Jesus the Eternal and Omnipotent
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Rev. 1:8, RSV.
And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Rev. 21:6, 7, NKJV.
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Rev. 22:12, 13, NASB.
One of the more interesting titles of Jesus is the fact that He is "the Alpha and the Omega." But is He? In the first use of the term in Revelation it seems to be referring to God the Father. But in the last Jesus uses it of Himself. We have something precious here in the full equality of Jesus and the Father. Both of them are the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega the last.
The Jews had a similar saying. The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is aleph, while the last is taw. The rabbis said that Adam transgressed the law, but Abraham kept the law from aleph to taw. Again, they declared that God had blessed Israel from aleph to taw. That expression, like "the alpha and the omega," indicates a completeness that lacks nothing. When used of Deity it means that God and Christ are complete--that They lack nothing.
That is the kind of infinite Jesus whom we serve. Like the Father, He is one "who is and who was and who is to come." He is "the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Both of those expressions signify the absolute eternalness of Jesus. Thus He was before time begun, He is now, and He will be through the ages without end. He is One in whom people trusted in the past. Now He is one in whom we can put our trust at this present moment. And there can be no event or time in the future in which He will let us down.
Another description used of God the Father and Jesus in the alpha and omega passages is that They "are Almighty," a phrase used numerous times in the New Testament, almost all of them being in Revelation. Our lives may look weak. And even the church may appear insignificant compared with the forces of the world. But those things are not where we are to focus. "Almighty" describes God and Jesus as Those who control all things, who hold all in Their grasp.
We serve a Lord who is not short of power. He is still "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Rev. 1:8, RSV.
And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Rev. 21:6, 7, NKJV.
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Rev. 22:12, 13, NASB.
One of the more interesting titles of Jesus is the fact that He is "the Alpha and the Omega." But is He? In the first use of the term in Revelation it seems to be referring to God the Father. But in the last Jesus uses it of Himself. We have something precious here in the full equality of Jesus and the Father. Both of them are the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega the last.
The Jews had a similar saying. The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is aleph, while the last is taw. The rabbis said that Adam transgressed the law, but Abraham kept the law from aleph to taw. Again, they declared that God had blessed Israel from aleph to taw. That expression, like "the alpha and the omega," indicates a completeness that lacks nothing. When used of Deity it means that God and Christ are complete--that They lack nothing.
That is the kind of infinite Jesus whom we serve. Like the Father, He is one "who is and who was and who is to come." He is "the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Both of those expressions signify the absolute eternalness of Jesus. Thus He was before time begun, He is now, and He will be through the ages without end. He is One in whom people trusted in the past. Now He is one in whom we can put our trust at this present moment. And there can be no event or time in the future in which He will let us down.
Another description used of God the Father and Jesus in the alpha and omega passages is that They "are Almighty," a phrase used numerous times in the New Testament, almost all of them being in Revelation. Our lives may look weak. And even the church may appear insignificant compared with the forces of the world. But those things are not where we are to focus. "Almighty" describes God and Jesus as Those who control all things, who hold all in Their grasp.
We serve a Lord who is not short of power. He is still "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).
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