I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. (Revelation 22:13)

The Alpha And The Omega

With the dawn of a New Year, there is an air of anticipation for what new adventures will come in the open pages of the promised tomorrows. Calendars are updated with reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, planned trips and great life accomplishments in the coming year. A whole new spirit of trying to start over again engages the hearts of many with a longing for a better year with greater will-power. There is also a reflection on the previous year with what was not accomplished. Success can be found in some places but those first resolutions of the previous year failed to materialize. The challenge for humanity is the inability to change anything of the past and the incompleteness of knowing what will happen in the future. Trapped as victims of the past and prisoners of the present the future becomes the measure of judgment to what will be. Man is finite. He cannot be in two places at once in anything and has a limited understanding of what happened in centuries before and has no power over what may come about in the days of tomorrow. Living in a fragile cocoon of time, the wisdom of human might is a weak strand of life that struggles against the tide of time. Celebrating a New Year is but a slight whimper of a joy that will be short-lived as the heart of man cannot know what the future holds and all that will unfold in the coming days is uncertain. In the midst of man’s limitation stands the Creator of the world who is the Son of God proclaiming that He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Writing the Revelation, John opens up the portals of Heaven to show the declarations of the will of God for His persecuted people. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings who reigns supreme over all men as Lord of Lords. He is the conquering Savior who as the Lamb of God gives His life for the redemption of the saints. In the final scene of God’s Revelation, Jesus is declared to be the alpha and the omega; a term used by the Jewish rabbis of the day to suggest the whole of anything. This phrase is used as alpha was the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and omega was the last letter. A modern phrase would be if something was shown to be from “A” to “Z” meaning completeness. Jesus is not just the beginning and He is not only the end. The Son of God is from beginning to end in relation to the nature of man. Jesus existed before the world was formed and will continue to be God after the world is destroyed. His eyes witnessed the formation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; watched the world be destroyed in the flood of Noah’s day; and traced the journeys of Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets throughout the eons of time. Jesus came to earth in the flesh and was rejected by the Jews and killed on the cross. His Father raised Him up from the grave and seated Him on the throne at His right-hand ruling until the great and terrible day of the Lord will come. All that man can do is begin a New Year and look with hope at days to come. Jesus is the beginning and the end and He is the first and the last. Everything is complete and full in Jesus Christ. There are no limitations or restrictions in the Son of God. His power existed before time began, He reigns on this first day of the year and He will have preeminence all year long and beyond. There is no limitation to the Son of God.

Through the grace and mercy of God, every person can begin the New Year with He who is called the alpha and the omega. Many of the resolutions for a new year seek to empower the body with greater health. Plans are made to gain greater financial stronghold in the coming year. Goals are measured to seek the greater good in life so that at the end of the year great accomplishments can be recognized. Lost in the shuffle for those trying to create larger figures of themselves is the only thing of value that can increase the worth of a person’s life: He who is called the first and the last. If there is one single thing that men must do to find happiness and true worth, it is to instill in their hearts a greater love for God and a willingness to serve more diligently the life of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Of all the plans that matter the most, if God is not the center of life there is no life. Resolutions that do not begin with the alpha and the omega are doomed to fail. How do you deal with the failures of yesterday? Talk to the alpha, the first and the beginning. What can you do to have hope in the future? Spend time with the omega, the last and the end. Jesus Christ was there before your life began and He will be there after your life ends. The Lord is not our Savior just so we can call Him the alpha and the omega. He is our Lord so that we find forgiveness in yesterday and redemption for tomorrow. Jesus is everything. He is our completeness, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.