Jesus: The Eternal First & Last
The following excerpt is taken from the monumental work titled The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense, authored by Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, published by Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2024, Part 3: The Name of Jesus: Jesus’ Divine Names, Chapter 27: “I Am”: Jesus’ Divine Self-Declarations, pp. 523-526.
In my estimation this is THE best and most comprehensive exposition and defense of the biblical basis for the Deity of Christ. Every serious Trinitarian Christian student of the Holy Bible, apologist, and/or theologian must have this book in the library. Underline emphasis will be mine.
ALPHA AND OMEGA, BEGINNING AND END, FIRST AND LAST
The book of Revelation also presents Jesus as making divine “I am” self-declarations. It uses three titles that mean the same thing: “the Alpha and the Omega” (to alpha kai to ō), referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; “the First and the Last”; and “the Beginning and the End.” None of these titles occurs elsewhere in the New Testament. The title “the First and the Last” clearly originates at least in part from Isaiah, in which the Lord insists that he is the only God: “I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. . . . I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. . . . I am he; I am the first, and I am the last” (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12). In the context of Isaiah’s prophecies, the Lord is asserting in these statements that he is the one in control of Israel’s future and that God’s people have a sure hope of restoration.
Beyond controversy, Revelation applies the title “the First and the Last” to Jesus at least twice: “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades” (1:17b–18 CSB). “Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life” (2:8 CSB). Jesus asserts that by his death and resurrection he has conquered death, and he is assuring his people of their future resurrection and vindication in the age to come. Thus, the title “the First and the Last” as applied to Christ has a theological significance in Revelation that is parallel to its application to Yahweh in Isaiah.
Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that Revelation also applies the titles “the Beginning and the End” and “the Alpha and the Omega” to Jesus. They point out that these titles apply explicitly to God (Rev. 1:8; 21:6). Near the end of the book, however, both titles appear alongside the title “the First and the Last,” which we know belongs to Jesus:
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev. 22:12–13 NLT)
The speaker’s statement, “I am coming soon” (erchomai tachu), is the second of three such declarations in the closing lines of the book (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20). Jesus is very clearly the person speaking in the third of these statements: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (22:20). Jesus made the same declaration at least twice earlier in the book, quoted with the same Greek words (2:16; 3:11). No one else in Revelation says he is “coming quickly,” and this is not said about anyone else, including the Father. Stafford attempts to rebut this point by noting that in Revelation 11:14 the expression is not used of Jesus’ coming.51 However, there it is not a person but “the third woe” that John says “is soon to come” (erchetai tachu).
In the same context as one of his declarations that he is coming soon (Rev. 2:16), Jesus also warns that he is the one who will repay people according to what they have done (2:23). Here again, this role is attributed in Revelation only to Christ. Thus, the internal evidence of the book as a whole, as well as the immediate context in verse 20, strongly supports the view that the speaker in Revelation 22:12 is Jesus.
What, though, about Revelation 22:13? There certainly is no indication that the speaker changes between Revelation 22:12 and 22:13.52 The book has already called Jesus “the First and the Last” twice (1:17; 2:8). It has also called Jesus “the Beginning of the creation of God” (3:14 NKJV), using the same word for “Beginning” (archē) as in the expression “the Beginning and the End” in Revelation 22:13. In view of these contextual elements, and the fact that “the Alpha and the Omega” and “the Beginning and the End” are undoubtedly synonymous with “the First and the Last,” we conclude along with a near consensus of scholars that Revelation 22:13 does assign these titles to Jesus.53 This text, then, provides an extremely strong affirmation of the deity of Christ. As Richard Bauckham comments, “As a way of stating unambiguously that Jesus Christ belongs to the fullness of the eternal being of God, this surpasses anything in the New Testament.”54
THE REVELATION OF THE NAMES OF JESUS
The book of Revelation assigns other divine names or titles to Jesus. For example, it refers to Jesus as the “husband” or bridegroom of the people of God (Rev. 19:7–9; 21:2, 9), a motif found elsewhere in the New Testament (e.g., Mark 2:19; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:23–27). This idea derives from the Old Testament motif of Yahweh as the husband of Israel (e.g., Isa. 54:4–8; Jer. 31:31–32; Hos. 2:1–3:5).55 Revelation also calls Jesus “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14) and the reverse form, “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16). Here again, the title derives from Old Testament descriptions of Yahweh (Dan. 4:37 LXX; cf. Deut. 10:17; Ps. 136:2–3).56
The very wealth of divine titles with which the New Testament writers shower the Lord Jesus Christ shows that they are serious when they refer to Jesus as Lord and God. The Gospels report that Jesus was careful during his earthly ministry to speak of his divine identity humbly and indirectly, and yet at times his self-declarations were recognized by his contemporaries as implicit claims to deity (e.g., John 8:58–59). The New Testament writers are themselves less reserved: they call Jesus Christ “God,” not once, but several times (John 1:1, 18; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20), and affirm numerous times that Jesus is “Lord,” doing so in contexts that equate Jesus with YHWH, the God of the Old Testament (e.g., Rom. 10:9–13; 1 Cor. 8:6; Phil. 2:9–11; 1 Peter 2:3; 3:15).
The New Testament gives Jesus all these names in the broader setting of a pervasive attitude of exalting the name of Jesus above every other name (Eph. 1:21; Phil. 2:9–11). Thus, if we are to be faithful to the teaching of the Bible, we must acknowledge Jesus Christ as our great God and Savior.
51. Stafford, Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended, 2nd ed., 186.
52. So, rightly, Carrell, Jesus and the Angels, 116.
53. E.g., Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, New Testament Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 55–58; Beale, Book of Revelation, 1138; Buist M. Fanning, Revelation, ZECNT (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 560.
54. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 56–57.
55. See especially Michael Tait, Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom, in Mark 2:18–22: Mark’s Christology Upgraded, AnBib 185 (Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2010).
56. See further Beale, Book of Revelation, 881.
I now quote the verses, which the authors mentioned so the readers can see for themselves how the NT ascribes to Jesus the very titles, names and functions, which the Holy Bible attributes to the one true God.
YHWH God
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” Deuteronomy 10:17
“Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;” Psalm 136:2-3
And the king cried out to Daniel and said, "It is certain your God is God of gods and Lord of lords and Lord of kings who alone brings to light hidden mysteries, because you have been able to disclose this mystery!" Daniel 2:47 (Old Greek, translated by R. Timothy McLay, in A New English Translation of the Septuagint, including corrections and emendations made in the second printing (2009) and corrections and emendations made in June 2014, published by Oxford University Press, p. 998; emphasis mine)
“Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, 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, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.” Isaiah 48:12
“And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’” Revelation 21:6-7
Jesus Christ
“to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:14-16
“They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” Revelation 17:14
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11-16
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’” Revelation 1:17-18
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.’” Revelation 2:8
“‘Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end... I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’... He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” 22:12-13, 16, 20-21
Unless stated otherwise, scriptural references taken from the English Standard Version (ESV)
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