His Name is “I AM”
One of the attributes of God is that He is the “I AM.” Go back to eternity when there was no universe, and the I AM is there. Go forward to that eternity where the universe is no more, and the I AM is there. David described God’s presence in these two eternities in this way: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psa. 90:2).
The reason His name is I AM is that He is eternally the same. He has never changed. God in the Old Testament is not what God was like and the God of the New Testament what God became. Emmanuel is no different from the Old Testament Jehovah. His name shows that it is impossible for Him to change. James calls God the Father of lights and then adds, “With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17).
The fact that He cannot change demands that no single attribute of His nature can change. This is why a knowledge of the Bible is so important. Since the beginning, He has dealt with sinful men. He is “…long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). The atoning blood of the cross reaches forward to cleanse us, but it flows backward to pay the price of redemption for those who sinned under the Old Testament (Heb. 9:15). He so loved the world that He gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him will be saved (John 3:16). He has put no difference between Jews and Gentiles. The righteousness of God comes “…through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
His eternal nature shows that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament He punished all men who turn against Him. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7). The writer of Hebrews looks back to the message of the Old Testament which was spoken through angels and described the uniformity of God’s message to mankind. “Every transgression and disobedience received a just reward” (Heb. 2:2). The God who brought judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah and the God who destroyed the world by the flood will judge all men and destroy our world by fire. His justice demands it.
On the other hand, never forget that the I AM who was the God of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David is our God. His mercy and presence in their lives is the same in our lives. Read those stories of the providence of God and know that the eyes of I AM were over them, and the eyes of I AM are over us. He is eternally the same!