17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
The First and Last is the One who died and is alive forever, joining divine identity to Jesus’ saving death.
These passages identify who is revealed in Jesus: not a lesser god or a separate divine being, but the one invisible God made known in genuine human life.
Apostolic Christology holds the full deity and full humanity of Jesus together. God did not stop being Spirit; He came and acted in the flesh He truly assumed.
Saying God was manifested in flesh does not erase Christ’s humanity, and recognizing genuine Sonship does not require an eternal second divine center beside God.
Move from a direct identity text to an incarnation text, then to image, indwelling, and fullness passages.
See which passages advance, clarify, or answer the argument
