Revelation 1:8
Most people know God to be the Alpha and Omega. Not everyone truly understands the meaning of this. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet just as we have A and Z in the English Alphabet. These Greek alphabets are used in Revelations 1:8 to describe the Almightiness of God. Calling God the Alpha and the Omega simply means that he is the beginning and the ending.
Before the letter Alpha, there is no other letter and after the letter omega, there is no other letter. Every other letter in Greek is found in the confines of Alpha and Omega. Before God, there is none other, and besides him, there is no one else (Isaiah 44:6). God does not have a beginning but he is the beginning, neither does he have an ending but he is the ending. In him, all things and creatures find reference and meaning (Colossians 1:17).
The Bible describes God as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He is the boundary we must live by. He is the context of our living. When we live outside him, we are not truly living at all. In God, we have life, healing, health and everything we need. In him we are complete (Colossians 2:10).
Just like all the letters between Alpha and Omega, we also must find our living from the beginning and the ending of our lives which is God. God knew us before we came into the world, he carefully charted the course of our lives and when our lives would end. Our beginning and end are all in him. The Bible tells us that the course of our lives was written in God’s book before we ever came into the world (Psalm 139:15-16). This is why we must trust God with our lives and surrender our all to him. He has already designed the way our lives should be. When you allow Him to lead you, you will reach your destination safely and on time.
Revelations 1:8 does not only describe God as the Alpha and Omega, but also the one who was, who is and who is to come. This means that he has control over every aspect of time and nothing can escape his governance. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Let us consider each of these aspects of time God governs and how it affects us:
The One Who Was
This represents the control of God over the past. Before other aspects of time, God is firstly the God of the past. He can go back in time to make things right. He can restore the years that were already lost in the past (Joel 2:25). For us as human beings, time is like the air we breathe, we can never hold it down. Time is always passing. Once it is past, we can never recover that time again. This is not so for God. He has all seasons in his hands and he can make changes in the past if he wishes so. When we watch movies on television, we usually have a remote that helps us to fast-forward or rewind the movie. God has the remote of time in his hands, he can fast-forward or rewind it as he wishes.
Perhaps you are not so proud of your past. You might have made mistakes in your past and you wish you can turn back the hands of time. Here’s some good news: God can do that. He can stop the consequences of your errors from affecting your present. He can give you a new beginning because he is God over the past.
The One Who Is
This represents God’s control over the present. God is not only God over the past, he is God over the present too. Many times, things seem like they are going haywire as we live life every day. However, God is interested in making every day spectacular for us. God daily loads us with benefits (Psalm 68:19). God is keenly interested in your everyday life because it is your days that add to become years. You may feel like things are going too fast or you don’t have control over the present situation of your life but, God does. All you need to do is to commit each day into his hands and he will make it a glorious one for you. Soon you will look back on this current season of your life and have tears of joy in your eyes because the God of the present is in control of your life.
The One Who Is To Come
This is one of the most special aspects of God’s control over time. God is not only in control of the past and present but also the future. God has your future in his hands. We are always worried about the future as humans. This is not unusual because we cannot even tell what will happen in the next minute talk less of what will happen in the years to come. We are clueless about what the future holds most times. This is where we must put our trust in the God of the future. Your “future” is in God’s past already because he planned out your entire life even before you were born. God’s plan for you is to give you a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
He knows how to get you to that glorious future he has planned for you. All you need to do is to depend on him. Allow him to lead you every step of the way. It’s okay when you don’t know everything about the future. Stop trying to figure everything out and trust God instead. If he cares for the lilies of the field and the sparrows, he will take care of you too (Matthew 6:28-30).
In all, God is the one who was, who is and who is to come, the Almighty. Those who put their trust in Him shall never be ashamed (Psalm 34:5).
King James Version (KJV)
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
New International Version (NIV)
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.'”
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
New American Bible (NASB)
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'”
English Standard Version (ESV)
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'”
The Living Bible (TLB)
“‘I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the Ending of all things,’ says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!”