God Alone Is the First and the Last

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





God Alone Is the First and the Last
In eternity God WAS alone. He is the First and He is the Alpha. Then God created all creatures; all of them are the work of His hand. No one among men can say that He is the Alpha or the First because primeness is God's alone. That is why we find God attributing this quality to Himself, saying in the Book of Isaiah: "I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no God' (Is. 44:6); "I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens" (Is. 48:12,13), and: "I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me" (Is. 43: 10).