Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:1-8)

Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:1-8)

       
John begins his Book of Revelation with the phrase, "the revelation of Jesus Christ." Jesus made his revelation known by sending his angel to his servant John(v. 1). Thus, John testifies everything he saw and heard.
John tells us, "Blessed is the one who reads the word of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near(v. 3)."

John wrote a letter in which he bore witness everything he saw and heard to the seven churches in the province of Asia Minor.
The seven churches represented all churches on the earth. John wanted to tell all the churches those things what he saw and heard so that they might be all awake and well comforted.

In verse 4 John conveys grace and peace from two Persons in one God before he speaks of Jesus Christ, God the Son, in verse 5 and the following. They are God the Father and God the Spirit.
Firstly, John describes God the Father: "he who is and who was and who is to come."
In Exodus 3, when Moses was called by God on the top of the Mount Horeb, he asked God His name. Then, God answered Moses that He is Jehovah, that is, "I am who I am(Exod. 3:14)." And this name Jehovah also means "I will be who I will be" and "I was who I was."
That is, Jehovah God was from the beginning and is now and will be to the end.
He is the God of eternity--"El Olam"--"eternally existing God."

Then, John describes God the Spirit as the seven spirits. The expression of "the seven spirits" represents the perfection and the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not bound by time and space. He can be inside of each and every believer's mind.

Then, John speaks of God the Son, Jesus Christ in verse 5 and the following.
First of all, Jesus Christ is the faithful witness.
Jesus Christ throughout his public ministry witnessed God the Father and His love to those who did not know well about God the Father and His love.
John in the Gospel John 1:18 says: "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known."
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the martyr, who revealed the true image of God and died on the cross after he was rejected by those who worshiped the false image of God.

Secondly, Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead.
Jesus Christ did not stay with the dead ones forever but "has indeed been raised from the dead to become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" as Paul also testifies in 1 Corinthians 15:20.
The resurrection of Jesus is the proof that his witness was truthful.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Jesus Christ is the king of kings. at whose name "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2:10)."
John in Revelation 11:15 says: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

Fourthly, Jesus Christ loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.
Jesus' shedding his blood was not for his own sins and trespasses but for our sins and trespasses. Yes, it is for "my" own sins and trespasses.
Therefore "I" was liberated from the power of Satan and became a free person.

Fifthly, Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.
Here, a kingdom is the community of faith or the group of Christians who will reign with Christ a thousand years when Jesus comes to us again(Rev. 20:4).
By becoming a priest, any lay Christian can boldly enter into the holy of holies to directly confess his sins and trespasses to be pardoned by God.
In the Old Testament period, only high priests who were from Aaron's descendants could enter into the most holy place to make atonement for people.
Now, you don't need any human mediator who will confess your sins and trespasses on behalf of you.
Peter in 1 Peter 2:9 also says: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God."

Sixthly, Jesus Christ will come again with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.
This is the description of Christ's second coming. Everyone will see his coming again.
According to the Book of Acts 1:9, "Jesus was taken up before his disciples' very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." The two angels in the Book of Acts 1:11 say to those who were looking intently up into the sky, as Jesus was going up to Heaven: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Seventhly, Jesus Christ is the Lord and God.
This is not only Thomas' confession of faith but also the confession of John himself. Thomas confessed when he saw the risen Jesus: "You are my Lord and my God" in John 20:28. John describes this Jesus Christ as God from the beginning of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)." The Word who is God is no other than Jesus Christ.

Eighthly, Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
In the ancient Semitic language, the first consonant was called “ʾalf" which was a drawing of an ox-head. So, if you look at English A, Greek Alpha, and Hebrew Aleph carefully, you will see they have the figure of an ox-head. The head is the top of a body. Thus, A or Alpha has the meanings of the top, the first, and the beginning.
The Omega is the last consonant in Greek. Thus, the phrase "the Alpha and the Omega" means "the first and the last" and "the beginning and the end."

The phrase "I am the Alpha and the Omega" is used in two other places in the same Book of Revelation.
In Revelation 21:6, He who was seated on the throne, that is, God the Father, said to John: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." In Revelation 22:12-13, Jesus Christ says: "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
The description on Jesus Christ in verse 8 is same as the description on God the Father in 1:4 and 21:6. That is, Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty, is God Himself, the Jehovah God and the eternal God.

We should be the witnesses of Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness; the first born from the dead; the ruler of the kings of the earth; who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood; who has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father; and who will come again with the clouds; and who is the Alpha and the Omega; who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

We should also hope for His immediate coming-again as John in Revelation 22:20 asks Jesus, "Come soon, Lord Jesus" and Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:22, "Come soon, O Lord(=Marana-atha)."