The Aseity of God — Exodus 3:14

At the burning bush God names himself in Exod 3:14: "I AM WHO I AM." The divine name discloses God's self-existence — he depends on nothing outside himself for his being. Aquinas built his metaphysics on this text, naming God ipsum esse subsistens, being itself. Augustine contrasted God's unchanging 'I AM' with the mutable creature that merely becomes. Bavinck made aseity the root of all the incommunicable attributes. Jesus invokes this very name in John 8:58, "before Abraham was, I am," claiming divine self-existence for himself. The God who simply is stands behind the sovereignty of Eph 1:11.