Jesus, the First and the Last.

      People will often pose the question, "Where in the Bible does Jesus say, 'I am God, worship me?'" While that explicit statement is not found in the scriptures, at least not in those words, Jesus does make claims to His divinity in numerous places. One such place is found in the first chapter of Revelation.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, 

saith the Lord, which is, and which was,

and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:8 KJV

     In this verse we see the eternity of God. He has always existed, and always will. One thing that I have always struggled to wrap my mind around is the fact that God has no beginning. He has always been. No one, or no thing has created God. There has been no time where He did not exist. That thought leaves somewhat of a holy mystery to the person and being of God.

     John writes in this book that he was in the spirit on the Lord's day when he heard a great voice behind him (Rev 1:10). 

     I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:  and what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea

(Rev 1:11 KJV).

     The voice John heard behind him was the voice of Jesus. So here we have a statement that Jesus makes. He claims to be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the  last.  John is overwhelmed by the appearance of the glorified Christ and falls at His feet as dead. 

     And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 

     I am he that liveth, and was dead: and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death (Rev 1:17-18 KJV).

     Jesus is making a bold statement here. There can hardly be any doubt as to what He is implying. In making this claim of Himself, Jesus draws on several scriptures found in Isaiah. Lets take a look at them, it will help us in our understanding of what Jesus meant. 

     Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, am the first, and with the last; I am he (Isaiah 41:4 KJV). 

    Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me (Isaiah 43:10 KJV).

     Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Isaiah 44:6 KJV).

     Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last (Isaiah 48:12 KJV).

     The above verses quoted out of Isaiah all refer to the LORD, the eternal one. There is no doubt that this is speaking of God. God affirms in these quotations that He is the first, the last, and there is no other. He is God, the only God. therefore by applying these verses to Himself, Jesus in no uncertain terms is claiming to be Yehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The eternal one who has existed from eternity past, who is, and is yet to come. 

     

     

     

     

     

Isaiah Saw Jesus

      Isaiah 6 is a chapter well known to many. In it we read of Isaiah's experience of being in the presence of the Lord.

     In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe  filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." and the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 

     Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and  I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts (Isaiah 6:1-5 NASB).

     There is no doubt that Isaiah saw God. The Hebrew word translated LORD is Yehovah, the self existing, eternal one. What Isaiah saw was an awesome manifestaion of the glory of the LORD, while Seraphim cried "Holy, holy, holy," and the temple shook. In fact Isaiah was undone in the presence of Yehovah God.

     As we read on we see that one of the Seraphim flew toward him with a coal from the altar, and touched his lips, purging his sin, and taking away his iniquity (Isaiah 6:6-7). 

     In John's gospel we read of the final events of Jesus' ministry in the days leading up to His arrest and crucifixion. John 12:38 tells us that in spite of all the signs that He had performed before the people, they did not believe in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED (John 12:38 NASB)?

     In spite of three years of ministry, teaching, and miracles of every kind, the people in general rejected Jesus as their Messiah, as the very Son of God. In describing the manner of death by which He was to die, the people asked, "Who is this Son of Man?" They were confused by His use of this divine title (Daniel 7:13-14), believing that the Messiah was to remain forever (John 12:32-34).

     All this was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:1. Jesus, the Arm of the LORD had been revealed to Israel, as Yehovah God, their God and king, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet they did not believe. Isaiah 53 continues on to show the events that were yet to come in the life of Jesus. It speaks of the horror and injustice of his arrest, torture and death. However it also shows us why. He suffered all of this as a sacrifice for sin; to bear the iniquity of mankind so that we could be reconciled to God. And the unbelief of the people played into this as the events unfolded.

     John also quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 to show that the unbelief of the Jews fulfilled prophecy,

     For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM."

     These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him (John 12:39-41 NASB).

     Whose glory did Isaiah see? and who was Isaiah speaking of? John is showing us that the words of Isaiah were being fulfilled before their very eyes. Isaiah had prophesied of this. It was Jesus whose glory that he saw. Jesus was the LORD high and lifted up, seated on the throne, and it was Jesus whom Isaiah spoke of.  Jesus the "Word become flesh, who is the image of the invisible God, in whom all the fullness of God dwells in bodily form (John 1:14, 12:44-45, Col 1:15, 19).

     

     

     

     

     

In Whom Did Abram Believe?

 In the beginning was the Word...

John 1:1

 

     We read in Genesis 15 the account of Abram and the son promised him by the LORD. in verse 1 we read,

     After these things, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision saying, "Do not fear,  Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great." (Gen 15:1 NASB)

     We see that the word of the LORD came to Abram. This was in a vision. Was it a voice from heaven, or did this word come in some other way?  Abram responds to this with a request for an heir, a child, as he was childless (Gen 15:2-3). Now the word of the LORD comes to Abram. First in a vision and now as a person as we will see.

    

     Then behold the word of the LORD came to him saying, "This man will not be your heir, but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (Gen 15:4-5 NASB)

     Notice that the word of the LORD is personified in these two verses. The pronoun He, is used in referring to the word of the LORD here. The word of the LORD takes Abram outside and asks him to count the stars. This is someone present before Abram who then speaks to him further and promises Abram that his descendants would be exceedingly numerous. 

     Abram believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6)

     Abram believes in the LORD in whose presence he is standing. The word of the LORD reveals himself to Abram as the LORD who called him out of Ur to go to a land which he would be given to possess. This divine being then makes a covenant with Abram as well. (Gen 15:7-21). So who is this? 

     We read in John 1:18, that no one has seen God at anytime, but the only begotten in the bosom of the Father has explained or revealed Him. This is Jesus, the one in whom all the fullness of deity dwells (Col 2:9). This same Jesus is revealed as the Word in John 1:1-5, 14. The one who came to Abram,  the one in whom Abram believed was Jesus Himself, appearing in a pre-incarnate form as the word of the LORD.

     

The Eternity of God.

     Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
     Before the mountains were born, or you gave birth to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
                                        Psalm 90:1-2 NASB

     It is of the utmost importance that we know God. Correct theology, and doctrine has its place of importance in understanding God. However there is a danger in seeking to define God. In desiring to know and understand God, we tend to shrink Him down to a manageable level; something that our finite minds can grasp. We want a God we can completely understand, without having to stretch our minds, or leave some things to faith.
     In doing this we place God within a box so to speak. We create a small god, someone who is limited much like we are. We bring Him down a little closer to our level, someone a lot like ourselves, of course with some divine attributes.
     The idea of eternity is one of those concepts that our minds, at least my mind, cannot grasp completely. In some sense, I can understand that time will march on for eternity, never ending, going on for ever and ever. I think that many, if not most of us can grasp the fact that our souls will exist throughout eternity, and God as well, exists forever, with no end.
     The tough one for me is the fact that God has existed from eternity, He has no beginning, as well as no end. That is impossible for the mind to fully comprehend. However hard to understand, it is still fact. As the above text states, God has existed from everlasting, and will continue on with no end (Psalm 90:2, 93:2).
     This is one of God's divine attributes. This is what makes Him God. He has always been and will always be. Nobody created God, there was no cosmic bang, or any other thing that was responsible for God to come into existence. He has always been.
     Sometimes it is good for us to have our view of God stretched. It is good for us to be unable to apprehend some of the truths about the very person of God. It keeps us in awe of Him, in awe of His character and majesty. It tends to produce a holy fear of Him in our hearts. It keeps us from creating a smaller god, one that we can be comfortable with.
     The biblical account of creation presupposes the existence of God, when it tells us "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). God already existed to create the world. We see the same thing in Proverbs, where we are told that God possessed wisdom at the beginning, at creation. In fact God has always possessed wisdom, from everlasting it has been established (Proverbs 8:22-31).
     When Moses was confronted by God in the burning bush, he wanted to be able to tell the Israelites who sent him. God said. "I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). God revealed Himself to Moses as the eternal God. In the same way, Jesus declared Himself eternal, thus making Himself equal with God (John 8:58).
     Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah foretold the birth of One, "whose goings forth are from eternity" (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ has existed from eternity. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). He is eternal, as is the Holy Spirit who was also in existence at creation (Gen 1:2).
     We also see the eternity of God in the worship that is ascribed to Him.

     Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
                              Revelation 4:8b

     The angelic beings have worshiped God from their beginning.They worship the one who has always been, who now is, and who will always be. The first worshipper, has worshipped the God who has already existed before him. In Revelation 4:8, every living thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, worship the eternal God.
     God is indeed the high and exalted One, holy, and eternal (Isaiah 57:15). This scripture paints an awesome picture of God. He is far above us. He cannot be brought down to a manageable level, to a place where we can be more comfortable with our views of Him. Yet He will dwell with those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
     Paul speaks of God in a similar fashion.

     Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
                              1 Timothy 6:16 NASB

     Paul is encouraging Timothy to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the return of Christ. Likewise we are to fight the good fight of faith until Christ returns for those of us who remain faithful to Him (1 Tim 6:12-16).
     It is true that God is lofty. As God He transcends everything that we can imagine, yet He considers those who with broken hearts, will surrender their lives to Him and His service.
     The idea of an eternal God should cause us to fear and reverence Him, for it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10). Who are we as created beings to think that we can define God as we please? Get into the word of God with passion and purpose, determining to know God. Make it your all consuming pursuit, and He will lead you to the true knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 2:1-5).