“I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.” (Isaiah 41:4)

God tells us two important things about Himself in this verse:

— God was first. He was already in existence when nothing else was. He is the Creator; the “Prime Mover.” As Psalm 90 declares: “Before the mountains were born, or You gave birth to the world, from everlasting … You are God.”

— But although God says in Isaiah 41:4 that He is the first, He does not merely add that He is also the last.  Instead, He specifically says that He is “with” the last. That is because He will not be alone in eternity future. He will have children, subjects, friends, who will abide together with Him forever.  These are the ones who have taken Him up on His promise, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” If we accept Christ as our Lord Savior, we can be in that number: “WITH the last!”

Contrary to some false teaching, humanity did not exist in eternity past. God was alone at the first. He was not “with” the first; He WAS the first, with none other. But through the amazing condescension and sacrifice Jesus made for us, we can indeed be “with” Him at the last!