I Am the First And I Am the Last
(Is 48:12-15)

We should accept sovereignty of God as we become children of God after we believe in Jesus. We should live with God-centered life and Bible-centered life. Also, we should live with positive attitude with giving thanks to God. As our God becomes the first and the last, God who controls according to his will and blesses His children who will follow guidance of God, is with us.

1. The person whom God has called
God had a plan for Jacob before his birth. Even if he didn't live with the will of God at first, however, God didn't give up achieving his will through Jacob. The indentity of Jacob was finally changed into Israel and was able to live as the child of God. (Is. 41:8-9) We are called by God even we are weak and not perfect, but we became the children of God. We should listen to and obey the Word of God by remembering the grace of God.

2. God who is the first and the last
God exists saying that I'm who I'm. God appeared to Isaiah and said he was ‘that God’ who appeared to Moses. It means that God who saved Israel from Egypt also could save the people during the time of Isaiah. God has controlled everything from the birth of universe to the end of the world as the master of the world so God controls the rise and the fall of every nation. God works in our life in the same way. So we should praise and love God believing that God achieves his best will in our life regardless of our situations.

3. God who blesses us
God chose Cyrus king of Persia, a gentile king, to achieve his will. The king, Cyrus destroyed Babylon, one of the power countries at that time and he was used as a tool for God. When we live according to the will of God, we can be used at the tool of God so as to achieve the will of God. God called Israel as the priest nation even Israel people were under oppression of Egypt, walked with them and blessed them when they obeyed God. Like Israel people, we were called by God. There will be many troubles in our life. However, we should depend on God and obey the Word of God. Then God will bless us. (Ps. 1:3) Therefore, let us give thanks to God regardless of our circumstances.