In the 1970’s, long before door cams, when there came a knock at the door, “Who is it? was the obvious question we would ask. Mom and Dad made certain we knew to ask that essential question before us kids even thought about flinging open that front door. Often it was a friend, neighbor or other familiar person, but still we needed to know!
In those days, too, I had a colorful, children’s Bible in which on one of the pages was a picture of Jesus outside the door of a house knocking. Just below the picture, the words from Revelations 3:20 were written: “Behold I stand at the door and knock..” It became a favorite verse of mine as I looked at the picture and imagined Jesus coming to my house.
As a young girl, I voraciously read and eagerly learned about all kinds of subjects and topics including the Bible. I became intrigued with the origin of God at an early age, pondering: who is God really and where did he actually come from? As a frequent flyer to the school library and an inquisitive Sunday school student, the answer still escaped me. My dad took us to church at least every Sunday and actually much more than that. I’m eternally grateful for the rich spiritual heritage, however, like Moses, I knew God, mostly, as the God of my father.
In fact, this is how God first identifies Himself after calling Moses’ name at the burning bush. “I am the God of thy father. The God of Abraham. The God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Like me, Moses isn’t completely satisfied with this declaration. Afterwards, in Exodus chapter 3 verse 13, he still finds the need to ask God: “Who shall I say sent me?” Fundamentally, he’s asking who are you God? He needs to know for himself and for the people. Again, God’s answer is simple, yet profound. “I Am…I Am has sent you…” The revelation came to me as a young adult as I pondered those words: I am. The word am is a being verb. Other being verbs include words like was, is, are, were. In essence, am is just another form of is. The answer is God is. He just is. Which was and is and evermore will be. He is not a created being for if He was, He wouldn’t truly be God.
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