I was listening to this message by John Piper on John Calvin given in 1997. He began his talk by reading the passage in Exodus 3:14-15 where God declares Himself to Moses to emphasize the necessity for declaring the supremacy of God. The following ( emphasis mine ) stood out so strongly to me. “One who never had a beginning but always was and is and will be, defines all things. Whether we want Him to be there or not, He's there. We don't negotiate with Him for what we want reality to be. The arrogance of man! Oh, the way God is talked about! The arrogance of human beings as if we can negotiate the kind of God we get! When we come into existence, we stand before God who made us. He owns us. We had absolutely no choice in this. You have absolutely no choice in whether you come into being and stand before God and reckon with God. No ranting, no raving, no sophisticated doubt or skepticism has any effect on the existence of God. He simply and absolutely is. 'Tell them, I am ...