Day 16: There's Nothing Outside Of Jesus That We Need

Yesterday we saw that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the “One Who’s origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Jesus says the same about Himself. He was speaking to the Jewish people about their relationship and His relationship to Abraham. They were claiming that they were descendants of Abraham and in essence they said that's all that really matters. But Jesus said something to them that absolutely startled and shook them. He said, "Your father, Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You were not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" That's His eternity, that's His timelessness. He was born into time, into human history, but He is from before time. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.

The title Alpha and Omega also depicts the place of Jesus in our individual lives. It's not merely in relationship to creation and the universe that He's Alpha and Omega, but that's the position that He occupies in the life of each one of us who believes in Him. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12, verses 1 and 2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (NIV)

That's what Jesus is, the author, the beginner, the Alpha, the perfecter, the completer, the Omega and as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, we find in Him, and through Him everything we need. There's nothing outside of Jesus that we need. He spans our whole need from Alpha to Omega. The important thing is that we don't take our eyes off Jesus; that we don't start looking in some other direction and think that somehow Jesus is not able to provide all that we need. He can. He is. He's God's whole alphabet, from Alpha to Omega.

Again, we see a beautiful picture of God's dealings with us in Christ in Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 4 through 10:

“For God chose us in him [that's in Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (NIV)

Again, it's from eternity to eternity. Before creation, before time ever began, God chose us in Christ to be His. That was His eternal purpose. Then in time, He called us. He revealed Jesus to us. He transformed us. He made us into His children. And then, above all that, He made known to us the mystery of His ultimate purpose. Let me read those words again, "He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment." When time has run its course, God's purpose is this: "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." It was in Christ that it all began, before time ever began. It's in Christ that it will all end and find fulfilment and completion after time has ended. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. He's all that we need. He's the entire alphabet from Alpha to Omega.