      God’s Children (Gal. 4:4-7, I Jn. 3:1, Heb. 2:10, Gal. 3:26).

5.      Victory (I Cor. 15:57, Rev. 2:10, Jn. 16:33, I Jn. 5:4).

6.      Holiness (Isa. 6, I Pet. 1:15, Heb. 12:24, Titus 2:11ff).

7.      God (Jn. 17:3, I Jn. 2:2—advocate & propitiation, Heb. 10:12).

 

IV.           I am the good shepherd (Jn. 10:11,14).

 

A.    Jesus is the great shepherd of our souls (I Pet. 2:25, 5:4; Heb. 13:20).

 

B.     During the days of Israel God rebuked the wicked shepherds (Zech. 11:17, Ezek 34:8, Jer. 50:6).

 

C.     As a shepherd, Jesus does three things for us:

 

1.      Leads us (Rev. 7:10, Matt. 6:13).

2.      Feeds us (Matt. 4:4; 2 Pet. 1:3, Matt. 5:6, Psalm 23).

3.      Protects us (Rom. 8:28, Ps. 23, Heb. 13:5-6).

 

V.               I am the resurrection and life (Jn. 11:25).

 

A.    Jesus is the way to the happy immortal life (I Cor. 15:51-56, I Thes. 4:13-17, Jn. 5:28-29, Rom. 1:4, I Cor. 15:1-3, Acts 17:30-31).

 

B.     This does not mean we will never die physically, but spiritually (Rev. 20:14-15).

 

VI.           I am the way, truth and life (Jn. 14:6).

 

A.    The way/path/road(Gr. Hodos, Matt. 7:13-14, Heb. 9:8, Heb. 10:20, Matt. 22:16, Jer. 6:16, Ps. 23:3).

 

B.     The truth (Eph. 4:23, Prov. 23:23, Jn. 17:17, Jn. 1:17, Jn. 8:32).

 

C.     The eternal life (Jn. 17:3, Rom. 6:23b, I Tim 6:12, Titus 1:2, I John 2:25, 5:13).

 

 

VII.         “I Am The True Vine” (15:1).

 

A.     The idea of the vine communicates to the readers minds a sense of dependency, close relationship, unity, and fruit bearing ability that each branch must strive to achieve in Christ.

 

B.     The great lesson to be learned here is that without Christ, the vein of all life, men will cease to exist in a good spiritual way.  Notice some lessons and applications we learn from this text:

 

1.      Vs. 2, 8 The Necessity of bearing fruit to God (Rom 7:4, Gal 5:22-23; 2 Kings 19:30).

2.      Vs. 4-5 Christ is the Nucleus of every branch.  We depend upon Him for the spiritual sustenance and guidance in everything (Eph 1:22-23, Col 3:17).

3.      The wicked branches will be utterly destroyed (Rev 21:8, Mk 9:44, Matt 25:46).