Jerry C. Brewer
Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Rev. 1:8). These are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet and they correspond to the Yea and Amen of the Hebrew equivalent, Alef and Tau.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:6). With the proclamation “it is done” the vision proper concerning the church in tribulation had ended, and the Revelation had ended…God and Christ are the Alpha and Omega because they are the beginning and the end in creation and in salvation (Foy E. Wallace, Jr., The Book of Revelation, p. 431).
God’s eternal nature is succinctly expressed in five short words: “I AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3:14). “The repetition of the same word suggests the idea of uninterrupted continuance and boundless duration” (Keil & Delitzsch, e-Sword).
The phrase, Alpha and Omega is found only four times in the New Testament, all in the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13) and when Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” He expressed the same nature of uninterrupted, continuing, and limitless duration that God expressed to Moses at the bush in Midian. And as Moses expressed in Psalms 90:1-2: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Notice that the phrase, “Thou art God” has the word art in italics. The phrase is literally, “Thou God.” Italics were added by the translators to help the meaning of the passages, but in many cases they hinder rather than help.
The claim that Jesus Christ made in John 8:24 and John 8:58, is the identical claim that God made in Exodus 3:14 in Midian. In those passages, Jesus said,
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56-58).
In John 8:24, Jesus was not saying, “if ye believe not that I am he…” The word he was not in the original Greek. It too was added by the translators. Jesus’ meaning in that passage was, “if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” In John 8:58, Jesus clearly stated that “Before Abraham was, I am.” There was a time when Abraham was not but Jesus Christ, the Logos, was always everlasting to everlasting, “thou God.”
He is the Alpha of the Creation
Jesus, the Word, is the Third Person of the Godhead and was in the beginning with God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
The Word, or the Logos, was one of the us to whom God spoke at the beginning of the creation:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Gen. 1:26).
And Paul summed up His preeminence:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (Col. 1:15-18).
The Omega of Creation
Jesus Christ’s second coming will signal the judgment and the Omega (the end) of material creation.
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power (2 Thess. 1:6-9).
When He returns in judgment, the heavens and the earth, of which He is the Alpha, will pass away:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (1 Pet. 3:3-10).
The Alpha of Salvation
The Hebrews writer referred to Jesus as The Alpha and Omega of salvation, “the author and finisher of faith” (Heb. 12:1-2). “Christ was the Creator of the universe for the Father. So now he is the Consummation of redemption. (Robertson’s Word Pictures, e-Sword). Salvation originated in God’s eternal counsel before the world began (Eph. 3:11). Christ, The Lamb of God was “foreordained before the foundation of the world”
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
The Omega of Salvation
When Christ comes in judgment, He will be The Omega of Salvation.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Matt. 25:31-34, 41, 46).
Finally, when He comes in judgment, He will deliver the kingdom up to the Father.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1 Cor. 15:24-26).
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all Divine authority for men today (Heb. 1:1-2; Matt. 17:5; Matt. 28:18). Whatever is done in teaching or practice that does not have Christ’s approval is sin (Col. 3:17). He is the beginning and end of all authority and all salvation for men today, and there is none beside Him (John 14:6).
Notice, that He will deliver up the kingdom to God. That one passage—1 Cor. 15:24-26—destroys the false doctrine of millennialism that says Christ will reign 1,000 years in Jerusalem. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things.
