CELEBRATING THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA

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 – Revelation 1:8

The Lord Jesus Christ introduces Himself: “I AM the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the Beginning and the End…” (Rev.1:8). The words Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Like A and Z, they simply mean “the beginning” and “the end.” But God isn’t speaking about alphabets. He is speaking of reality. God is absolutely the beginning and absolutely the end. Everything that is, originates ultimately in Him. The reality of created life is that things begin and things end; decades come and decades go; projects start and projects end; birth opens the chapter and death closes it. The reality of the Creator is that He has neither beginning nor end; HE IS the Beginning and the End (Rev.21:6; 22:13); the First and the Last (Rev.1:17, 2:8; 22:13).

Jesus consistently buttresses His deity as the Alpha and the Omega (Rev.1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13). Supposedly wise people may argue against this; it remains incontrovertible! These words, as used in Scripture, have an almost unfathomable connotation. Jesus, the Alpha, had no beginning. He existed before time, before the creation of the universe: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jh.1:1). He is the first cause of all that exists: “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (vv.2-3). He therefore cannot be limited by the word Alpha. As the Omega, He is not the “end” as we know it, for in Him there is no end! Actually, He continues to exist into the everlasting, never-ending future. For time and for eternity, Jesus is all we need!

What a Wonder our God is! His reality is awe-inspiring and mind-boggling. He is Eternal, unchanging, always the same. He’s the one “who is and who was and who is to come” (v.8). He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty God. Before Him there was nothing. There was no “before Him.” There was never a time when He was not! God did not emerge out of many possibilities. Everything emerged out of Him. He determines all possibilities: “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Yet, He is our Lord, our Friend, and our Saviour: “…our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Tit.2:13-14). He deserves our praise, our lives, and our all! The Alpha and the Omega deserves to be celebrated.

Since everything comes from God and nothing will outlast Him, God has no competitors: "…I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God!" (Isa.44:6). He has the first word and the last word in history and in our lives. All other attempts to have the last word will fail. His Power can never be challenged. Regardless of how things appear, from A to Z, God is in control! The pottery has no beginning apart from the Potter, and in the end it will only serve the purposes of the Potter. Only the Omega can create “a new heaven and a new earth”, “make all things new” and “give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts” (Rev.21:1, 5-6). Therefore I celebrate the Alpha and the Omega, the eternal Source of my life, my interminable Fountain of Life, and the end to all of my thirst, my longings and my quests!