When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last”
Revelation 1:17 (NLT)
The Apostle John under persecution was exiled and isolated on a dangerous island. While left there alone to die, the risen Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and revealed to him what we now have in a book in the Bible called Revelation.
To John and perhaps to all of us what he was going through seemed like the end. It may have looked like the end of life as he knew it. By this time all his fellow apostles (the 12 disciples of Jesus) had already died, killed as martyrs. But the Lord appears to John and lets him know that He’s the first and last. In other words, He’s the beginning and the end. Every thing begins in and with Jesus, everything ends with and in Jesus. In all things He is always there with us in the beginning and remains at the end. He has the final say and this is His say “Do not be afraid” After all is said and done, after the dust settles Jesus still remains there with us and for us giving us assurance. Circumstances, experiences, people, troubles, persecutions, danger, evil or even death do not have the final say in our lives. Only the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last – Jesus Christ our Lord has the final and ultimate say.
He has the final say concerning your life, your health, your destiny. The noisesome threatening symptoms in your body, the doctor’s negative report, the fear striking financial report do not have the first and last say. They are not the highest authority. Jesus is. He stood at Lazarus’s tomb and summoned him back to life of whom it was said that he had long been dead in the tomb, now decayed and stinking. On the Cross He gave the final, last word – “it is finished”