Revelation 1:7-8: I am the Alpha and the Omega
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
We continue to explore the definitions with which Jesus defines himself, looking for The Way to better follow his lead, seeking the Good Shepherd who guides and protects, searching for Vine so that we might be the Branches.
The Book of Revelation is full of apocryphal images that we struggle to understand without consulting a commentary. We may want to set aside a chunk of time to study this book since it is the culmination of the before, the now and the yet to come. It is the Word, written and brought to us by the Holy Spirit. It is the Word, Christ himself, both microcosm and macrocosm. It is the Word that is God, God the beginning and God the end, God who is all. With these verses, we come to know that there is nothing else but this triune God.
John 1:3: Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. (GNT)
The Apostle John tries to put into words all that he has experienced with the human and risen Jesus. Can we say that Christ is our beginning and end?
Isaiah 41:4: Who did this? Who made it happen?
Who always gets things started?
I did. God. I’m first on the scene.
I’m also the last to leave. (MSG)
The prophet Isaiah asks us how we understand God. Can we say that God is the source and goal of all we do?
Matthew 5:17: Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. (CJB)
The disciple Matthew records Jesus himself telling us that he is with us to fulfill rather than destroy. Can we say that we build up more than e tear down?
Revelation 22:13: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (NRSV)
Jesus himself describes to us how the first becomes last, and the last first. He becomes for us the parable described in Matthew 20:16. How do we order our days? How do we prioritize our hours? What do we do with the precious moments of time that God gives us?
Once we begin to open our lives to Christ, the true Revelation of how we embody God’s image becomes our own alpha and omega.
When we compare other translations of these words, we better see how we might be both first and last in Christ.
Click on the images to explore.
Images from: http://www.stfrancisnyc.org/2014/08/alpha-and-omega/ and https://cost-of-discipleship.blogspot.com/2010/11/alpha-and-omega.html
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