Isaiah 48:12 - Homiletics

God the First and the Last.

It is readily intelligible, though not by finite minds conceivable, that "God is the First." Something must have existed from all eternity, or nothing could ever have existed. The first existence must either have been matter or spirit, or both. But it could not have been matter alone, since matter could never have produced spirit; and it was not matter and spirit, since the "things that are seen were not made of things that do appear" ( Hebrews 11:3 ). It was therefore spirit alone; and that primeval Spirit which existed apart from matter, and apart from any created spirit, was God. Thus "God is the First"—the First Cause—before all things—the Origin of all things—"Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things, both visible and invisible." But how is he "the Last"? Eternal life is promised to all created beings who do not fall from their first sinless estate, and also to all who, having fallen, repent and amend, turning to God, and putting their whole trust in the atonement of Christ. They will live on eternally in his eternal glory. Actually, then, God will not ever be in the future a single solitary Being, as he once was, but will always be a King and Governor of innumerable hosts of happy spirits, created by himself. Actually he will never be "the Last." But potentially he is "the Last." He could , if he so pleased, destroy with a word all that he has ever created, and be once more alone, without a second. And further, all things are "to him" and "for him"—they exist for his sake; he is their Aim and Object; their sole, final τέλος