Alpha and Omega
You are Alpha and Omega, sing
We worship You our Lord
You are worthy to be praised
Sing it again
You are Alpha and Omega
We worship You our Lord
You are worthy to be praised
We give You all the glory
We worship You our Lord
You are worthy to be praised
We give You all the glory
(And we worship You)
We worship You our Lord
You are worthy to be praised
You are Alpha and Omega
We worship You our Lord
You are worthy to be praised
We give You all
We give You all
We give You all
Words and Music by Erasmus Mutanbira © 2005, Integrity’s Praise! Music
CCLI #879072
“’I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’” Revelation 22.13, NASB
Up to this point, we have looked at the seven I Am statements in the Gospel of John and you are probably expecting today to be about the resurrection. Guess what…it is the resurrection!
At the end of Revelation, John writes these words spoken by the Lord Christ: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” There is a lot of significance for Easter in this statement. There is a huge display of how the power of the Cross and the resurrection transform us today.
You may have noticed that one of the I Am statements from John’s Gospel has been missing from this week’s devotion. Each day, we have covered one identification that Jesus makes of Himself. There is historical, religious, and ritual significance to each of these. But, in John 8, Jesus is having a very difficult exchange with the religious leaders and Abraham comes up in conversation. The charge of the religious leaders is that Jesus is insane because He makes a claim about Abraham, who had been dead for nearly 2,500 years. In verse 58 Jesus makes the startling statement in response, “Before Abraham was born, I am.”
Only one who is the first and the last can do this. Only one who is the beginning and the end can do this. Only one who is eternal and, therefore, not bound by human time can say this with truth.
Jesus is the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the door, the good shepherd, the light of the world, the way, the truth, the life, and the vine because of the eternal nature He possesses. HE IS GOD!
Each of these statements uses the covenant name of God and they are, therefore, theologically rich. Remember, it is not just “I am a man” or “I am here.” Jesus is saying, “I am God and I am eternal”. He is identifying Himself with God. Our hope and peace come from this. His worthiness as savior is found in Him being God in our flesh.
Jesus was before you and me (and our problems!) and He is after us (and our deaths!). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1).
Today, we celebrate His resurrection because God is not dead. His glory will never cease. His Son rose to conquer death for us. We celebrate because in Him we have life!
Pray: Jesus, today I only want to see You. The things of the world will pass away and disappoint, but You have overcome death. Your kingdom will never pass away. Help me to see what You have made available to me now. I praise You that my life can demonstrate the power of eternity to those around me.