I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA

Rev 1:7-8 Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. 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.

Behold, He (that is, Jesus, the Son of God) cometh with clouds. During the missionary years of Jesus Christ on earth He prophetically told His apostles, and by the recording of His message, He gave all people of all ages, a description of His second coming. With few words, this inspired scripture tells of the Day of Judgment, when our Savior comes to gather together all men and women that have faithfully served God by obeying His New Testament gospel message of salvation, and that He will usher them into heaven to blissfully live with Him forever. His coming, He said, would be in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30). He made similar announcements of His coming with clouds in Matthew 26:64, Mark 13:26, and Mark 14:62.

Then on the Day of Pentecost, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, Peter and the other apostles brought this message to the Jewish nation and, afterwards, to the entire world. They preached that, just as the clouds received Jesus in His ascension back into heaven after His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, He would return, coming in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven (See Acts 1:9-11). It is well to note that the second coming of our Savior is mentioned in the opening chapter of the Revelation letter, and also is referred to in detail in its closing Chapter 22.

And at His coming again, every eye shall see Him. Just how this will take place is beyond human minds, but rest assured, it will occur just as it is written in this inspired book of Revelation. All mortals will come face to face with Christ Jesus on that day; will see Him, and we will know Him to be the Son of God. Those that knew Him not will see Him, and with shocking amazement, cry out in anguish for their lack of spiritual understanding. Those that knew Him, but failed to obey and keep His commandments, will see His face, and with deep remorse, seek forgiveness that is too late to be given. (A)nd they also which pierced Him, shall see Jesus. When we read Zechariah 12:10, we are assured that they which pierced Him refer, not as much to the Roman soldiers that carried out Jesus' crucifixion, but to the Jewish nation that rejected Him, demanded, and was given, His death sentence by the Roman authorities ruling over them. Indeed, when He cometh with clouds, and all see Him as their final Judge, then all disobedient men and women of the world will lament and cry out with the most sorrowful, intense grief ever known to mankind. All the unfaithful will wail because of Him. Their sins will be brought into remembrance and they will realize their final reward - being removed from His sight, and banished into eternal death. Even so, Amen.

The lesson text closes with this statement from Jesus: 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. Here we have the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet used to describe the nature of our Savior. Jesus, the Son of God, the promised Messiah, ushered in the beginning of God's plan of eternal salvation by His New Testament gospel teachings, and afterwards has promised the world that He will come at last. in order to bring that plan of salvation to its final closing. Being with God in heaven at the beginning of time, Jesus existed from the beginning of eternity and will exist until eternity ceases to be. He is both Alpha and Omega; the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. This was exactly the words He used near the closing of this letter of Revelation. John recorded Jesus as saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13).

Our Savior, referred to here astheAlmighty,existed at the beginning of time, exists now during the present age, and will exist forever after. Jesus was there when the universe, as we know it, was framed; He breathed life into His human creation and gave them a soul that will live eternally. He is now seated at the right hand of God, having complete dominion over all powers in heaven and on earth. He possesses the power to add names into Book of Life and remove from it the names of those that, through indifference, apostatize, and abandoned the faith in their first love, and returned to the ways of the world. With knowledge of the lessons found in these holy scriptures, who can deny that God, through His Son, Christ Jesus, is able to, and, with assurance, will carry out every prophecy found in this book of Revelation?