Isaiah 47 this AM. In the Old Testament, Babylon is, of course, an actual city-state & a rising & falling empire but it also becomes symbolic of human decadence, of a society given over to self. Chillingly, Babylon’s slogan in Isaiah 47:8,10 is,
“I am, and there is no one else.”

To fully appreciate the audacity of Babylon’s motto, peruse the previous chapters of Isaiah in which God declares emphatically, repeatedly, “I am God, & there is no other.” The thing about God is that, when we insist long & hard enough on having it our way, sometimes He lets us.

We are flagrantly indoctrinated in our worldly culture to live by exactly the same slogan: “I am, & there is no one else.”
I am who I say I am. Don’t tell me what to do. Don’t infringe upon any of my rights. Don’t get in my way. Don’t even get in my selfie.
I am the Great I am.

Search Scripture from 1st to finish & find that nothing gets on God’s nerves quite like idolatry. Our culture is an erupting volcano of mini gods. We’ve gold-plated our own images in the lava. Deified the great self.
“I am, & there is no one else.”
Oh yes there is. There is God.

And He will let us prove what very poor gods we make.

It is in this very culture the motto of the Jesus-follower echoes in stark contrast. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me & the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me & gave Himself for me.”