I Am Series Introduction: Believe and Have Life

The gospel of John was written with a purpose and organized around seven miracles. John had much more he could write about Jesus from their few eventful years together, but he chose specific things to share that would support his purpose. He states near the end of his book:

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:31

Seven Miracles So You May Believe

The seven miracles provide strong reasons for us to believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior. These include (from a clever list from an unreferenced quote in the If I Could Teach The Bible blog):

• T – Turning water into wine
• H – Healing the nobleman’s son
• E – Elevating the lame man

• S – Supper for the 5000
• I – Interim on the sea (walking on water)
• G – Giving sight to the blind
• N – Notification of Lazarus to “come forth”

Jesus’ miracles included signs and wonders that helped people to believe His words, and through them to believe in who He is. As He taught the people, He saw their needs and showed them the life He was calling them to live. John’s gospel provided reasons to believe, and also gave Jesus’ words that help us to “have life in his name”, to have Jesus meet all of our needs.

Seven Statements So You May Have Life

In addition to the seven miracles, John writes about seven “I am” statements. These “I am” statements were Jesus’ responses to the needs of the people, often after one of the miracles or the teaching of a spiritual truth. In this blog series, we’ll look at the seven “I am” statements, how they show that Jesus meets our deepest spiritual needs, and how they help us to have “life in his name”.

The Seven “I am” statements” and needs they address:

• I am the Bread of Life: Sustaining our Faith (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51)
• I am the Light of the World: Guiding our Path (John 8:12, 9:5)
• I am the Gate: Protecting our Joy (John 10:7, 9)
• I am the Good Shepherd: Caring for our Needs (John 10:11, 14)
• I am the Resurrection and the Life: Providing Hope for our Future (John 11:25)
• I am the Way and the Truth and the Life: Assuring us in our Salvation (John 14:6)
• I am the True Vine: Giving us Strength for our Life Challenges (John 15:1, 5)

Believe and Have Life

Jesus did and said many things, but John helps us to believe by writing about seven miracles, and helps us to have life in Jesus through seven “I am” statements. This blog series will talk about the needs that the seven statements address and how Jesus will meet those needs to give us true life in Him.