The Alpha and Omega Revelation 22:12-15
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Wikipedia (with photos)
Alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical (Ionic) Greek alphabet. Thus, the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" is further clarified with the additional phrase, "the beginning and the end" in Revelation 21:6, 22:13.
The phrase is interpreted by many Christians to mean that Jesus has existed for all eternity or that God is eternal. Many commentators and dictionaries ascribe the title "the alpha and the omega" to both God and to Christ. Most Christian denominations teach that the title applies to God (Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit).
Tell how the teachers of the law would have used this phrase to explain God’s eternality.
12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
Transitional Sentence: Jesus is all in all, He was present at the beginning of time and will be present at the end of time.
The Alpha and the Omega The beginning and the end.
So let’s take a quick look at what these two words mean.
a. Alpha and Omega are Greek letters (pictures)
i. Alpha - The first letter in the Greek alphabet. It is the beginning of the alphabet and denotes the beginning of time.
Definition: Having the highest rank in a dominance hierarchy. (alpha male of a wolf pack, alpha female of an elephant herd.) Or the Firstborn in a family having many children.
ii. Omega - The last letter in the Greek alphabet. It is the end of the alphabet and denotes the end of all time.
Definition: Having the lowest rank in dominance hierarchy. This is the slave in the society or the last born in a family having many children. (The omega is the end of the line, the last to eat and the first to serve others.
When the Greek letters Alpha and Omega are used together it denotes the whole of something. In this particular case it denotes the whole of time from beginning to end or the eternality of God. This idea isn’t new with Jesus. Isaiah 44:6 says:
6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
So, even Isaiah spoke of the eternality of God and Jesus - his Redeemer even before Jesus was brought forth by the virgin Mary.
b. How is He the First?
Jesus was present at the beginning of time. Chapter one of the book of Genesis tells the story of creation and Genesis 1:26 says:
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Let Us create man in our image. Us the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
And then the Apostle John tells it a different way John 1:1-2
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
The Word was with God. Jesus is the Word, He was there in the beginning. He was speaking, He was putting everything into being. Nothing has been created that He didn’t create.
c. How is He the Last?
Revelation 20:12 says:
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
Jesus will be there, He will open the book of life for He is the Lamb that was slain, the bright and morning star. He will be present at the end of time when all things are made right Revelation 22:5 says:
5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
They - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They will reign forever and ever. It is their light that will illuminate all things.
2. Everything in Between! Jude 24-25 Before all time, now, and forever.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
In these verses Jude points to four aspects of Jesus that separate Him from all other people. These four things are deserved by Jesus or are aspects of who He is as the Son of God.
a. 1 - GLORY— Abundance, wealth, treasure, and Honor, dignity, Splendor, brightness. The glorious moral attributes, the infinite perfections of God Jesus is the “brightness of the Father’s glory” John 1:14 The bliss of heaven.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The phrase “Give glory to God” is a Hebrew idiom meaning, “Confess your sins.” The words of the Jews to the blind man, “Give glory to God” John 9:24,
24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”
are an adjuration to confess. They are equivalent to, “Confess that you are an impostor,” “Give God the glory by speaking the truth;” for they denied that a miracle had been wrought.
b. 2 - Majesty - The greatness and splendour of God, revealed in his creation and mighty works of deliverance. On account of his majesty, God is worthy of praise and adoration from all people. (MORE)
c. 3 - Dominion (Power) - Either political authority or the realm in which such authority is exercised. Dominion may have a positive connotation as when humankind is given dominion over creation or a negative connotation that approximates the idea of domination. Though humans exercise dominion in the political sphere and over creation, ultimate dominion belongs to God. Dominion is also used figuratively for the authority of the law and for the domination of sin and death.
d. 4 - Authority - That which merits submission or deference. There are many different kinds of authority, with some of the more important kinds being moral, political and religious authority. Religions based on a special revelation, such as Christianity and Islam, stand or fall on the basis of the authority possessed by their revelations. Christians have often disagreed strongly on the locus of authority, with Protestants affirming the authority of the Bible alone (*sola Scriptura) and Catholics and Orthodox Christians assigning greater weight to the church and its historical traditions. Debate has also centered around criteria for recognizing a valid authority and the relation between authority and reason. Thomas Aquinas argued that, though reason cannot certify the content of an authoritative revelation, it can investigate the credentials of an alleged revelation to be truly from God by evidence such as miracles.
These things, glory, majesty, dominion and authority have been given to Jesus as the Son of God. Only He deserves glory, only He has majesty, and only He has dominion and authority over all things either in heaven or on earth. Colossians 1:16 says:
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
All things. invisible, the spirit world and visible, this world. Thrones and dominions, He puts governments in place and determines their places and times. Rulers and authorities, He rules over all. He gives people authority to act and He takes from them their authority to act. He has all authority and controls all things. Nothing is a surprise.
If Jesus has all authority and is the King of Kings, what are the
3. Blessings of Submission to Him?
Verse 14 of our passage says: Revelation 22:14
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
There are three blessings listed in this verse:
a. 1 - Wash your robes -
The ideal of washing your robe is one of being made clean. Your robe needs washing because your sin makes your robe as red as scarlet. Your sin covered robe keeps you out of the banquet hall for the wedding feast. Only Jesus can wash away your sins and give you a new life. Only Jesus can take your sin stained robe and make it new, or give you a whole new robe. Forgiveness of sins comes through confessing your sins, asking for the forgiveness you need to wash your robe, accepting Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and confessing Him before men.
b. 2 - The right to the Tree of Life Gen 2:9 says:
9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil Gen 2:16-17 He didn’t tell them not to eat from the tree of life. The forbidden fruit is always more desirable.
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
No rules against eating from the tree of life. But they hadn’t eaten from the tree of life yet. So, God made it so they couldn’t. Gen 3:22-24
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
So God blocked the way, their sin broke fellowship with God so we all lost the right to eat of the Tree of Life.
It’s not available to you now. It was probably destroyed by the great flood in the days of Noah. But, through Christ Jesus, you have the blessing of eternal life. And the Tree of Life will be available to you when the world is made new if you accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.
But there is the promise that you will be able to reach out and eat of the Tree of Life. Stretch out your hand and live forever.
c. 3 - Enter the Gates.
Of course Jesus is speaking of entering Heaven or the celestial city as Christian in the book Pilgrim’s Promise was told to do. (Get a quote!!!)
Cities of any size and importance in that time had walls and gates. The walls and gates were meant to protect the inhabitants of the cities and to keep the wrong people out. This blessing is a reference to the idea that only those who have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior will be permitted to enter the celestial city. Revelation 22:15 says:
15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
They are the ones who will not have their robes washed, they are the ones who will not have access to the Tree of Life and they are the ones who will not enter the gates of the celestial city.
Exit: The book of Genesis in the front of the Holy Bible tells us how this world and even time came into being and the Revelation of John in the end tells us how it is going to come to an end. Everything in between points to Jesus as the Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He was there in the beginning and will be present at the end. All of this was created by Him and for Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Jesus is the only way to the Father, because He is the Bread of Life, only if you eat His flesh and drink His blood will you have eternal life.
Jesus is the Light of the World, He is the light that shines in this present darkness. He is the light that leads all those who believe to eternal life.
Jesus is the Door. Only be entering through Him can you have access to the Father. There is no other way into the celestial city but through Jesus.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He calls us out of the darkness of this world, He provides us with shelter, food and water and all of our daily needs. Listen to His voice and follow Him that you might have eternal life.
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Only He can bring the spiritually dead back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit and only He can show us the life to live that we may have eternal life.
Jesus is the Way, and the Truth and the Life. Only Jesus can lead us along the right path as we seek to live a life worthy of Him. Only Jesus is the truth in this world of darkness and only Jesus can lead us to eternal life.
Jesus is the True Vine. All those who abide in the vine will bear fruit, true spiritual fruit. Fruit which will show that you are His disciple.
All of this points to Jesus as the Son of God, as the Word, as the only one who is worthy of our praise, Glory, Majesty, Dominion and Authority.
If you already know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then continue to walk as a child of God and abide in the vine that you might continuing bearing fruit.
If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then now is the time. Confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, accept Him as Lord and Savior and and confess His name that you too may be a child of God and receive eternal life.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Pray!
Benediction: Jude 24-25
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.