Four times in the book of Revelation our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to John and identified himself with these words: "I am Alpha and Omega" (1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13). There is no great hidden mystery hidden in these words. They are simply the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In our language the words would be, "I am A and Z". That is, "I am the beginning and the end, the first and the last." And as John Gill points out, "These letters, `Alpha and Omega', being the first and the last of the alphabet, may stand for the whole." So that the meaning of this: "I am the beginning of all things and the end of all things, and everything between the beginning and the end."
With these words, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending...the first and the last," our Savior identifies himself as Jehovah our eternal, immutable, saving, covenant keeping God (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:10-12). Indeed, this is what he says by way of explanation: I am "the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." The Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is God over all, was God from eternity, and is to come as God to judge the world. He is now the Savior of all who come to God by him, was the Savior of all his saints in the Old Testament, being the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and is to come as the Savior of God's elect, without sin unto salvation. This text speaks of the eternality of Christ, who is, was, and ever shall be. It also describes of our Savior's immutability. He is always the same, unchanging and unchangeable. What he is, he always was, and shall forever be. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever His Person, his love, his virtue, and his purpose are all immutable. And this text sets forth the glorious pre-eminence of Christ. As it has pleased the Father to give his Son pre-eminence in all things, (Col. 1:18) it is so. Christ is the beginning of all things, the substance of all things, and the end of all things. Our Savior is himself God, "the Almighty"! He is the Creator of all things, the Sustainer of all things, and Ruler of all things. The One whose blood and righteousness we trust, to whose dominion we gladly submit, into whose hands we have committed our souls, is himself God, the Almighty. We have nothing to fear. Our Savior is God. We are safe in his hands (John 10:27-30).
I call your attention particularly to these words, "I am Alpha and Omega." I cannot begin to expound the fulness of their meaning. But I will just scratch the surface a little, so that we might get a glimpse of our Savior's glorious pre-eminence in all things.
I. When our Savior says, "I am Alpha and Omega," He Is Describing Both His Glory And His Humiliation.
"Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (I Cor. 8:9). Without question, the words "Alpha and Omega" have reference to the glorious dignity of our Savior's Person and the depths of his willing humiliation to save us.
A. Christ Jesus Is Alpha, The First, The Chief, The Pre-eminent One, The Firstborn of Every Creature.
Though as a man his human body was created in time in the womb of the virgin by the Holy Spirit, yet he is the One who created all things. Therefore he is before all things and above all things (Heb. 1:1-14).
1. The word Alpha suggests that Christ is the Best.He is better than all who come before him. And if you put them all together, Christ stands head and shoulders above them all as the best. We use the same kind of language today. We say of a car, "It is A 1." That means, He is the best in his trade. And our Lord Jesus Christ says of himself, "I am Alpha, I am A1, the best of all."
a. Is he a Son? He is the firstborn Son, the only begotten Son, the only eternal Son, the only perfectly obedient Son. All other sons are made sons by this Son.
b. Is he a Prophet? All the other prophets stand behind him by a great, infinite distance, and point to him, bearing witness of him.
c. Is he a Priest? All the other priests of the Aaronic and Levitical orders were only types of him. Their only purpose was to represent him until he came. He is the fulfillment of them. He is the great High Priest of our profession.
d. Is he a King? Yes, he is King like no other. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" He is "the King of heaven all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment" (Rom. 4:34, 35, 37).
e. Is he the Builder of his Church? Then he is the wise Master builder.
f. Is he a Shepherd? Then he is the good Shepherd, the chief Shepherd, the great Shepherd.
g. Is he a Foundation? Then he is a tried and proven Foundation, the only sure Foundation.
h. Is he a Corner-stone? Then he is the chief Corner-stone.
i. Is he a Rock? Then he is the Rock of safety, the Rock of salvation.
j. Is he Water? Then he is the water of life.
k. Is he Bread? Then he is the Bread of heaven.
l. Is he Light? Then he is the Light of the World.
m. Is he a Refuge? Then he is a sure Refuge for our souls.
It matters not what title our Lord takes to himself, or what character he assumes, he is in all respects Alpha, A1. He infinitely surpasses all that may be compared to him, as the sun excels the stars. When the sun arises all stars fade in its light. And when Christ appears all others fade away into insignificance.
2. He who is Best is Pre-eminent, and well deserves the praise and glory of all.
Christ is Alpha. Let no flesh glory in his presence. All who know him glory only in him and give glory only to him (Jer. 9:23-24).
B. We rejoice to declare that Christ is Alpha, the first and the best. But He Is Also Omega, The Lowest And The Last In His Voluntary Condescension And Humiliation. "He that is least in the Kingdom of heaven!"
How shall I describe the depths of our Lord's humiliation. He who is God stooped to become a man! He "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:7-8). In order to save us Christ became one of us! He became what we are that we might be what he is.
Behold the depths of his humiliation! When he was made to be sin for us, he who is God was forsaken by God as the object of God's wrath. He cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?" Then he answered his own cry, "Thou art holy! And a holy God cannot look upon sin. "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shout out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, (if) he delighted in him" (Ps. 22:1-8).
5. At last, he stooped to death, death under the infinite wrath and inflexible justice of God for us!
Remember, the Son of God did all of this to satisfy the justice of God for us, and to put away our sins, that we might live by him. Because he is God, Christ is Alpha. Because he is our Substitute, Christ became Omega!
II. Secondly, In The Book of Holy Scripture Christ Is Alpha and Omega (Luke 24:21, 44-47; John 5:39).
Christ is Alpha, the Beginning, for the first line of Genesis speaks of him: "In the beginning God." And he is Omega, the Ending, for the last line of Revelation speaks of him: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." And he is everything between. I repeat what I have said so often before. Every book of the Bible, every chapter, every verse, every word speaks of Christ. If you could squeeze the whole Bible down to its very essence and substance, you would find Christ, only Christ, and nothing but Christ in the Scriptures. He is the living Word of whom the written Word speaks.
I cannot find better language to express what I want to say than the words of C.H. Spurgeon: "Brethren, we should always read Scripture in this light; we should consider the Word to be as a mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and, then, we looking into it see his face reflected as in a glass-darkly, it is true, but still in such a way as to be a blessed preparation for seeing him as we shall see him face to face. This volume contains Jesus Christ's letters to us, performed by his love. These pages are the garments of our King, and they all smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. Scripture is the golden chariot in which Jesus rides, and it is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem. The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the holy child, Jesus; unroll them, and you find your Savior. Talk not to us of bodies of divinity – the only body of divinity is the Person of Christ. As for theology, Christ is the true theology – the incarnate Word of God; and if you can comprehend him you have grasped all the truth. He is made unto us Wisdom; getting him you have the wisdom of the Scriptures."
The whole message of the Bible is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The Word of God is an alabaster box full of spikenard very precious. Break it open, and you smell nothing but the sweet aroma of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
A. The Old Testament, From Genesis To Malachi, Proclaims One Message: The Redeemer Is Coming!
In the Old Testament the prophets and the kings, the priests, and the preachers all look one way. They all stand like cherubs over the ark, desiring to see God's great propitiation.
B. The Four Gospels And The Book of Acts All Proclaim One Message: The Redeemer Has Come!
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record in meticulous detail the incarnation, earthly life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ as the sinner's Substitute. They speak of nothing else. Remove Christ from their pages and nothing is left but processed wood in leather bindings. And in the Book of Acts Luke records the works of Christ the ascended King. The writer of Holy Scripture had nothing else to say but, "Christ, the Redeemer has come!"
C. The Epistles And The Book of Revelation Declare One Message: The Redeemer Is Coming Again.
From Romans through Revelation the apostles of Christ expound to us the meaning of our Lord's doctrine and call upon us to watch for his coming with expectant hearts. Soon he shall appear to gather his redeemed ones to himself. In the Book of Holy Scripture Christ is Alpha and Omega.
III. Thirdly, It gives me great delight to tell you that With Regard To The Holy Law Of God, Christ Is Alpha And Omega.
Christ is the Lawgiver, and so he is the Alpha, the Beginning of the law. And Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and so he is the Omega, "The End of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 10:4).
You and I are neither Alpha nor Omega to the law. We have broken it altogether. We have not and cannot meet its demands. Who among the sons of men dares to claim that he has met the first letter of the law? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." What fallen son of Adam shows any real fulfillment of the law's second letter? Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!"
A. If You Would See The Law Fulfilled, Look to Christ.He alone honors God's law, He alone has kept the law. He alone has fulfilled the law.
Our dear Savior obeyed the law and satisfied the law as our Representative and Substitute. And his obedience has been imputed to us for righteousness. We who believe are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14; 8:1; Gal. 3:13, 24, 24; I Tim. 1:8-10; Col. 2:10-23).
B. We Who Believe Look To Christ Alone For Holiness And Righteousness.
We have no righteousness of our own with which to commend ourselves to God. We trust Christ, who is "the Lord our Righteousness." We seek holiness. But we never trust our holiness. We seek to live in righteousness. But we never claim to have attained righteousness. We seek virtue. But we never look to our virtue for merit with God. Our only saving, sanctifying righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. We trust Christ alone for acceptance with God. With his imputed righteousness we are complete, perfect, holy, and forever accepted in the Beloved.
In the words of this text, Christ is the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending" of God's holy law. There is not one precept which he has not perfectly fulfilled for us in its widest possible sense. The spirit of the law breathes through his whole life of obedience to God. And the letter of the law was satisfied in its infinite extremity by his death. The law demands perfection. But it cannot demand, nor can it have, greater perfection than we have by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. The law demands satisfaction. But it cannot require, nor can it find, greater satisfaction than we offer in the blood of our dear Substitute. Christ is Alpha and Omega to the law.
IV. Fourthly, It is delightful to see that In The Whole Of God's Creation Christ Is Alpha And Omega.
He is the Beginning of all things, the Ending of all things, and the Ruler and Sustainer of all things between the Beginning and the Ending.
A. Christ Is The Alpha of Creation. For All Things Were Created By Him. (John 1:1-3). B. Christ Is The Omega of Creation, For All Things Were Created For Him (Rev. 4:11).In the end it shall be plainly revealed that every creature in God's universe has served him and been used by him for the glory of Christ, both the righteous and the wicked, either willingly or unwillingly (Rev. 5:11-14).
C. From The Beginning To The Ending Of Creation Christ Rules And Sustains All Things For The Glory Of His Own Great Being – (Rev. 4:11).
With the eye of a scientist, study God's vast creation from beginning to end. With the eye of a historian, read all the pages of His-story. And with the eye of a prophet scan the whole future. If you had the ability to do so, you would say with regard to all God's creation, "Christ is Alpha and Omega."
V. In the fifth place, I will briefly remind you that In All The Purposes And Covenant Transactions Of The Triune God Christ Is Alpha And Omega.
This is a subject which the most gifted preacher could never exhaust, though he perpetually preached upon it. Many books could be written about it, and still we might barely scratch the surface. The thoughts of God, his eternal purposes, his sovereign decrees, his everlasting covenant are all things about which we see only a little. But of this we are sure: Christ is the Beginning of all and the Ending of All, the Alpha and the Omega. (Isa. 45:5-25).
A. Election Is God's Choice of Men and Determination To Save Them In Christ (Eph. 1:4).
B. Predestination Is God's Eternal Decree To Make All His Elect Like His Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29-30).
C. The Covenant Of Grace Is God's Eternal Purpose To Save A People By The Merits Of His Son And For The Glory Of His Son (Heb. 10:5-7, 10-14, 15-17).
If you could be permitted to read the book of God's eternal purpose, you would see that it is a book written from eternity, sealed with immutably, bound together by the blood of the sin atoning Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, written from beginning to end with one object in mind; and that object is the eternal glory of Christ the Son of God. The book of God's purpose begins by exalting Christ as the sinner's Substitute, with the glory, which he had with the Father before the world was made. In the purposes of God Christ is Alpha and Omega.
VI. Sixthly, my very soul rejoices to tell you that In The Whole Business Of Salvation Christ Jesus Is Alpha And Omega.
I am sure that this is included in our text, because in the words preceding this text John has just described the works of salvation and ascribed them all to the Lord Jesus Christ. He loved us in the beginning. He redeemed us in time. And he is coming for us in the end. Yes, in the whole work of salvation, Christ is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. The First and the Last, and everything between. "Thy Salvation!"
A. Christ is the Alpha of Salvation, for He Called Us From Death to Life by the Power of His Spirit (John 5:25).
B. Christ shall Present Us Holy, Unblameable, and Unreproveable To His Father by the Merits of His Blood and Righteousness in the End, so He is The Omega of Salvation – (Col. 1:22).
C. And Christ is Everything Between, Because, from Beginning to End, He Holds us in Life by the Power of His Grace.
He says, "Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost" (John 17:12).
Child of God, lean upon Christ with all the weight of your soul. Cast yourself entirely upon him. He will not fail. He who began will finish. He who called you will keep you. He never was Alpha yet without being Omega too.
VII. Once more, In Heaven's Eternal Glory Christ Shall Be Both Alpha And Omega.
In Revelation 22:13, our Lord announces his glorious appearance with these very words, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." When all the promises and prophecies of Holy Scripture are fulfilled, when the mystery of God's eternal purpose has been completed, when the judgment is over, when the damned are forever cast into hell and the righteous are forever with the Lord, when the new heavens and the new earth have been created, when time shall be no more, when the eternal glory has begun, Christ shall be Alpha and Omega!
A. Christ Shall Be The Door Of Entrance, By Whose Merit We Enter Into Heaven, And The First And Foremost Object of Our Vision, And So He Is The Alpha.
B. And Christ Is The Fulness, The Consummation, And The Glory Of Heaven's Eternal, Unending Joy And Reward, And So He Is The Omega.
From eternity to eternity, forever and ever, Christ is Alpha and Omega, our eternal, unchanging God and Savior.
In those cruel days when deaf mutes were institutionalized in one of the institutions in Paris, France, a man was asked to write upon a piece of slate what his idea of Christ's eternity was. This is what he wrote: "It is duration without beginning or end; existence without bounds or dimensions; present without past or future. His eternity is youth without infancy or old age; life without birth or death; today without yesterday or tomorrow."
That, my friend, is Christ, the eternal Alpha and Omega, the eternal Beginning and Ending, the eternal First and Last. In eternity heaven, earth, and hell shall adore the Lord Jesus Christ as Alpha and Omega. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Jesus Christ reigns forever "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending…. the Lord, which is, and which was and which is to come, the Almighty!"
Application:
1. Make the Lord Jesus Christ The Alpha and the Omega of your heart's trust. Begin with him now and you shall end with him in glory.
2. Child of God, make Christ the Alpha and the Omega of your heart's love.
3. Make Christ the Alpha and the Omega of your life's work.
4. Make Christ the Alpha and the Omega of all our preaching, all our worship, and all our praise.
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