CHRIST the BEGINNING: In John 1:1, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as “In the beginning.” This chapter declares Him as the Eternal God, for before any created thing—all of which He made (v 3)—He existed. In 1 John 1:1, He is “from the beginning.” Go back as far as the mind can conceive. Beyond that, beyond every motion or action or thing, is the One whom “we have heard, …have seen with our eyes,…have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (v 1). But in Revelation 1, He IS the Beginning (see v 8). He is the Divine Planner of History’s love drama, the Great Initiator of God’s triumphant will, the First Cause and Prime Mover of all He knew to be in the Father’s mind and heart, whose workmanship will eternally be on display, declaring at a cosmic scale far grander that the speakers meant or could understand, that “He has done all things well” (Mk 7:37). Then “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied” (Isa 53:11). And of course we shall be delighted as well!