I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA

Rev 22:13-17 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

It is not a coincidence that the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Jesus are used to close the last chapter of the New Testament. Why? Because it contains God's plan of eternal salvation, which His Son, Christ Jesus the Savior, died to establish. What words with greater meaning could be uttered than for Jesus to assure all men and women that are willing to listen, thatI am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Jesus was there in the beginning, when God established His plan, by which mankind could enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven, promised to all His obedient children, after the world ceases to exist, and comes to an end. He will also be there at the end when, at His second coming, when He will gather the saved, and transport them into His kingdom of heaven. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the first and the last.

Similar to the teaching in verse 7 above, Jesus, speaking to the apostle John through an angel of God, repeats that sentiment buy saying, Blessed are they that do His commandments. The revised KJV translates this passage as, Blessed are they that wash their robes, and, from a previous passage, we understand that the symbolic washing of the robes of mankind would make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). The revision is a much better translation because it precludes salvation being granted based only on one's works. The only right to the tree of life, that is to eternal salvation, is not something that you or I car earn, rather it will be ours only through thatd which Christ Jesus has done for us. He did so by extending God's grace to all fellow Christians, who have obediently been baptized for the remission of sins and added, by God, to the body of Christ. Only those followers of Christ will, by the grace of God, be invited to enter through the gates into the city, that is into heaven, symbolically known as the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2).

Those that will be denied entry through the gates of that holy city, are all disobedient sinners of the world. Worldly men and women that have been lured into sinfulness, are here referred to characteristically as dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. In Revelation 21:8 a similar list of sinners is noted. Not only will these evil, disobedient men and women be denied entry into heaven, but, as their eternal punishment, they will be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus continued his personal communication with His apostle, John, in verse 16. He reminds John that He had sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. This is exactly what was said in Revelation 1:1, which means that Jesus is confirming to John the entire inspired message contained in this final New Testament book, reminding him that His angel, who related most of the Revelation to John, was sent, as His personal witness, to confirm its symbolic message. Here, Jesus states one more time that He is the promised Messiah, having been born from the linage of David; thus fulfilling Old Testament prophecies such as that found in Isaiah 11:1. He is also described as the bright and morning Star - the star that, during certain seasons, appears in the east, often preceding the morning sun. Great teachers are often referred to as bright stars, and here, indeed, Jesus is described as the greatest of all teachers of the world - He is the spiritual light of all creation - the bright and morning Star.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The Holy Spirit and the bride of Christ, His church, are ready for His coming, as are His obedient followers - those that thirst for God's truths in Christ Jesus; those that heard and obeyed His teachings, those that drank of His water of life freely.This is God's invitation to the world, given through His Son, Christ Jesus, and recorded by the apostle John: God is pleading and begging all men and women of the world, toCome!