“‘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.” Revelation 1:8
Dear Ones:
If there is one thing that the entirety of Scripture does, it is to elevate our thoughts and concepts of God. Indeed, our faith, its strength and quality, depends upon how we see and perceive God according to the truth. Therefore, every aspect of the revelation of the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit, is designed to lay a foundation for our faith. With the exercise of that faith, according to the truth, true worship is born. It is then that God becomes the reality in our experience, which He is waiting to BE.
In the revelation of Christ to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, why does the glorified Christ reveal Himself as the “Beginning?” The answer goes back before time began, “…before the foundation of the world.” In the smallness of our concepts, seeking to explain the eternal, we would call this “eternity past.” It is there that we see the Christ of God with the Father, and the Spirit. Paul would write to the believers in Colosse concerning the magnitude and greatness of His person, with respect to the creation: “All things were created by Him, and for Him: and he is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16,17) Christ is the Beginning of creation, but also in Redemption, for though He would taste death for every man, He was (…and is) “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) What does this knowledge of Christ do for us? It should bring us to worship Him according to the truth of Who He is and was. It should also bring us to see that “all of our springs are in Him.” (Ps. 87:7) He ALONE, and sufficiently by the Spirit, is that “well of water springing up in our hearts.” He is that all-victorious Lord, for whom NOTHING is impossible in the will, and according to the purpose of God. He is as He declares Himself to be throughout Scripture, “the Almighty.” (Is. 9:6, Rev. 1:8)
As time is a gift of God, with an opportunity associated with it, so the knowledge of Christ is that “way,” and means by which time is to be used, and used well. Christ as our Beginning is that one to whom we come, first of all, to worship as He is, but secondly, to actually receive from Him the blessed knowledge of His will, receiving also strength and wisdom to live by His Life. We are called upon to believe Him fully with regard to all that He is, and that which He would have us trust Him for, either small or great. The issue is this: Christ IS the beginning of every endeavor, every pursuit, every conquest and victory. He is also the End, for He shall receive all the glory for all that He IS and DOES in and through us. The greatest motivating and captivating power of this Sovereign, and Almighty God, to mankind, is the revelation that He IS eternally, LOVE. This is the resounding call of God in Christ, to behold Him as the Beginning, trust Him fully, and live by faith in the vastness of the love of God, in all its dimensions. Christ IS God, and has done everything to commend His love for us. Faith, truth faith in Him as our Beginning and End, is the response to the eternal love of God.
Dear Father, open our eyes to see the Lord Jesus as your word declares Him to be, the Beginning…indeed, the essence of our Life on this earth. Strengthen our hearts, according to the truth of the vision of Him, to partake of His blessed Life by the Spirit, Christ in us the hope of glory. We thank and praise Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad