Who Hath Wrought And Done It, Calling The Generations From The Beginning? I The Lord, The First And With The Last; I Am He! - Part 1935

"Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last." (Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 1:7-8)

To be clear, the Lord Jesus said, "I am He that is in the world and the world knew Me not. I am He -- the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. I am He -- the Alpha and Omega! I am He -- the King of kings and Lord of lords. And My Name is above every other name given to mankind from the beginning of time. In My Name there is salvation. There is hope, and there is abundant life.

What is that Name? As the angel of the Lord declared, His Name is JESUS for He shall save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21-23; Acts 4:12; Revelation 1:8; I Timothy 3:16; John 1:10-11; Genesis 1:1-2; Isaiah 9:6; Titus 3:4-7; Titus 2:13)

Emmanuel, being interpreted, God with us. (Matthew 1:23)

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation." (II Corinthians 5:19)

As Jesus told His disciples, "he that believes on Me, believes not on Me but on Him that sent Me." (John 12:44-45)

And so it is written -- "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." (I Corinthians 15:45-49)

As a Son clothed in sin-prone flesh (yet without sin) the promised/prophesied Christ was born of a virgin -- in whom the Father tabernacled (dwelled) to reconcile the world back unto Himself. As we read in the book of Acts, which outlines the apostle's understanding of Jesus, and His revealed identity after the cross, we learn that the Son was made of the seed of His father David according to flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness. Note that the Spirit was given unto Him by no measure.

Peter (standing with the eleven) declared, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.

For David speaketh concerning Him, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore, did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance."

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make Thy foes thy footstool." Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:23-36)

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Indeed, the express image. We can achieve clarity on this point in the first chapter of Hebrews. But the bottom line is this. Jesus is the only true God and Father that we will ever see. Jesus told His disciples this when He said that if they had seen Him [Jesus] they have seen the Father. (John 14:6-12) Also, in John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and My Father are One!"

This explains why Jesus could say, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" and that no man comes to the Father "but by Me!" (John 14:6) Because our heart response must accept His plan of salvation -- the one that God Himself delivered to us on the cross, so that we might understand the extent of His love for His beloved creation. 

"He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11)

And as the apostles declared, after the resurrection, and Jesus was taken up wherein after He was taken up, He through the Holy Ghost gave commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen. 

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)

Not another, but the same God who loved us from the very beginning robed Himself in flesh so that we might find real life purposes in Him and through Him. After the love and kindness of God our Saviour toward man appeared. (Titus 3:4-7)

Apostle Paul offers a simple explanation when he writes in Ephesians"

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is One body, and One Spirit, even as ye are called in One hope of your calling;

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things).

And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love ..." (Ephesians 4:1-16; Proverbs 30:4-6)

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10) 

Every word of God is pure, and He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Meditate upon these things. Stand in the offering plate.