“I AM with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Jesus came into the world to serve Me but He did that by serving you. He saved you and gave you new life—His life. 1 John 5:11. My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11. Jesus loved you and gave Himself up for you. Galatians 2:20.
My gifts and callings are irrevocable. Romans 11:29. Jesus is the Irrevocable Gift sent to serve you. For I so loved the world, that I gave My only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. I did not send My Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:16-17. I Myself provided the Lamb for the burnt offering, Genesis 22:8, and it is the One I sent to serve you, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John 1:29. He came to do My Will to save you and it was His delight. Psalm 40:6-8. And as a good and faithful Servant, the faithful and true, My Will prospered in His Hand. Isaiah 53:10; Genesis 39:3-4.
In this Life Lesson as we continue to explore the unfathomable riches of Christ we are considering another great “I AM” revelation of Jesus that often goes unnoticed as such. It is the last statement made to the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew before Jesus returned to Me. “I AM with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20. And He said this to conclude the great commission that is for all believers as long as there are unbelievers, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
This is one of the most magnificent and comforting of My promises, the promise of Jesus to be with you always in this age and then for you to be with Him forever in the next, the unending age of eternal day.
And how is He with you? The same as He was on earth, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8. He is with you to serve you that you may live your life through, with, and in Him in this present age until He comes to take you with Him into the next. And even then, He will serve you. Have you never read, “Blessed are those servants whom the Master will find on the alert when He comes; truly I say to you, that He will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.” Luke 12:37. You will eat and drink at His table in His Kingdom. Luke 22:30.
He, as your faithful Servant, has gone ahead of you as your forerunner to prepare a place for you and then He will come to take you there where He is so you may be with Him always. And He will continue to serve you. He is able to save to the uttermost for He lives forever to make intercession for you. He is with you as your Servant, Shepherd, and great High Priest. All roles of service. Whatever you ask in His Name, He does for you. This is a servant to the highest degree.
The followers of Jesus called themselves His servants but actually He served them to make them able to do the excellent work of good servants. It is by grace that you have gifts and abilities and grace and truth come through and were purchased for you by Jesus. Everything you have that is good is through Him. And that is the One who serves you. For you know the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you, through His poverty, might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9. Jesus, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with Me a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8.
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, yet He was in your midst as the one who served you. Luke 22:27. For He loves you and released you from your sins by His blood—and He has made you to be a kingdom, priests to Me, your God and Father. Revelation 1:5-6. My Servant Jesus became your Servant and then in turn joined you with Him and made you My servants—a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart, called out of darkness into My own marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:10. But better yet, He made you My children and friends.
And He is serving you now at My right hand. He promised you that, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14. The servant of all who call on His Name even now at this moment though He is exalted in glory with the Name above every other Name. Yet when you ask in His Name, He does it for you—His power in and through you. He is still in your midst as the one who serves you. Where two or three gather in His Name, He is present in your midst, and if you agree on anything in His Name, He will do it. Matthew 18:19-20.
And He serves you better than any other servant for He is the good and faithful servant who will never abandon you, never reject you, and never betray you. He puts your interests ahead of His own. He is the Servant who heals you, feeds you the Bread of Life, multiplies your supplies, is your Light in the darkness so that you have the Light of Life, He makes all My many magnificent promises “yes” to you, He takes your sins and gives you My righteousness, He guides you and protects you as your good Shepherd, He takes all your sins and the punishment due them, He bears all your ills and pains so you do not have to do so, He baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, He gives you His life to make you fruitful, and He raises you up on the Last Day to rule and reign with Him forever. All He has and is He gives to you. He makes you holy, blameless, and beyond reproach before Me. He gives you access to the throne of grace. He took all your faults as His own and took care of the punishment due them Himself. He is your scapegoat. The servant who bore and carried away your sins, ills, pains, shame, and guilt. He Himself took your infirmities and carried away your diseases. Matthew 8:17.
I sent Him as My Son and Servant to by your Brother, Kinsman redeemer, and Servant, and in Him I gave you My heart. And He is the innermost expression of who I AM, He and I are One. In seeing Him you see Me. My heart is to serve you. I will never leave you or forsake you and I will supply all your needs according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus your Lord. I will feed you and carry you forever. You are Mine. And I AM yours. And so is Jesus. He is My gift to you, and when I have given a gift it is forever. You can call Him “your Jesus,” for I have given you ownership of Him by gifting Him to you. And He has come to serve you. Not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year but ALWAYS. Always.
You who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you. Isaiah 46:3-4. In Jesus, as your brother, redeemer, good Shepherd, savior, great High Priest, and Servant, I AM with you.
Jesus told you, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45. And He is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8. He is meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls in Him. Matthew 11:28-30.
But always remember, the greatest one among you is the One who serves the rest. Jesus is the highest and greatest, He serves but He is your Lord, your Master, your Teacher, your Leader, your King to whom I have given all authority in Heaven and on earth. He is worthy of all praise, honor, adoration, worship, and reverence. Because He serves you should make you all the more grateful, reverent, and respectful of so awesome a Savior. Honor Him, for whoever honors the Son honors the Father who sent Him. Learn from Him how to be a good and faithful servant.
Listen to the throngs in Heaven and join with them in praise of the Lamb, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10. And “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Revelation 5:12. And the chorus? “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” Revelation 5:13. Yes, worthy He is of your loyalty, honor, devotion, and praise. Serve Him for He serves you.
This “I AM” revelation contains the promise of My presence, for I am in Christ Jesus and He is in Me, we are One and you can be one in us as well. John 17:21. It is foreshadowed in a beautiful depiction of the heavenly reality fulfilled in Jesus in the Tabernacle of Moses. Do you recall the purpose that I gave Moses for constructing the Tabernacle in which he was to make all things exactly according to the plan I showed him on the mountain? Hebrews 8:3-5. I asked for every person to make contribution as their hearts moved them in order to construct a sanctuary for Me so that I could DWELL among them. Exodus 25:8-9. It was My promise of My presence with them on their journey. The Tabernacle was pitched in the middle of the camp of the Israelites and they pitched their tents around it with three tribes to the north, three to the south, three to the east, and three to the west in the formation of a cross. And over the Tabernacle, above the Holy of Holies, was the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire was seen in the cloud at night. When the cloud settled over the Tabernacle and remained, the Israelites remained camping where they were. When the cloud lifted up and began to travel, they folded up the Tabernacle and carried it furnishings on poles on the shoulders of the Levites as I instructed with the Ark of the Covenant, where I spoke from over the cherubim on the mercy seat, going forth carried by poles on the shoulders of the priests, to guide them as the cloud would travel, and all broke camp and followed.
This is a beautiful picture of the good things to come in Jesus, your Good Shepherd, who leads you out and leads you in. And just so you see that this is truly a depiction of My presence with you in Jesus, what do I tell you about Jesus, My Word, becoming flesh? “And the Word became flesh, and TABERNACLED among you and you saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. You often see this translated “dwelt,” which is fine but in the Greek language in which this passage was written, the word used is “skēnóō (σκηνόω),” a verb which means to pitch or dwell in a tent, it is the same word used in Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle (skéné) (noun) of God is among men, and He will tabernacle (skēnóō) (verb) among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’” Revelation 21:3-4. And that tabernacle is yet to come, My heavenly city Jerusalem. But until then, you are in Christ Jesus and we are tabernacling in you.
I love you and that is why I have given you Jesus to be with you always as your good and faithful servant, your Lord, and your redeemer. I am the lifter of your head. Usually the lesser serves the greater but I have stooped to make you great. And that is the heart of a servant.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I AM gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.