Day 15: The Alpha and the Omega

Today we will begin to study a title of Jesus which emphasizes that He proceeds out of eternity and spans all time. The title is: Alpha and Omega. It is found in Revelation, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8. Here, the revelator, John, speaks about the visible return of Jesus in Glory, and he says this:

“Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (8) ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

To understand the full meaning of that title, the Alpha and the Omega, we need to be familiar with a little about the Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet begins with the letter alpha and ends with the letter omega. Alpha is the first letter; omega is the last, as for instance, in the English alphabet, a is the first letter; z is the last. We've already seen earlier in these studies that Jesus is the Word of God. When He says, "I'm Alpha and Omega", He means, He's the complete Word of God. Everything that God has to say is summed up in Him. It also means that everything God does begins with Jesus, and everything God does ends with Jesus. He's the beginning and the ending. It says here, "The Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come." That's the same picture. God is now, He was in the past, He will be, all at once. He's Alpha and Omega. It has a particular application to the close of the present age because the age has got to close in Jesus. He's going to be the one to bring this age to its close. As He was Alpha at the beginning, so He will be Omega at the end. This is brought out in Hebrews, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, where the writer says:

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, [The final message of God, the complete and total message is in his Son, Jesus, and of the Son, the writer says this:] whom God appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (NIV)

So you see, Jesus was the beginning of creation. Through Him God made the universe. He was Alpha. He's also the appointed heir of all things. Everything's going to be summed up and come to its culmination in Jesus. As the Creator, He's Alpha. As the heir of all things, He's Omega. He spans all time. He proceeds out of eternity on through time and into eternity. He is the Eternal, the Uncreated, the Only Begotten of the Father, the Beginning and the End. God transcends time, you see, but He also operates in time. There's a double relationship. God works in time but He Himself is outside of time and before time. It's hard for the human mind to comprehend that but there are beautiful pictures in the Scripture which present it to us. For instance, the words of Psalm 90, verse 2, addressed to God:

“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (NIV)

There's always a present tense with God in a sense but He's from everlasting to everlasting. He's from eternity to eternity. He comprehends all time. He's the beginning; He's the ending. He's Alpha; He's Omega.

Prophetically, this truth was specifically applied to the coming Messiah, to the coming King, fulfilled in Jesus. For instance, in Micah, chapter 5, verse 2, the prophet said of the Messiah who was to come:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (NIV)

What a clear prediction that is of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. It was predicted that He was to come out of Bethlehem, the city of David and He was to be the one who was to rule for God, His people Israel. But then it says at the end, "His origins are from of old, from ancient times." Although He was born as the babe in the stable in Bethlehem, His origin is from eternity. He's Alpha and Omega. He came into time but He was not of time. He was from eternity; He is to eternity.