There's been a lot of discussion about that phrase. Probably too much. One argument by Søren Kierkegaard is that the phrase is not logically sound because it relates the "am" to the "think" without any proof. I think he just missed the whole meaning. That if "YOU" can relate to the "I" then "YOU" exist. One simple way to relate to the "I" is to think, therefore if I think, then I exist, that something that thinks has to exist!
When Moses asked God what His name was, God replied: "I am" - He didn't even need to say anything about thinking. He knew already! Ha!
Anyway that's not what I really want to write about.
In Genesis it says that God made man in His image. This has been thought about and discussed ever since then. How are we created in God's image? Chances are he's not fat or bald like some of us. Or even tall and skinny like others. So it's not what we look like. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." And God said His name was "I am" so maybe it's because we can think. Many have said it's because we can love. I like that one.
But there's a lot of opinion that animals think and have the capability of love and that they would then have to have been made in the image of God as well. Maybe they have been. The Bible doesn't specifically say they haven't - we just sort of imply that because God said it about us. There are also verses that say that God is Love (Check out 1 John 4:8) and other verses that say that God is "in" everything and can be seen in everything. So maybe animals can love and it's because of God.
I've heard that many believers in God don't believe that animals "go to Heaven" or won't be in the Heavenly Kingdom. Revelation 19:11 says: "Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse!" I thinks it pretty clear that there are animals in Heaven.
But that brings us back to the "made in God's image" statement. The Bible is meant to be read and understood and followed. I don't think God intended to trick us with the statement. I think He wanted us to realize that we are different, that we are like Him in ways that the animal kingdom is not. But in what way?
In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verse 11, in the King James Version of the Bible, it says:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.I think that is the clue. We have eternity in our heart. We can think about eternity. We can ponder life after death. We can relate to God and worship Him as God. I think that's what makes us different.
We love Him because He first loved us, but I expect animals (at least Godly ones) would love Him as well. What makes us different is that we can understand that He is God, Eternal. I would not expect animals to be able to understand that. They might recognize His authority, much like a child will recognize their mother. But they cannot understand or comprehend its significance. And I don't really think animals concern themselves with eternity, with the afterlife. We are definitely different than any other creature.
So we can ponder eternity and that makes us like God. It does not make us as smart as God, though. That's clear from the rest of the verse: "yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Fathom means to understand in depth. So it says no one can truly understand what God has done from beginning to end. No one, not even Stephen Hawking, can understand how God created the beginning of time.
Nor can we truly understand where we are headed. In fact, none of us actually really truly knows where we are! Or what we are like.
I do that all the time. I think I'm doing okay, being nice and all, but it turns out that some people just think I'm a jerk or something. We can't both be right. And since I'm the jerk I get to assume that I'm the one that's right... ha! And yet, I can ponder eternity and I can worship God because I have been created in God's image. It's amazing! I am so thankful for God's love and mercy. I'm guessing that I give Him a chance to put His mercy into practice just about every day. I have a feeling we all do.
I'm also glad that he didn't put eternity in our hearts just to tease us. He plans on taking us there some day, some how. Or maybe because it's eternal it's more like we'll always be on that journey there. I don't know. I don't really understand. But He does. And He's promised to take us there. In John chapter 14, Jesus promises us:
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
