Giving Jesus His rightful place

“Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” This passage from Revelation 1: 17 was used by Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider for the divine service he held in Rome, Italy’s national capital, on 28 November 2015. Coming from the south of the country, many of the 270 sisters and brothers had already arrived in the city the day before.

… in the plan of salvation

“In the language of the Bible this means: I was there from the beginning and will be there until the end,” the Chief Apostle said in explanation of the Bible text. “This is a beautiful message. Do not be afraid: God is there and He will not change. He is and remains truth, grace, love, and victory.”

The Chief Apostle went on to explain what “the First” means with respect to Jesus Christ.

• “Jesus is not simply a prophet who came to earth and proclaimed an amazing doctrine. He was “there before the world was created”. Or more simply put: Jesus is God.
• “Jesus is the very first human being to ever resurrect and enter heaven. He wants us to follow Him. He has opened the way for us and made it possible.”
• “Christ suffered first, but He also proved that it was possible to endure until the end. Suffering and persecution will not prevent us from reaching our goal, however.”

And when Jesus says, “I am … the Last” it means the following:

• “I will have the last word! I will be the one who decides in the end! I will be the last to judge!”
• “I will remain with you, I will intercede for you, and I will defend you until the end.”
• “Whatever you have done to the naked, the weak, the sick, and the stranger, you have done to Me.”

… in our hearts

“The Son of God is to be the first in our hearts,” Chief Apostle Schneider called on the congregation.

• “When we experience joy, when something turns out well, our first thought is: ‘This is a gift from my Lord.’ If we have to go through a test or experience an injustice or pain, we turn to Him for counsel and help.”
• “Our opinions are important. We listen to what people have to say, what their experience is, what society expects of us.” But His word and will are more important that anything else.”
• “His inspiration is the first thing we put into action. We serve Him first. He is the first where offering and sacrifice are concerned. He is our number one priority.”

The Son of God should also be the last.

• “We are determined to remain with the Lord until the last day. He is the last one we would ever leave.”
• “The Son of God has the last word in our lives. We do not always immediately agree with the Lord Jesus. We have to struggle with ourselves until the Lord Jesus really has the last word.”
• “No one can earn the kingdom of God. We know very well that only the Lord Jesus is able to take the final step for us. We need His grace!”

What counts is our willingness

“I am the First and the Last” is a simple Bible text, the Chief Apostle says, “but one that often gives us a hard time when we try to put it into action. If we are willing to arrange our lives accordingly, our heavenly Father will give us the strength we need to clean up in our hearts and put everything in its proper place.”