I was reading John chapter 8 last night and came across some interesting reading:

John 8:48-59

Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, “If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, “I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

I find it very interesting that the Jews still considered Abraham as their father even though Jesus stated earlier in verse 44 that the Jews:

are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

In modern Christianity today, I am still seeing this same mentality that the Jews manifested in place. Where the Jews had Abraham, it seems as if:

Some Fundamentalists have Bob Jones and Jack Hyles.
Some Reformers have John Calvin and John Knox.
Some Pentecostals have Azusa Street and the past memory of a 1933 sawdust brush arbor campmeeting where Grandpa ran round and Grandma danced.
Some Word of Faithers have “Dad” Hagin.
Some ‘Theo-politicians’ have James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, and Pat Robertson.
Some Charismatics have signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts.

It seems to me that many of these people who were relevatory in their sphere of influence was eventually turned into the idol they worship by their followers whether it was at the end of their ministry or years after their death. What is more intriguing is that when someone brings up Jesus over their mortal man made idol, they are called ‘demon possessed’. But Jesus set the Jews straight when he stated that “before Abraham was, I AM.“. By stating this, Jesus was stating that long before Abraham walked planet earth, Jesus was in heaven along with Father God. This reminds me of a very popular worship song

Above All
by Paul Baloche & Lenny LeBlanc

Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kindgoms above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasure of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth

Crucified laid behind a stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Jesus is above all, even Abraham (and the Abrahams some moves of God created and their followers later on worshipped)