Before

John 8:57-59 The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.


Many people want to say that Jesus was a prophet. The Muslim faith sees Jesus as a prophet and value His words, and the Jews saw Jesus as a prophet as well. Gandhi thought highly of Jesus teaching, in fact stating that he loved this Jesus but not what he saw of Christianity. They are all willing to acknowledge that this Jesus was a wonderful man, a great human being. Many secular humanists would agree with the example Jesus set through his life. I was one of those. I started to come to faith with baby steps that admired this wonderful man and the things he taught. I was not at all into this God thing, it didn't make any sense to me. I wanted to see the world filled with people who would live by Jesus principles, but not because he was God.


This passage among many others shows that Jesus had a different idea about His identity than just a good man teaching good things. C. S. Lewis said that someone who said the things that Jesus said (about being God) must either be a liar, in which case he would not be a good man, or insane, in which he would not be a good example, or he was and is what he said He was, God (before Abraham was, I am!) I had come to the same conclusion years before knowing what Lewis had written. Because I saw only good in Him, I could no longer reject His assertion that He was God.


I have been so blessed by coming to know God in and through the person of Christ Jesus. As the resurrected living God he meets me daily in my prayer time. I thought Jesus was a good example to follow, but I found in my personal relationship with Him, that I found the power to change my life. I am not the man who met Him so many years ago, and I am not the man He is yet to help me become. I'm blessed in the moment with who I am, as I continue to become more blessed by an ongoing relationship with God through Christ Jesus. I hope you have or will share my journey, you deserve such a  blessing as well.