OceanSide church of Christ
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The
Seven “I am” Statements of Christ (Part 1)
by:
Dalton Gilreath
I. Introduction
A. Who exactly is Jesus?
i. Some say He was John the baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc (Matt 16:13)
ii. Knowing and believing in the true identity of Christ is critical to our salvation
B. The gospel of John focuses on the identity of Christ
i. We read about many of the miracles He performed
ii. John says the miracles are evidence of Christ and should encourage us to believe and therefore have life (John 20:31)
iii. Notice throughout this study how Jesus ties each one of these statements in with “life”
II. I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
A. Jesus had been performing miracles already
i. The disciples had recently seen Him turn five loaves and bread and two fish into a meal that fed over five thousand people
ii. They followed Him and tried to force Him to become king (John 6:15)
iii. He got away but they later caught up with Him and desired to be fed miraculous bread again (John 6:30-34)
1. Jesus told them He was the bread of life (35)
2. They misunderstood and desired physical bread forever (34)
B. Following Jesus was conditional for these disciples
i. They would follow Jesus as long as He gave them what they wanted
ii. Why do you follow Jesus?
1. Is it because of physical benefits you gain from it?
a. Maybe family or friends who are happy when you come to church
b. Maybe you like the help and support you get when you are down
2. Or is it because you love the Lord and want to serve Him?
3. Don’t be a conditional servant of Christ, but a consistent one
III. I am the Light of Life (John 8:12)
A. Jesus is teaching in the temple when He is interrupted by some Pharisees (John 8:1-3)
i. They bring a woman to Him that was caught in adultery
ii. He tells them that whoever is without sin can cast the first stone
1. They all leave including the woman when Jesus tells her to sin no more
2. The people listening to Jesus’ teaching apparently witnessed the whole scene
B. Once the woman leaves Jesus goes back to teaching
i. It is then that He says He is the light of life
ii. Some of them do not believe Him but He explains that He and God are the witnesses (8:16)
1. The lesson here is on knowledge or enlightenment
2. We must be enlightened by knowing Jesus (Eph 1:17-18)
C. We sometimes sing the song “Do you know my Jesus?”
i. The religious world claims to know Him but they do not obey Him
ii. Knowing Jesus means knowing His words and being faithful to them (Tit 1:16)