Revelation 22:13

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabets. When Jesus says that He is the Alpha and the Omega. What meanings does the statement imply.

Implying the Deity of Jesus Christ

Jesus’ presence transcends the limit of time. In other words, Jesus existence spans infinitely in both directions of past and future. In other words, there is nothing visible or invisible in existence before or after Jesus because He is always the Beginning and the End. Let us on a mathematical thinking cap for a moment. If there is anything including time itself which was in existence before Jesus, then Jesus cannot be the Alpha (the beginning) because there is something happening before Him. Likewise, if there is anything more persistent than Jesus, then Jesus’ claim of being the Omega (the end) is not valid because there is something happening after Him. Therefore, it is illogical to say that Jesus exists at a certain beginning point of time in the past, or there is a certain time limit for Jesus’ existence. In other words, Jesus’ existence spans infinitely in both directions of past and future. It is perfectly meaningful when Jesus says that before Abraham was born, He is (John 8:58), and He is alive forever and ever (Revelation 1:18).

John 8:58

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Revelation 1:18

¹⁸I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

If Jesus’ existence is from the beginning, it will be illogical to say that Jesus was created. The logic is simple. If a thing Y is created by another thing X, then X must exist before Y. Since Y exists before anything else, then Y cannot be created by something. Y must exist as is. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense when God says “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Moreover, it is logical to say that Y is the first cause, the creator of everything. In fact, the very first chapter of the John gospel clearly states that through Jesus all things were made and without Jesus nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3).

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

John 1:3

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

I once shared the gospel to someone who turned out to belong to a religious organization that holds the view that Jesus was not God but a created being. I remember that he did not believe in the teaching of Trinity and asserted that this concept was not in the Bible but was invented after the Bible was written. Although the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, but the revelation of God as the Trinity has always been in the Bible. The word Trinity is invented simply to describe and articulate the fact. This is like the word “water” which is an invented language artifact meaning a compound of one atom of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen that is essential to living things. We cannot say that the concept of “water” is wrong because it was invented and added to the human vocabulary later than the fact that hydrogen dioxide has already existed for a long long time. Trinity means that God is of three persons and yet the three persons are one. The revelation of Trinity can be found in various passages of the Bible. For examples, Genesis 1:2 reveals the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in the beginning. Genesis 3:22 reveals that God is referred to with a plural pronoun “us”. John 1:1 reveals that the Word of God was with God in the beginning and the Word of God was also referred to as God. The Word of God is Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:13) who is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:14-15). Matthew 28:19 expressly presents the three persons of God: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit but with the singular noun “name”.

Genesis 1:2

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 3:22

²² And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

John 1:1

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 19:13, 16

¹³He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

1 Timothy 6:14-15

¹⁴to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

Matthew 28:19

¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Another time I was visited by someone who belonged to the same religious organization which does not believe in the Trinity. This time the visitor quoted Colossians 1:15 to support her view that Jesus was a created being which says that Jesus is the “firstborn”. However, firstborn in Greek could mean a person who is born first chronologically or a person preeminent in position. Therefore, we need to study other parts of the Scripture in order to gain a proper perspective of its meanings. The theme of the Bible is redemption and salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ who is God became flesh and fulfilled redemption on the cross (Philippians 2:5-8, Isaiah 7:14). Jesus’ was called Immanuel because Immanuel means “God with us” and Jesus literally fulfilled the prophecy given in Isaiah 7:14. Then Jesus was exalted the preeminent position of all creation (Philippians 2:9-11). One may ask that why was it a need to exalt Jesus if He was God? Is it not God holds the preeminent position already. Well, we should understand that Jesus had humbled Himself as a human servant and even died on the cross for sinners in order to accomplish the mission of salvation. Jesus would not stay as a dead person in the grave forever, but was resurrected on the third day after death on the cross and exalted sitting at the right hand of God (Acts 2:32-33; Hebrews 10:12).

Colossians 1:15

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Philippians 2:5-8

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Philippians 2:9-11

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Acts 2:32-33

³²God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. ³³Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Hebrews 10:12

But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Implying the Existence of Eternal Life

The notion of eternal life is abstract to most people because we all live in bodily form and we see lives born and die but no one has seen eternal life. After all we are all limited by a time constraint in the body, and no one can live long enough to see the existence of eternal life even though it may exist. However, Jesus who is by nature God lived in a human body form before, has demonstrated that death of the body is not the termination of life. Jesus demonstrated that death itself has been conquered by His resurrection. Jesus was resurrected with a glorious body and sits on the right hand of God. There are various religions in the world trying to teach the way of eternal life, but the remains of the dead bodies of their teachers are still in their graves although their unverified teachings are still circulating in the world. However, Jesus’ grave is empty because He has been resurrected. Therefore, Jesus’ promise of eternal life is valid and trustworthy (Revelation 1:17-18) and eternal life is not something we can buy or work for. Eternal life is given to all sinners as a gift who believe in Jesus (John 11:25, John 3:16). In fact, there is no other source of eternal life. Our lives in the world are like cut flowers in a vase displaying life for a moment and die. Jesus is gracious and pleased to offer a new and eternal life which is abundant and free from the sickness of sin to everyone who asks Him (Revelation 21:6).

Revelation 1:17-18

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

John 3:16

¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Revelation 21:6

He said to me: "It is done. 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.

Eternal life is an attribute of God which only God may bestows on humans and we may only accept it by faith in Jesus according to the promise of God. By the way, I once heard from the radio someone criticizing many churches teaching the way of salvation by believing in Jesus. This radio teacher said that “believe” was a verb and we could not be saved by “work” because “work” was something that we did in order to obtain salvation. I think this is a miscommunication of the teaching of the Scripture. Firstly, it is God’s grace and permission that we, sinners, may take another breath and live for a moment longer and have the opportunity to listen to the gospel. Otherwise, no one may even have the chance to hear the good news of salvation let alone to believe in Jesus. Humans are saved purely by the grace and through faith in God (Ephesians 2:8). The point is that even a simple thing we take for granted like taking another breath depends on God’s provision and permission, how will a Bible believing church teach that we can obtain eternal life by our own work. In other words, it is absurd to judge churches which teach believing in Jesus as work. Secondly, when someone hears the gospel and accepts Jesus as the Saviour, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that inspires and convicts sinners to believe in Jesus (1 Thessalonians 1:5). It is too presumptuous and wrongly judgemental on a repentant sinner that it is his or her own work to believe. Thirdly, the Scripture clearly says the way of salvation is to believe in Jesus, for example, the confession of apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:16. In fact, Jesus Himself teaches that the way of salvation is to believe in Him which is the answer that He gave to people who thought that salvation could be earned by work (John 6:27-29). Remember, God who promises eternal life can and will be able to fulfill His promise for He is faithful (Hebrews 10:22-23). There are different religions and thoughts offering solution to the fundamental question about life, its well being and destiny. However, the Scripture teaches that there is one and only one way of life. All the other ways will lead to destruction. For a more detailed study on this question, please refer to Jesus the faithful and true witness.

1 Thessalonians 1:5

because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

1 Timothy 1:16

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

John 6:27-29

²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." ²⁸Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Hebrews 10:22-23

²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.