As God, Jesus Christ is before and after all
Only God is before and after all, and is the only Savior:
“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.
[Isaiah 43:10-11]
The Almighty God is the First and the Last:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
[Revelation 1:8]
Who has performed 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]
“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last. Besides Me there is no God.”
[Isaiah 44:6]
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
[Isaiah 48:12]
Jesus Christ, the One who died is the First and the Last:
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. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.” [Revelation 1:17-18a]
Saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos,
to
Thyatira,
to
Sardis,
to
Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” [Rev. 1:11]
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life. [Revelation 2:8]
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. [Rev. 21:6]
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
[Revelation 22:13]
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It was necessary for God to die: The Greek word for covenant is diatheke, which
means will or testament. The NASB is the translation quoted in this chapter because it is the only popular translation that consistently translates the word diatheke with the same English word covenant.
God promised to make a new will or testament with Israel:
For in finding fault with the people, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will bring about a new covenant [Gr: diatheke] with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant [Gr: diatheke]
which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand tTo bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant [Gr: diatheke], and I did not care about them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant [Gr: diatheke] which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
[Hebrews 8:8-10, NASB]
Therefore it was necessary for the maker of this will or testament to die:
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant [Gr: diatheke], so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant [Gr: diatheke], those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a covenant [Gr: diatheke], there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant [Gr: diatheke] is valid only when people are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. [Hebrews 15-17]
* * *