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Now for what you came here for. Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. Today, Pastor JD shares that for all you aren't, for all that you need, for all that you fear, for all that you crave, for all the things you cannot be, he is the great I am. And that's what we celebrate today and every day. Join us now for this special Christmas Eve message with Pastor JD.
In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon declared, Proverbs 18:10, the name of the Lord. is a strong tower. The righteous run into it. and they are saved. Over the last several weeks at the Summit Church, we've been looking at the names that God gave to the Messiah.
The names that God gave that would indicate the kind of Messiah that he would be to us. The prophet Isaiah prophesied nearly 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Said that you will call the name of this child Emmanuel, God with us. Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. These are the names of salvation.
These are the names that the righteous run into and they are saved. These... are the names that give us the victory that belongs. to Jesus. This afternoon, I want to address the name that is behind every other of those names.
It's the name that God gave to Moses at the burning bush when Moses asked God directly. What his name was. Moses during this season of life was in a time of great personal distress and uncertainty. His career had fallen apart. He'd made a lot of really disastrous decisions.
He had lost his family. He felt alone. He felt. lost, he felt hopeless, he was consumed by regret and self-doubt and he had a A lot of questions about where God had been. while all of this was happening.
That day at the burning bush, God did not answer a single one of Moses' questions. He simply told Moses to trust him. that he had an assignment for him, a plan for his life to Bless him and to use him. But Moses objected. He said, Lord, no.
No, I made too many mistakes. I'm too messed up. I'm too far gone. To which God responded by simply saying, But my name Is I am. In English, we write that as Jehovah.
It is a name that God will use of Himself. Throughout the entire Bible. It's a name that he uses to describe himself some 6,519 times. in the Old Testament alone. The irony is that it's not a name per se, it is a verb.
Yet it becomes the most common name by which God relates to broken and needy people throughout the Bible, people like Moses. For Moses, it meant that whatever Moses was not, because of his sinfulness and his brokenness. God would be for him and God would be through him.
So Moses said, God, I can't do what you're asking because I am not righteous enough. I'm not smart enough. I am not eloquent enough. And God says, but I did not choose you because you were any of those things. I am enough of both of those things for the both of us.
I am. And my end-ness overcomes your not-ness. We see throughout Israel's history, God would invoke this name: I am Jehovah. Whenever Israel was in a time of great distress or fear or need, And God would attach to it whatever they lacked. Whatever God would supply for them in Himself.
For example, in the book of Exodus, when the people of Israel were wounded and sick because of their sin. God revealed himself as Jehovah Rapha. Literally, I am. Your healer. In Leviticus, when Moses laid out the law, that great description of what it meant to walk uprightly before God, and the people responded by saying, Who can ever live this way?
Who can ever keep all of these laws? God answered with Jehovah Machedeshkim. I am your sanctifier. I am the God who will enable you to walk with me and keep these commandments. In Ezekiel's day, when the people of Israel felt scared and alone and besieged by enemies all around, God said, Jehovah Shamma, I am the ever-present God who will never leave you.
When David felt lost and confused with no friends at all in the world, he called God Jehovah Rah, the Lord is my shepherd. When Abraham faced an impossible circumstance with no seeming way out, God declared to him, Jehovah Jireh, I am your provider. When Gideon faced an army a hundred times the size of his own, he called God Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is my peace. When Jeremiah, the prophet, was discouraged by Israel's persistent unfaithfulness and inability to walk before God. And he says in despair, God, how can we survive?
We are so sinful. God declared back to him, Jehovah, tis kidneyu. I am your righteousness. When the prophet Isaiah was not sure how he would survive even another day, God said, Jehovah, saba oath, I am your defender. I am the God who fights for you.
You see, for all that Israel needed, for all that they lacked, for all that they could never be in themselves, God was the great I am. But see, here's the question. How is God for that for us today? You see, you know that you and I often find ourselves in positions of great need, just like. Moses did, just like Israel did, overwhelmed by our sinfulness and our brokenness and our inabilities, full of doubts and insecurities and fears.
Well see, that's what brings us to Christmas. 2,000 years ago, Isaiah prophesied that the great I am Was born as a baby. Think about it. The eternal, all-sufficient I am entered the world. as a helpless child.
He did that so he could live the lives that we were supposed to have lived. and then die the death that we have been condemned to die. You see, it was only by doing that that he could take away our sinfulness and restore us to God. God had declared that the soul that sins shall die. We are sinners.
We are sinners and that curse had to be carried out so the I am became one of us so that he could do it for us. He grew up as one of us living the life we're supposed to live, a life of perfect obedience, a life of loving God and serving others. And then on the cross, he died to death that we had been condemned to die because of our sin. Around the summit, church, we say that you can summarize the gospel. You can summarize the entire message of Christianity.
You can summarize the whole Bible in four words. Jesus in my place. Jesus living the life that I should have lived and then dying the death that I was condemned to die in my place. You see, my favorite I am name of all of them is Jesus in Hebrew, Yeshua. Literally, I am your salvation.
And see, because he is my salvation, because he is my salvation, he is also Jehovah Rapha, my healer, because surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed. He is my presence of God with me, who tells me he will never leave me or forsake me. That even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't have to be afraid of evil because his presence stays with me. He is my provider, so that I can say with the Apostle Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, because I know that my God shall supply all my need according to his riches in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is Jehovah, my righteousness, because God made him who knew no sin to become sin for me, so that I could become the righteousness of God in him. You see, righteousness is not a standard that we work up to before God to be accepted by God. Righteousness is a gift of God given to us in God. He doesn't reward my righteousness. He is my righteousness.
Jesus is Jehovah Machedeshkim. He is my sanctifier.
So that I can say with the Apostle Paul, Philippians 1:6, that I am confident that he that began a good work in me will complete it all the way the day that Jesus returns. And I can say with Jude that I know he will present me faultless in his presence with great joy. I know that Jesus is Jehovah Ra, my shepherd. I know that he will never leave me or forsake me. I know that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
And I know that he possesses me and holds me in his hand. And no one, he says, can pluck me out of his hand. He is Jehovah, my peace, because he has removed the wall of condemnation that stood between me and God. And he has said, nothing can separate you from my love, not height, or depth, or principality, or power, or things in the past, or things present, or things to come, not famine, or distress, or sword. No, and all those things.
You are more than a conqueror because you are in me. And he is Jehovah, Sabiod, my defender, because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And he will never stop fighting for me. You see, for all that I am the For all that I lack, for all that I could never be in myself. Jesus is the great I am.
We receive lots of letters here at Summit Life, and one of my favorite ones recently is from someone in one of our local prisons who listens to Summit Life regularly. He said. I don't miss an episode. I've read all of your books, not to mention the rate in which you quote Tim Keller in your sermons is the same rate I quote you in my weekly sermons in the prison chapel. He describes how he found God in his isolation cell.
He said, There on the floor of my solitary confinement cell, I confessed hours worth of sins to God, crying out, begging him to change me. And change me, he did. Everything about me changed. I began calling and writing those I'd wronged to apologize for my past and to share Jesus with them. I've been reconciled with my father, my children, and my ex-wife, and I began to have peace, love, patience, and compassion instead of hate and lust and rage.
Now he's a leader there in that prison. Praise God. I invite you to join us right now in what God is doing through Summit Life with J.D. Greer Ministries. These stories are made by God's faithfulness and your generosity.
Give right now at jdgreer.com/slash donate.
Now let's get back to the message. I realize that you come into this place with all kinds of insecurities and brokenness. You come in with your own doubts and fears. And you say, well, who could possibly be smart enough to figure all this out? Jesus says, I am.
How am I supposed to know which way to go? I am. I'm not really sure who was on my side. I am. Nobody's listening to me.
I am. My marriage is crashing and I don't know where to turn. I am. I'm 50 years old and I'm divorced and I don't fool. No, I feel like I'm starting all over.
I am. Everybody thinks I can't do it. I am. What if I fail again? I am.
I've made so many mistakes. I am. I've given it all that I can give and it's not enough. I am. I can't hold on.
I am. I'm tired. I am. I quit. I am.
I just need a fix or a hit or a pour or a drink. I am. I feel alone. I am. I need a fresh start.
I am. I just need somebody to hold me. I am. For all that you are not, for all that you need, for all that you fear, for all that you crave. He is the great and the eternal.
I am. You see, hope has a name. Because salvation has an aim. And that name is Yeshua, Jesus Jehovah, is your salvation. He is the great I am.
So see this afternoon I really only have two things that I want you to Grab a hold of number one To those of you who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus wants to be these things to you. But you have to choose to receive him. In the Gospel of John, chapter 1. The Apostle John said, But as many as received him To them, he gave the power, the right to become the children of God, even to those that believe on his name.
Believing on his name means. Taking these names for yourself. You see, Jesus is all of those things, but he won't be them to you. Until you receive him, until you believe on him. A friend of mine says that you can.
Tell us somebody's a Christian simply by what name they call Jesus. I think of it like this: I can tell a lot about your relationship with me. Simply by what you call me.
Sometimes I'll get a telephone call at home and I'll answer it, and you've had this happen. Answer the phone and someone will ask for a Mr. Grie R. And immediately, I know this is a telemarketer who doesn't know me at all because, even though my name has an insane amount of vowels in it, it just pronounces one syllable, Greer.
So I know they don't really know me. Occasionally somebody will call me Dr. Greer. At that point, I know they know a little bit about me, they know my educational past, but they don't know me that well because literally nobody in my life. refers to me as Dr.
Greer. For a while when I was younger, I had a group of friends that called me Jay Dizzle.
So when I get a message from Email or something, and it starts with Jay Dizzle. I know it's going to be one of those friends. I have four people in my life who call me. Daddy? And I've got one person in my life who calls me Mega Man.
That is my wife Ron. I can tell, I can tell your relationship to me simply by what you. Call me. Here's the question. What do you Call Jesus.
Is he your Jehovah Rapha, your healer, is he your salvation? Is he your everlasting father? Is he your redeemer, your restorer, your righteousness, your savior, your hope of heaven? I am not asking you if you believe all of those things to be true about Jesus. I'm asking you if you have received those things for yourself.
Not if you believe in him, but if you have believed on him and received him as yours. You see, to as many as received him, to them he gave the right and the power to become the children of God to those who believe on his name. The second thing is for those of you who already are believers. I say to you, you have accepted this great name for yourself, his great name. Are you living now in the fullness and the confidence that comes with that name?
You see, the third of the ten commandments that God gave to Moses tells us not to take the Lord's name in vain. Growing up in Sunday school, that was always taught to me: don't use God's name as a swear word or as an exclamation. Don't say, oh my God, or Jesus Christ, or something like that, and that's certainly true. But when you pay attention to the commandment, it wasn't just a command on how to use God's name. It was a command about how to take God's name.
Think about it like this, and in times past. There was a beautiful girl named Veronica Marie McPherson. And on the greatest day of her earthly life, she became a Greer. When she took my name. She became one with me.
She became part of me. And that meant that literally everything that I had became hers. It wasn't that much, so it wasn't that great of a deal for her, but... We became one.
So all the properties of being a Greer were now attached to her. You see, when you become a Christian, you take the name of God to yourself, the name I am. And what that means is that all the properties of the I am become yours. That means that what he is, you now have.
So the Apostle Peter could declare that we are a partaker in him of the divine nature. And the Apostle Paul could say we are an inheritor of all the divine promises, that all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus for us. And that means that when you, like Moses, say no to God, or you cower before an assignment because you think, no, God, I can't because I am not righteous enough. I'm not smart enough. I'm not capable enough.
You are taking his name in vain because even though you are not, he is and you are now one with him. When you say, but I am so stupid, I'm a loser, I'm such a terrible mom, God says, but I am not any of those things, and I am in you. Therefore, you are not either. What I am, you now are.
So stop taking my name in vain. You say, Ah, bye, God, but I am so dysfunctional. He says, Yet I am so complete. You say, I am so deficient. He says, But I am so sufficient.
You say, I am so doubtful. He says, But I am so faithful. You say, I am so sinful. He says, But I am so graceful. You say, I am so weak.
He says, But I am so strong. Whatever you are not, whatever you need, whatever you lack, whatever you did not get from your parents, or your teacher, or your coach, or your boss, or your husband, or your boyfriend, whatever you're not getting from somebody else, I am. And when the doubters and haters in your life say to you, Who do you think you are? You say, I don't think I'm anything, but I know I know the great I am. And when your own hearts whisper, you are not, we shout back, you are right.
But he is, and I am in him. Christ in me, the hope of glory. Christ in me, the promise of eternal life. Christ in me, the power for living. The victory belongs to Jesus.
The victory belongs to him. And thank God, I belong to him. Who will stand against the Lord? No one can. No one will.
Let me ask you all over this place and all three floors for you to bow your heads with me for just a minute if you would. I want to end this by giving you a chance. If you never have. To receive Christ as your Savior, to believe on Him for yourself. He is all of their states.
He's Savior, He's righteousness, He's salvation. He's restorer, he's sanctifier, he's healer, but you have to choose to receive him. Uh If you want to receive him and you're not sure if you ever have, you can say something to him like this. These are not magic words. But if they come from your heart, he'll hear it.
Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that I need you. Yeah. I receive you. As my Savior. And I surrender to you.
That's Laura. Say it to him from your heart. I receive you as Savior and I surrender to you as Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. Father, I want to thank you.
For those God that are here because somebody invited them. who've understood this maybe for the first time. And you brought them here because you were in pursuit of them. God, in this moment, they just open up their heart to trust you as their Savior. We give you thanks for that.
We give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you look up here, man? Look up here at me for just a second. Here's what I want us to do.
We're going to celebrate the beauty of The great I am. I'm gonna ask everybody, this is gonna be a little unusual, it's gonna take a little courage, okay? I'm gonna go ahead and admit this. But I want everybody in the room to take out their cell phone. Everybody take out your cell phone right now, just reach down there and find it.
If just a second ago, a few couple minutes ago, you Prayed with me. To trust in Jesus as your Savior, to receive Him for yourself. If you prayed that just a minute ago with me. For the first time or the first time you really grasp it. I want you to Turn on the little flashlight.
On your cell phone. Just turn it on. Right now, turning it on, I want you to hold it up.
Some of the family, you kind of turn around and look, hold these up for a second, and why don't you celebrate with me those that God has brought here? Hold it up, keep it up, keep it up, keep it up, keep it up. If you're listening to this as it's released, then thank you for spending part of your Christmas Eve with us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. As God has blessed you this past year through the teaching of this ministry, will you extend that gift to someone else by donating today? Your support right now is critical to help us continue this ministry in the coming months, and we'd love to have you partner with us.
And don't forget, you're also sending the Bible into some of the darkest places in our country. We've partnered with 11 correctional facilities to distribute God's word behind bars.
So together, we can both start 2026 strong and share the gospel where it's needed most. Give online at jdgreer.com. We'll see you next time. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.
