At our ‘Little Big Church’ service tonight, we shared with the church what we have been teaching the children in Sunday School since September and how we have been able to answer the question ‘Who Is Jesus?’ by looking at seven ‘I am’ statements He made about Himself in John’s Gospel.
In using the name ‘I am’ (John 8:58), Jesus made explicit reference to Himself as God (since this was the name God used to Moses in Ex 3:14.) He went on to give further explanation of who He is in these seven statements:
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
- I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11 & 14)
- I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7)
- I am the true vine (John 15:1)
- I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
- I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)
With the aid of homemade bread, grapes, glow sticks, knitted sheep, gates made from lollipop sticks and other visual aids, we have explored these ideas, reminding ourselves that:
- Jesus feeds us and nurtures us through His word. (see Matt 4:4)
- Jesus is light, a light shining in the darkness. He wants to share that light with us so that we can help illuminate the darkness. (Matt 5:14-16)
- Jesus is the door to God and acts like a shepherd, leading us and guiding us.
- Jesus is the true vine; only as we are connected to Him can we live fruitful lives.
- Resurrection means death doesn’t have the final word. We can know life in all its fulness now (John 10:10) and we can know our mortal bodies will be raised to life again even after death. (1 Cor 15)
- Jesus is the way, showing us how to be reconciled to God. He is the truth, so we can trust what He says. He is the life, which means He is God, for only God has life in Himself.
Footprints showing us the way…
