Alpha and Omega

Scripture Reading — Revelation 22:12-21

“Look, I am coming soon! . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
— Revelation 22:12-13

We have explored many names for Jesus this month. There are also many names we haven’t reflected on: Lord, Rock, Redeemer, Cornerstone, Morning Star, and more.

The name Alpha and Omega can help us think of the great span of Jesus’ qualities, works, and abilities (many of which are described in his names)— and much more. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last. And, as our text for today suggests, this name helps us to think of Jesus as “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” In other words, Jesus is the A and the Z, the starting block and the finish line, the source of creation and the goal to which all things head. He gives meaning to each point and experience along the way, and we’ll never exhaust all there is to say about Jesus.

At the close of these devotions, we also encounter, as we have found at other times, an invitation and a warning.

First, the warning. Because Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, it is impossible to be neutral. He is the ultimate dividing line. We can either come to him and enter his life of peace, reward, and rest, or we can say “no thanks” and be separated from him.

But with the gift of his invitation, we can come to Jesus, be forgiven and reconciled with God, and enter a new, full life with him forever. Real life begins and ends with, and hinges on, Jesus Christ!

Lord Jesus, you invite us to “Come! . . . and . . . take the free gift of the water of life.” Draw us to yourself, we pray. Amen.

Written by: Lora Copley