In John’s writing he touches the divine things. With the divine things there is no beginning and no ending because whatever is divine is eternal, having no beginning and no ending. I believe that John purposely wrote his books using these kinds of expressions. He had an intention to show us that whatever he ministered to us is eternal, with no beginning and no ending. So he told us that Christ is the eternal One. He is the first and He is the last (Rev. 2:8; 22:13b). Because He is the first, no one and nothing is before Him. Because He is the last, no one and nothing is after Him. This indicates that He is everything. Christ as the eternal One may be illustrated by a circle which has no beginning and no ending. Christ occupies everything and every place. He does not give you any position. You are nothing, and He is everything. Hallelujah! He is the first and the last. This is also for life dispensing.
Christ is not only the first and the last, but also the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13c). You may be the first, and yet not be the origination. You may be the last, and yet not be the completion. The Lord Jesus is not only the first, but also the beginning, the origination. He is not only the last, but also the end, the completion, leaving nothing to anyone. He occupies the entire universe. In time, in space, and in every thing He is everything. Hallelujah! He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Origination and the Completion.
Christ is also the beginning of God’s creation (Rev. 3:14). You have to realize that God’s dispensing is to dispense His life into His creature. Who originated the creature? He did! This indicates that the entire creation is under His control, His headship. He is the Beginning, the Origination of God’s entire creation, so the entire creation is under His direction for the purpose of dispensing God into His chosen creatures. When you get into the Bible and see all the items of Christ’s being, you can see they are just for the divine dispensing.
In Revelation 1:18 Christ said, “I am...the living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” For Christ to dispense life, He must be the living One. A dead person can never dispense life to others.
In Revelation 3:7 Christ is revealed as the holy One and the true One. In order to dispense life to others, He must be holy and He must be true. If you are not holy and you are not true, you can never dispense life to others.
Christ is the faithful and true Witness (Rev. 3:14b). He is the true Witness, and He is faithful and true in testifying. He never tells a lie in His testimony. This also is for dispensing. A liar, a false witness, can never give life to others. If you are going to give life to others, you must be faithful, and you must be true. You must have no falsehood. Then you will be qualified to give life to others. Because He is living and holy and faithful and true, He is qualified to impart life into us.
Revelation 3:14a says that Christ is the Amen. What does amen mean? This is the unique, heavenly, and divine language. I believe when we get into the New Jerusalem we will still speak this kind of language. These two words, hallelujah and amen, are universal. The confusion at Babel destroyed the universal language, but two words were not destroyed, hallelujah and amen. Amen simply means “that’s it.” When you say amen you mean “that’s it.” Oh, the divine dispensation is so wonderful. That’s it! Oh, the Triune God dispenses Himself into me. That’s it! I am so happy I am in the church life. Amen! That’s it! The glorious church life! That’s it! It is real, it is yes forever. Amen is a kind of eternal yes. “That’s it” is just Christ Himself. Christ has a name and His name is called Amen—That’s It! This is also for life dispensing.