Advent: Alpha and Omega

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”Revelation 22:13

I recall vividly back to 5th grade at Sanborn Christian grade school when our teacher spoke to the class for the first time about God being the Alpha and Omega. As an 11 year old it was a daunting, and somewhat frightening, concept to wrap my mind around. Her discussion invoked thoughts of just how powerful and awesome is the God we worship and serve. To understand for the first time that God is sovereign over all things from the beginning of time to the coming of Christ made the wheels of an elementary student’s mind spin.

In the passages in Revelation, God is very direct and leaves little to the human imagination –“…the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” In cracking open the Cruden’s Concordance; there are over 200 names or titles for Jesus – so many ways to acknowledge the one who came to earth as a baby to atone humankind. The Alpha and Omega especially resonate this advent season for Christians as we prepare to celebrate God’s immeasurable gift. Rather than being intimidated by the vast power of God (as was the case in elementary school), I now pause to be comforted knowing Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. His birth – the Beginning – gives hope to all sinners that renewal in Christ is available regardless of our past transgressions. The fact Jesus walked on earth with ordinary people from all avenues of life who struggled with their humanness is even more comforting. Numerous stories are chronicled in the New Testament where Jesus went against the social norm to reach out to struggling individuals. Like the birth of our Savior, this newness needs to still be played out today by Christians as we seek to restore a broken world Christ was born into and died for. Furthermore, as struggles continue to transpire in the Middle East and seemingly uncontainable viruses make their way from one continent to the next and continuous reports of racial unrest in our country surface; we are comforted knowing He is the End. Jesus Christ is not merely a means to an end – He is the end.

As the calendar inches closer to December 25, may we possess the mind of child and marvel at the power and grace of God as we seek new restoration opportunities marked by Christ’s birth – the Beginning. Likewise, may we be assured, despite contentious events in our time, that Jesus is the secure safety net we have in an ever-changing world – the End.