I am the First and the Last, and am the Living One, and was put to death, and behold I am the Living One for ages of ages Rev. i 17, 18;

also this:-

And I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing as if slain; and they were singing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God Rev. x 6, 9.

'From the foundation of the world' signifies from the setting up of the Church, both the Jewish and the Christian. That the Jews did not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human is known. That the Roman Catholics do not is also known and that neither do the Reformed may be seen above (n. 294). By 'the foundation of the world' is not here understood the creation of the world, but the setting up of the Church, for by 'the world (mundus) in the broadest sense is understood the whole world, and the good as well as the evil there, and sometimes the evil only; but in a less wide sense by 'the world' is understood the same as by 'world' (orbis) and by 'land' (terra), thus the Church. That the Church is signified by 'world' (orbis) may be seen (n. 551); also by 'land' (terra) (n. 285). That by 'to found the world and the land' is signified to set up a Church, and by the 'founding' and 'foundation' thereof the setting up is signified, can be established from Isa. xxiv 18; xl 21; xlviii 12, 13; li 13, 16; lviii 12; Jer. xxxi 37; Micah xi 1, 2; Zech. xii 1; Ps. xviii 7, 15 [H.B. 8, 16]; xxiv 2, 3; lxxxii 5; lxxxix 11 [H.B. 12]. 'The world' (mundus) also signifies the Church (Matt. xiii 37-39; John i 9, 10); and the Lord by virtue of faith in Him is termed 'the Saviour of the world' (John iii 16-19; iv 42; vi 33, 51; viii 12; ix 4, 5; xii 46, 47. 'The world' is also the people of the Church (John xii 19; xviii 20). From these passages it can be seen what is signified by the 'foundation of the world' (also Matt. xxv 34; Luke xi 50; John xvii 24; Rev. xvii 8).