In Ex. 3:14 God identified Himself to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM” AND "I AM’; and in John 8:58 Jesus said, “Before Abraham was I am.” Some try to draw the conclusion that Jesus was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament, because they both use the same expression “I am.” But the Apostle Paul also used the same expression in 1 Cor. 15:10: “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Obviously this does not prove that the Apostle Paul and Jehovah God are one and the same person! When God in Ex. 3:14 stated His name as “I am who I am” and “I am,” He was indicating, not His appellation, but His character and nature. Similarly, the Apostle Paul was indicating his character when he said, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
And similarly, Jesus was indicating His nature when He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus here affirmed that He had existed before Abraham and had ever since continued to exist. Please notice the expression “I am”—present tense. Why this? It is used to express that a non-terminated existence, viz., that of Jesus, which He as the Logos had before Abraham lived, had never up to the time of His speaking in this text come to an end, which proves that when the Logos became flesh (John 1:14), He did not die while undergoing the transfer from a spirit plane to the human plane of existence. Without dying, the same person was transferred from one nature to the other (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6, 7) and lived continuously during the transfer. Jesus in John 8:58 was not trying to prove that He and His Father were one and the same person. To have done so would have been to deny God’s Word and His own teachings in general.
And similarly, Jesus was indicating His nature when He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus here affirmed that He had existed before Abraham and had ever since continued to exist. Please notice the expression “I am”—present tense. Why this? It is used to express that a non-terminated existence, viz., that of Jesus, which He as the Logos had before Abraham lived, had never up to the time of His speaking in this text come to an end, which proves that when the Logos became flesh (John 1:14), He did not die while undergoing the transfer from a spirit plane to the human plane of existence. Without dying, the same person was transferred from one nature to the other (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6, 7) and lived continuously during the transfer. Jesus in John 8:58 was not trying to prove that He and His Father were one and the same person. To have done so would have been to deny God’s Word and His own teachings in general.
