The words “I am” in our society today often have an entirely different meaning than what is intended in this study. We live in a day and time where many view self as God. Self deification is a part of the New Age teaching of our culture. For example, in his book on the many errors of New Age teaching, Crystal Lies, LaGard Smith writes of actress Shirley MacLaine:

In Out On a Limb, Shirley was told by her friend and spiritual mentor, David, that she was God. In her television adaptation of that book, the scene is dramatized on the beach in Malibu near Shirley’s home.

David tells Shirley that all the answers about life are within her, because she is God. When Shirley wonders aloud whether she might not become arrogant if she really believed she were God, David’s response is one of assurance. “Say to yourself that you are God,” he tells Shirley. With only slight hesitation, she says quietly, “I am God.” “No, louder,” says David. “Say it louder.” Once again, but louder, Shirley says, “I am God.” Her words are still not said with sufficient conviction for David, so one last time he says, “Turn to the ocean and say it like you mean it!” Obediently, Shirley turns to the ocean, stretches out her arms, and with full conviction shouts out, “I am God!”¹

Based on this type of false teaching and belief system, it should not surprise us too much to consider these words of Shirley MacLaine:

Affirmations are spoken resolutions which, when used properly, align the physical, mental, and spiritual energies. The ancient Hindu vedas claimed that the spoken words I am, or Aum in Hindi, set up a vibrational frequency in the body and mind which align the individual with his or her higher self and thus with the God-source. The word God in any language carries the highest vibrational frequencies of any word in the language. Therefore, if one says audibly I am God, the sound vibrations literally align the energies of the body to higher attunement.

You can use I am God or I am that I am as Christ often did, or you can extend the affirmation to fit your own needs.²

While some today are falling victim to these types of false teachings, and are viewing themselves as God, others have simply elevated self to a place of prominence. The great trinity of this world could be represented with the words:

I

ME

MINE

How important in a culture such as this to help others discover who is really God! God is not self! God is not something we conjure up deep inside us by shouting out to the ocean or by chanting words that vibrate in our minds. God is the creator of this world and the giver of life. He is the great I Am of the Bible.

This study is entitled, “I Am”; but, this is not a class about the importance or exaltation of self. We want to talk about the great “I AM.” By so doing, we will at the same time examine self, and find that rather than seeking our own way... we should seek The Way. Rather than creating our own truth... we should seek The Truth. Rather than viewing our own self as the source of life, we should seek The Life. What (Who) is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Consider these words of Jesus:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jn. 14:6 (Emphasis mine)

This is a study about Jesus Christ. A study which will examine who He is through some very important self-portraits. These are titles (descriptions) of Jesus that reveal some insightful truths about His person and His nature. In essence, they are what Jesus wants us to know about Himself. All are found in the gospel of John; and, as John tells us in defining the purpose of his gospel, “...these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn 20:31).

It is my hope that through this study we would be encouraged to always look to God, and not self in meeting the needs of this life (cf. Matt. 6:33); for that it is what each self-portrait of Christ is all about.

May these lessons strengthen and equip each of us as servants of the great I Am.

John Buttrey II

Anaheim, Ca. 2000