The First And The Last

What is the meaning of "the first and the last", "the firstborn from the dead" and Jesus being compared to Adam?

The First And The Last

The Bible and The Quran both mention "the first and the last, as it is written, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Revelations 22:12, NIV), and "He is the First and the Last ..." (Quran 57:3, Sahih)

Also, it is written, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matthew 20:16, NIV) and "But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." (Matthew 19:30, NIV)

This is layered in meaning. Let's take a look:

1. In The Bible, it means that Jesus is the First person to enter into the quality of bestowal and He is the Last person to complete/finish the quality of selfishness.
2. It also means that Jesus is of the Last generation of selfishness and He is also of the First generation of bestowal. When our internal qualities change from selfishness to bestowal, we'll become the last generation of selfishness and the first generation of bestowal.
3. In The Bible and The Quran, the concept of first and last also relates to others things as well. For one, it relates to the inverse relationship between lights and vessels. The lights of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya and Yechida enter into the vessels of Keter, Chochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin and Malchut in an inverse way.

• When all the vessels have been filled with all the lights the first vessel of Keter will house the last light of Yechida and the last vessel of Malchut will house the first light of Nefesh. This signifies completion and wholeness.
• It also means that all the vessels - from the first vessel of Keter to the last vessel of Malchut - will be fulfilled and all the lights - from the first light of Nefesh to the last light of Yechida - will be fulfilled.
4. The concept of first and last also relates to how we'll become interconnected with each other through our internal qualities - our GE (the first) and AHP (the last). For example, here's how my AHP interconnects with your GE. My AHP (last) and your GE (first) interconnect to create a connection between us. My last is your first and your first is my last.
   
5. Another meaning is connected to the work in the middle line, receiving to bestow, where the first quality of selfishness is used together with the last quality of bestowal to create work in the middle line called receiving to bestow.
6. Also, in the telling of the story of our internal qualities, patterns repeat like fractals where one event parallels another in meaning. The events aren't identical, but they're similar. In this way, events that happened at the beginning (say the big bang) are similar to events that happen at the end (say our qualities changing from selfishness to bestowal). In this way, the first event is considered similar to the last event.
7. Another meaning is the realization of infinity, where the past, present and future become one. So the first and the last are joined together as one.

The Bible and The Quran talk only about our internal qualities, but the language is layered in meaning. One phrase doesn't just mean one thing, it means many things all at the same time.

Firstborn From The Dead

It is written, "... Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead ..." (Revelations 1:5, NIV).

The quality of selfishness is considered dead and the quality of bestowal is considered alive. This means that Jesus is the first person to go through a change in His internal qualities from the quality of selfishness to the quality of bestowal. He is born alive into the quality of bestowal from the dead quality of selfishness. This is why He's called "the firstborn from the dead."

While Jesus is the First person to enter into the quality of bestowal, He's not the last person to enter into the quality of bestowal. Others will also enter into the quality of bestowal, which is why Jesus is called the firstborn.

Jesus and Adam

The Bible and the Quran both compare Jesus to Adam, as it is written "...'The first man Adam became a living being', the last Adam, a life giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45, NIV), and "... the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam." (Quran 3:59, Sahih)

Adam refers to a specific state within our internal qualities, a state when we're first exposed to the qualities of God. Jesus refers to another specific state within our internal qualities, a state when we're first exposed to another level of connection with God.

While the states of Adam and Jesus are different, they're similar in that they're both firsts. Adam is the first of one type of contact with God and Jesus is the first of another type of contact with God. This is why Jesus is compared to Adam.

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.