Jesus: The Alpha and Omega
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Jesus described Himself twice as the Alpha and the Omega. He mentions these at the first and last of the book of
Revelation to emphasize His sovereignty over all the events in the book.
11 Saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last… (Rev. 1:11)
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. (Rev. 22:13)
B. The Father only made two statements in the entire book of Revelation. In both He revealed Himself as the Alpha
and Omega and the Beginning and the End. He mentions these at the first and last of the book of Revelation to also
emphasize His sovereignty over all prophesied events.
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End... (Rev. 1:8)
6 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End… (Rev. 21:6)
C. The six main titles of God in Revelation are grouped together. They are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and
the End and the First and the Last Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13.
Alpha (4x): Rev. 1:8 (Father); 1:11 (Jesus); 21:6 (Father); 22:13 (Jesus)
Omega (4x): Rev. 1:8 (Father); 1:11 (Jesus); 21:6 (Father); 22:13 (Jesus)
Beginning (4x): Rev. 1:8 (Father); 3:14 (Jesus); 21:6 (Father); 22:13 (Jesus)
End (3x): Rev. 1:8 (Father); 21:6 (Father); 22:13 (Jesus)
First (4x): Rev. 1:11, 17; 2:8; 22:13 plus Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12 (all 7 references to Jesus)
Last (4x): Rev. 1:11, 17; 2:8; 22:13 plus Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12 (all 7 references to Jesus)
D. These titles mention two polar opposites to emphasize that everything between the opposites is also included. All the
events described between Rev. 1:8 and 21:6 are under God's sovereignty. These titles express the guarantee that all in
Revelation will be fulfilled. The titles Alpha and Omega seem to be synonymous with the Beginning and the End.
E. Jesus holds some of the same titles as the Father, emphasizing His pre-existence with the Father.
5 O Father, glorify Me…with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (Jn. 17:5)
F. This same language is applied to both the Father and the Son showing them as co-equal and co-existing as God.
Jesus possesses and manifests the Father’s glory (Heb. 1:3). Christ has all the fullness of the Godhead, sharing all God’s
attributes and possessing equal dignity with Him.
15 He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God… (Col. 1:15)
3 Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.… (Heb. 1:3)
G. Ask the Spirit to reveal Jesus to you from the Scripture as the great Alpha and Omega.
II. THE ALPHA AND OMEGA
A. The Greek alphabet started with the letter “alpha” and ended with “omega”. John was primarily writing to Greeks
who would have understood that Alpha and Omega meant from A to Z. It clearly inclusive of all that came between A and
Z. In other words, these two letters included all the rest. Jesus was claiming to possess the fullness or totality of God.
B. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, thus it means the "beginning and end" or
"The Eternal One" to indicate completeness or the whole matter. God is not speaking about letters of the alphabets,
but of eternal reality. Everything originates in Jesus.
C. This title sets forth Jesus as the sovereign Lord over everything in existence and all the events throughout history.
It reveals Jesus’ deity, transcendence, eternal nature, perfect leadership, Jesus’ omnipotence (all power), omniscience
(all knowledge), and omnipresence (all present) and His absolute completeness in love, wisdom and power in God’s plan
and mankind’s destiny.
III. ALPHA AND BEGINNING: CREATOR OF EVERYTHING
A. Jesus as the alpha refers to His eternal pre-existence. Jesus’ pre-existence is repeated often in Scripture
(Jn. 1:15, 18, 30; 3:13; 6:33, 42, 50, 62; 7:29; 8:23, 42; Eph. 1:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:20).
B. Jesus is the Beginning of the creation of God in being its creator or source of power and wisdom and by having
the highest rank and authority over it. Jesus is not the beginning in the sense of being the first one created since He is
pre-existent.
14 These things says (Jesus) the…the Beginning of the creation of God… (Rev. 3:14)
18 He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may
have the preeminence. (Col. 1:18)
C. Jesus as the alpha is the first cause or source of all things. He is the creative power and genius behind creation.
Jesus’ role as creator is explicitly stated in Scripture (Jn. 1:3; Col. 1:16, 19).
D. Jesus is identified as the creator who spoke and said, “let there be light” in Gen. 1. Jesus was present with the
Father in the "beginning" as the creator (Jn. 1:2). Jesus never had a beginning.
16 By Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible…All things were created
through Him and for Him. (Col. 1:16)
3 All things were made through Him (Jesus)... (Jn. 1:3)
E. There never was a time when He was not. Jesus sustains, upholds or holds together the created order by
speaking the Word to the Father. Jesus is the Alpha of creation, redemption and history. God uses His power for His
glory and our good as He heals, delivers and provides for us. When Jesus becomes our Alpha a new world opens up
and a new fullness is within our reach.
3 Who (Jesus)...upholding all things by the word of His power… (Heb. 1:3)
IV. OMEGA AND END: THE PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING
A. Jesus is the Omega or the reason for and final authority over everything. This affirms that all of creation finds its
purpose and meaning in Jesus. He as the End is the goal of all history. As the Omega and the End, He brings the purpose
of creation and each believer to completion.
B. The beginning and end of everything is under the orchestration of the same person. He has the power to bring
natural history to its full end in salvation or judgment. Nothing is outside His authority. This encouraged the saints who
were being persecuted in John’s generation.
C. As Jesus brought creation into being, so He will bring it to its rightful conclusion.
D. God guides history and your life to its rightful end or purpose because He stands as sovereign over it from the
beginning to the end. God’s blessings and curses come to their fullness or end under Jesus’ leadership. Jesus’ judgments
will bring sin on earth to an end.
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure… (Isa. 46:10)
E. Jesus causes all good things to begin and brings them to their fullness by His perfect love, wisdom and power.
As Genesis was a very good beginning, then sin entered in, so Revelation is a very good end with man in paradise and
Satan in prison.
F. Jesus sees, determines and therefore declares the end from the beginning. God’s leadership is seen in His
brilliant mind expressed as He executes His plans for history. God works from a blueprint that He established from the
beginning of time (Eph. 3:9-10).
G. As the Omega, Jesus dwells in eternity. He is the beginning and end of history and of all that lies between. He is
the Eternal One. It is essential for the end-time church to be connected with the big picture in making known to us the
plans and purposes of God in the gospel. He has control over all from the beginning of natural history to the end, even
when various powers resist Him.
V. JESUS IS OMNIPOTENT: HE POSSESSES ALL POWER
A. God’s incommunicable attributes are those attributes He does not impart or “communicate” to others such as
being eternal (uncreated), having immutability (never changing), omnipotence (all power), omniscience (all knowledge),
and omnipresence (all present). God’s communicable attributes are those He “communicates” to us as love, wisdom,
humility, etc.
B. Jesus is omnipotent or has all power. In other words, He is sovereign over all. Jesus has infinite power that cannot
be increased. He is the source of all the power that exists. Therefore, He has the ability to fulfill all His promises and
purposes. This fills us with hope and comforts our heart and reveals the permanence of God’s plans and promises.
6 A great multitude…saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! (Rev. 19:6)
C. Jesus’ sovereignty means that He is on the Throne with power over all things, working all things "after the counsel
of His own will".
11 The purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will… (Eph. 1:11)
6 Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth… (Ps. 135:6)
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?" (Dan. 4:35)
D. He will openly show the defeat of His enemies. He will “blow” on the Antichrist (Isa. 40:24).
23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
scarcely shall they be sown…when He will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away
like stubble. (Isa. 40:23-24)
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory…for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the
kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over
all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. (1 Chron. 29:11-12)
6 Do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is
able to withstand You? (2 Chron. 20:6)
E. Jesus is transcendent or He is “wholly other than”. He has utter uniqueness or distinction from creation. The
uncreated God is infinitely superior or totally separate from everything created. There is nothing that can be added to the
leadership of Jesus Christ over His church.
13 He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. (Job 23:13)
F. Jesus is infinitude or without limitation. This is impossible for our limited mind to understand. God’s love, power and
wisdom is without measure. Measurement describes limitations.
VI. JESUS’ SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND SELF-EXISTENCE
A. Jesus has no origin. When we think of anything that has origin we are not thinking of God. God is self-caused. He
is helped by none. He owes nothing to the worlds His hands have made. All created beings are dependent every second
on the One who created us.
B. Jesus is self-sufficient or He is what He is totally because of Himself. All life flows from Him. He receives nothing
that He has not first given. God voluntarily chooses to relate to us. He has no pressure for anything outside of Himself to act.
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made
with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath,
and all things. (Acts 17:24–25)
C. God was satisfied in the fellowship of the Trinity. He did not create humans because he was lonely, but to show
forth His glory. The love in the Godhead existed before creation. His love for us comes totally from Himself, not from a
need we supply to Him.
24 For You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)
D. He has no incompleteness in Him that we complete Him. He did not create to meet an unfulfilled need in Himself.
11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine. (Job 41:11)
E. No ever gave to God what did not first come from Him.
7 What do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not
received it? (1 Cor. 4:7)
F. To believe in Jesus adds nothing to His perfections; to reject Him takes nothing away. He is not greater because
of our worship, nor lesser if we did not exist. He is not a frustrated God who needs our help or defense. Our claim to
importance is that he was created in the divine image.
G. Without humans, God would still be infinitely loving and just, eternal and omniscient. God’s self-sufficiency does not make us
meaningless. We bring him joy, but He does not need us for Him to be joyful. We are meaningful because He created us and determined
that we are valuable.
VII. JESUS IS IMMUTABLE: HE NEVER CHANGES
A. Jesus is unchangeable in His perfections, purposes, and promises. He causes the universe to change, but His
personality, moral perfections and purposes never change.
25 You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They will perish, but You will
endure…27 You are the same, and Your years have no end. (Ps. 102:25-27)
6 I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. (Mal. 3:6)
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. (Ps. 33:11)
B. He never changes from the truth of who He is. He does not grow or mature in any sense. Jesus cannot change
for the better. He is forever perfect. He can never be wiser or more loving.
C. Jesus’ attitude toward us is the same for all eternity. He is always in a receptive mood. He never compromises or
needs to be talked into something. He will never change His Word.
19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has
He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num. 23:19)
VIII. THE MAJESTY OF JESUS
A. I recommend The Evidential Power of Beauty by Thomas Dubay. I took information (not direct quotes) from chapters
7-9 which focus on the vastness (macro) of Jesus’ power as well as the infinitesimal (micro). Both aspects of Jesus’
creative genius contain messages from Him.
Macro-marvels (chapter 7): enormous universe on a cosmic scale difficult to believe
Mid-marvels (chapter 8): are those accessible to our five senses in plant and animal life
Micro-marvels (chapter 9): tiny universe of ells with subatomic particles and DNA, etc.
B. Sun: It is nearly a million miles in diameter. The earth is 8,000 miles in diameter. It would take almost one million
earths to fill the space the sun occupies. The sun's corona (outermost region) reaches 2 million degrees. The energy it
releases can be compared to 100 billion hydrogen bombs exploding every second. The sun burns up about 4 million
tons of its own matter every second. At this rate, the sun can continue for another 6 billion years. Our sun is about 93
million miles from the earth. It takes light eight minutes for its light to reach us. A light-year is the distance light travels
(186,000 miles per second) for one year.
C. Universe: There are over 100 million galaxies in the known universe. The diameter of the known universe is about
15 billion light-years. The Milky Way Galaxy is a small one with a diameter of about 100,000 light-years with over 100
billion stars (some scientists insist). The largest galaxy known is called the Abell 2029. It is a cluster of thousands of
galaxies and has more than 100 trillion stars. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches
of earth (there are about ten thousand grains of sand in a handful). The Betelgeuse star (pronounced beetle juice) has
a diameter of 400 million miles (almost 500 times larger than our sun).
D. Plants and animals: There are over 10 million different species of living plants and animals. There are 35,000
species of orchids, 60 species of eagles, 50 kinds of kangaroos, 200 species of turtles and about 3 million species of
insects. An elephant has 40,000 muscles in its trunk alone.
E. Cells: There is great complexity in living cells (each is like a tiny city). The tiniest bacterial cells are made up of
100,000 million atoms A single cell contains more information than all thirty volumes of the encyclopedia Britannica. Even
the most simple bacterial cells are exceedingly complicated. Each person has about 100 trillion living cells. There can be
up to 15 million bacteria in a single drop of water and trillions of cells on a single tree branch.
F. A-R-K: We apply the truths about Jesus in Revelation to our lives in three ways:
1. Agreement: Make declarations of agreement to Jesus as the Alpha and Omega”.
2. Revelation: “Reveal Yourself to me as the Alpha and Omega who leads history”.
3. Keep the prophecy: By responding in faith to the truth of Jesus. Pray, “I set my heart to seek Your face to
experience Your leadership as the Alpha and Omega”.