8 “To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:
The first and the last, who was dead and has come to life – the Spirit of Christ reinforces His identity as the man Christ Jesus. Christ seems to call Himself “the First and the Last.” But in fact, Christ was the “Word” in the Old Testament, who spoke “as one” with the invisible God, and now continues to speak for God, after the Lord’s Day. This was noted by Irenaeus as mentioned at Rev 2:7.