(Revelation 1:17-18)…..17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Who is that Jesus claims to be? He claims to be the “First and the Last, “I am the living One.” Here we have Jesus reminding John and his readers that He is the Eternal God (Micah 5:2) (John 1:1) (John 8:58) (Colossians 1:17). He is the One who will always “be.” He was there before the beginning and He will be there after the end. You might say Jesus is the book ends of history. Kings come and kings go, but Jesus has, does, and will reign forever, “do you realize this truth?
What we have is a clear claim of diety by the Lord Jesus Himself. The title “First and the Last is recorded in the Old Testament three times (Isaiah41:4) (Isaiah 44:6) (Isaiah 48:12). It is a title that refers to Jehovah God (Revelation 1:1) (Revelation 2:8) (Revelation22:13) of which Jesus declares that He is co-equal – co-eternal with God the Father, that He is God. and that He is God and in control of all things (Colossians 1:16-17).
The people of the Lord stand in a place where they need not have anxiety over anything that life brings because Jesus stands as the “First and the Last.” He is “before all,” “above all,” “under all,” “around all,” “after all,” “He is “all in all,” He is the sum of everything. What is so great about this? Jesus is in control over every part of our life. How does that make you feel? It is so comforting to know that nothing happens in our life without the approval of Jesus (Psalm 46:1-2) (Psalm 91:5-6) (Isaiah 41:10) (Romans 8:28) (Romans 8:35-39).
Notice, He is also the the redeeming One. He said, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” Jesus died at the cross, but His death was unlike anyone elses death in history because He did not die for Himself but for others. He went to the cross to pay a debt that He did not owe, for people who owed a debt they could not pay. That’s us! The great news is Jesus Christ paid the price in full with His own blood to redeem you and I from the His wrath which will come upon this world because of sin and the rejection of Christ (Isaiah 53:4-6) (Galatians 3:10-14) (Ephesians 1:7-10) (Colossians 1:14-22) (Titus 2:14). Today let us be excited because He sits as the One in charge of all things. Let us not be afraid! Why, because He has redeemed us.