From I AM to who am I?

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’”

That simple statement spoken directly to Moses by the Lord of the Universe have baffled me for years. When I first read it, the all-knowing little kid known as Ben raised his hand in objection. It didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t even proper grammar. How could you define an entity with its own name?
Perhaps it is easier to ask, “Who am I?”, before asking “Who is I AM?”. While we need to have a personal relationship with our Creator, there are parts of the Divine Mystery that we as humans will just never understand, or come close to understanding. Hence, “mystery”.

Humans are much easier to understand right? After all you only have two types: males and females. Then within those you have adults and children. After that it’s really easy, because you just have to divide those four groups into babies, toddlers, children, preteens, teenagers, young adults, slightly older young-adults, the middle-aged, those nearing retirement age, the elderly, and the “really seasoned veterans”. Simple right? It’s not like we all have different personalities, come from different walks of life, and respond completely differently in the exact same situations. Oh wait….. we do. And God is responsible for it all.

In Genesis 1, God says, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over [every living thing].”

The most important part of that verse is, “our image”, because it tells us a lot about God and about ourselves. It tells us that God is multiple entities. In my opinion, this is the first introduction of the Trinity. It also tells us that God wanted to create mankind. He has no need for us to carry out His will, and there is nothing we as humans can do that would ever be good enough for God. Yet somehow, He wanted us here, and so God created man in his own image. Say those last 4 words out loud “in. his. own. image.” We are His most perfect and cherished creation. Want more proof?

Psalm 8 talks about the Divine Majesty and how we fit in to God’s creation: (verses 1-6a)

“O LORD, our Soverign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands…”

God, who breathed into being the entire universe, made US in His image, and made US a little lower than himself; we are His most valued creation. We are more beautiful than the purest of white doves, more awe-inspiring than the snow on top of Mount Everest, more amazing than the sun giving way to the horizon off the coast of California. We are the most incredible thing that God, the Creator of the Entire Universe, has ever imagined. That is who we are.


Thought of the Moment: Why would we ever expect anything less than the best of ourselves, when, after all, we are His best?

Psalm 8, Psalm 84, Genesis 1 – God’s Kingdom