John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you,
Before Abraham came to be, I AM!”

Jesus had been trying to explain, to the people,  who  He is and what His mission on this earth was.  In the middle of the conversation He said to them, “You are from this world, I am not of this world.”  He told them if they didn't believe He is the Son of God they would die in their sins.  Not understanding His words, they asked, “Who are you?”  You can almost sense the frustration in Jesus when He said, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.”

The discussion continued as Jesus tried to tell them who He is. When He told them the truth will set them free, they tell Jesus they are descendants of Abraham  and therefore are not in bondage, and ask how Jesus can say, “You will be made free.” The Jews boasted much of being a descendant of such a notorious and honored man. Jesus explained about sin and then told them they were a sorry excuse for descendants of Abraham. Their behavior went against how Abraham treated God. They quickly switched from saying Abraham was their father and said, “We have one Father – God.” Jesus pointed out that if God were their Father they would love Jesus and recognize Who He is.

 He said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word he shall never see death.” Obviously Jesus was speaking of an eternal death. Many people have died since He spoke those words, but they did not die an eternal death.  The Jews did not understand what kind of death Jesus was talking about.  They responded by saying, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham is dead,...” Jesus patiently explained more to them and said to them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”   Again the Jews did not understand what Jesus was saying.  They asked Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”  Jesus tried again to explain, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

 This sounds like bad grammar, mixing past and present tenses, but in describing God, it is correct. Humans think of time with a beginning and an ending. With God, there is no beginning or ending. He is from all eternity. He existed before all ages, He exists today, and He will still exist in all the tomorrows. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a time when God is not in this universe. He is ever watching and guiding the universe, our planet, and our lives. Nothing catches Him by surprise. The devil may throw trials our way, but God is not surprised. When we surrender our lives to God, He takes those trials and turns them around to bring glory to Him. On that final day, when Jesus comes to take us home, we will be able to see how God guided us through everything and we will have no doubts that God is a honest and just God.