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What did John mean by calling Jesus the Alpha and Omega? It is John that uses the phrase the Alpha and Omega for Jesus , the beginning and the end. He began all things to exist and will complete them, this phrase represents the totality or entirety of all. This the same as using the aleph and the Tav in the Hebrew alphabet The first AND last is applied to Jesus. If one believes the Father is God then certainly there is no alternative but to believe the Son is also, since he is involved in the creation just as the Father is. In fact the Father attributes the creating to the sons (Heb.1). The one being that is God (unified) is the first and the last. Otherwise we must conclude that the Father is not the first or last either. By saying one is the alpha and omega they are claiming to be the eternal one, who has control of history from the beginning to the end. In Rv.1:17-18 shows John falling down at the feet of “the first and last,” as the one “ who lives and was dead and is alive forever more.” (meaning Jesus who died and was resurrected) The Old Testaments phrase “First and the last’ is the same as the New Testaments “Alpha and Omega.” The letters Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In the Jewish mindset, a reference to the first and last letters of an alphabet (in Hebrew, the Aleph and Tau) would include all the letters in between, meaning Jesus is the summation of all. The title “Alpha and Omega” means he is the beginner and end of all things. It means he is eternal, the originator. He pre-existed and is before all things as in John 1:2, “ He was in the beginning” with God. After John writes the Word is God. To be called the Omega means he controls the end, He is the Father of eternity (Isa.9:6), the source of all, in him all things consist (Col.1:17). As the Alpha and Omega He began all things creating them to exist, this phrase represents the totality or entirety of all. Rv. 1:8 assigns him who is called the beginning and the end “the Almighty.” Rv. 1:7-8 states “ I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ”this is the same one who died and lives forever (bodily). Rv.22:12 tells us the one who is coming is the Alpha and Omega. It is Jesus, the one who died and was resurrected who is coming again, He is the same one who says “ And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (Rv. 22:12-13). In Rv.21:6 the Alpha and Omega (called the Beginning and the End) states He will give the water of life freely to him who thirsts (Jn.4:13-15; Rev.7:16-17). V.7: “… and I will be his God (the Alpha and Omega) and he shall be My son .” Scripture teaches us that the Alpha and Omega who is Jesus is indeed God who became man, a visible representation of God. It is he we will serve forever. |
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