Today, Wednesday January 19
“The Alpha and the Omega” Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
The overriding theme of the Book of Revelation is the return of Jesus Christ to defeat all evil and to establish His reign. Now for the next couple of days we want to think about the titles that Jesus has!
The titles given to God in Revelation 1:8 make it clear that He is certainly able to work out His divine purposes in human history. God first proclaims Himself to be the “Alpha and Omega”. This is quite a remarkable statement in the Greek language. The alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. From an alphabet you make words, and Jesus Christ is called the "Word of God" -- the full revelation and intelligent communication of God. Jesus is the only alphabet you can use to reach God, my friend.
The only language God speaks and understands is the language where Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega and all the letters in between. He is the "A" and the "Z," and He is the "ABC." If you are going to get through to God the Father, you will have to go through the Son, Jesus Christ.
Here the emphasis is upon the beginning and the end. Here in the original Greek the Omega is not spelled out as is the Alpha. Why? Because Christ is the beginning, and the beginning is already completed. But the end is yet to be; so He didn't spell out the Omega in this instance. One day He will complete God's program. This is a very interesting detail in the Greek text.
"The beginning and the ending" refers to the eternity of the Son and His immutability. Concerning this, Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." When it says that He is the same, it does not mean that He is walking over yonder by the Sea of Galilee today. He is not. But it means that in His attributes He is the same. He has not changed. He is immutable. Since He is the beginning and the ending, He encompasses all time and eternity.
God the Father is called "Alpha and Omega" in Revelation 1:8, 11, and 21:6. He also has the title "the first and the last" (Revelation 1:11). This takes us back to Isaiah 41:1-4, where Isaiah is prophesying of the coming Messiah: "Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. "Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow? Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ' I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.' "
And in Isaiah 44:6, we again read: "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” In Isaiah 48:11-13, the prophet goes on to say: “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. "Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, They stand up together.”
My friend, from these titles of God you can rest assured that our God is able to able to complete that which He has begun. My life verse is Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
God always keeps His promises! You can trust Him today to meet every need in your life!
God bless!