Before “The First and the last” came to earth He made this statement in Isaiah 44:6.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
“The first and the Last then said in Rev 1:17-18 that He had been dead.
Re 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Re 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
The “First and the Last” can only say that He was “Dead” if, when a portion of Himself was on Earth (and separated from The Fathers Glory, John 17) He did not cease from being the only true God as mentioned in Isaiah 44:6.
The two statements (Isaiah 44:6 and Rev 1:17-18) are reconciled to one another in the following brief article.
Look at the “fulness” concept from another angle or perspective.
If Jesus is the “Bodily fullness” and yet The Father is greater, it means that the Father cannot be limited to a body, because He is a Spirit.
Think of the mountain and stone in Daniel 2:34.
Dan 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
1. Jesus was with God and was God, Jn 1:1.
John 1:1 ¶In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. A body was prepared for Him, Heb 10:5.
Heb 10:5 ¶Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
3. He made our redemption possible John 1:12.
John 1:12 KJV — But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
4. Then He went back to the situation He existed in before, and He was glorified with the same Glory He had with the Father before the world was, Jn 17:5.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
5. A portion of God the Father had became man, who was during His earthly ministry still joined to God the Father by the Holy Spirit. Then the stone again became a part of the mountain and assumed His former Glory. This rejoining is defined in 1 Cor 15:28 as subjecting Himself to the Father.
We can now be joined to God while we are in our fleshly bodies just as Jesus was during His earthly ministry, through the Holy Spirit, John 17:21.
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.