O Lord, Thy being is of old
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Christ is the First, the Last, the Beginning, and the End. The First, the Last, the Beginning, and the End are all He. Revelation 22:13 says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." When I first read the Bible, I did not understand this word; I felt that the Bible was somewhat repetitive. I thought that the First and the Last were the same as the Beginning and the End. However, the Bible says that Christ is the First and the Last; He is the first One, and He is also the last One; He is the Beginning and the End. Is this repetitive? I gradually received the light to understand that the First means the first One, and the Last means the last One. Hence, one of the hymns we sing says,
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[Stanzas 3-5]
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As to the first, Christ is the foremost; as to the last, Christ is the hindmost. The beginning is He, and the end is also He. He is always the First; no one precedes Him. He is also the Last; no one is behind Him. Furthermore, He is the Beginning and the End. You can be the first, but you may not be the originator. You can also be the last, but you may not be the finisher. Christ is not only the First but also the Originator; He is not only the Last but also the Finisher. In other words, in this universe from beginning to end, all is Christ.