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Text: Revelation 22:13
Title: Christ: The God of the First and the God of the Last
Subj: The beginning and the end.
Introd.:
The Bible says: “In the beginning
God”! The N.T. echo is: “In the
beginning was the Word.”
The Bible teaches that, In the Beginning, God
created the End. Many eras in the Bible end, including our earthly lives. Yet
The End is just the beginning of two eternal states called Heaven and Hell.
For those that have placed their faith in the
finished work of Christ, the end of this earthly life is a new beginning called
Heaven. For those that have rejected the finished work of Christ, the end of
this earthly life is also a new beginning called Hell. So we could say that, in
the beginning God created the End, but the End is really only the beginning.
But let’s focus on three prominent aspects of
the Beginning and the End.
The first is the concept of time. Time began and
time will end. I am pretty sure that you realize that God is outside of time,
and as He looks at His creation He sees everything from the beginning to the end
in one panoramic view. Time is a creation of God for man. Time is our best
friend and our worst enemy! We only have so much.
The second aspect is that you and I are the
prisoners of time while on this earth. Ecc. 3:1-2 says,
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under
Heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die…”
In the Navy, the term for sailors about to go home was “short-timer.”
And I see a room full of “short-timers”
including your speaker!
The third aspect of the beginning and the end,
the most important aspect, is recorded in 3 verses; Revelation 1:8; 21:6 and
22:13.
We will take our text
from Rev. 22:13 where Jesus said, “I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
Message: “Christ: The God of
the First and the God of the Last” --- prayer
First
I. Jesus Christ Gives Testimony of His Deity
A. Jesus said, “I Am”
This short statement, “I Am,” describes the most immense subject in the
universe—God! And only God could reduce the description of Himself to two little
words—“I Am.”
When you hear Jesus say, “I Am,” your mind
should immediately go back to Ex. 3 in the O.T. Let’s review:
In v2, the Angel of the Lord
appears to Moses in the burning bush. This Angel is a preincarnate (pre birth)
appearance of Christ.
Yet in v4, God calls to Moses out of the burning bush. Conclusion, Jesus
Christ is God!
In v6, the Angel of the Lord, who is God, says,
“Moreover He said, I Am the God of
thy father, the God of Abraham…”
1. By that statement we see God among His people.
2. In the N.T. we see Emmanuel (God with us) among His people.
In v8, God says, “ And I Am come
down to deliver them…”
1. In the N.T., “For He (Jesus) shall save (deliver) His people from
their sins.”
In v11, Moses says to God,
“Who am I that should go…”
1. Moses knew the difference between God the I Am, and himself, the am I!
In v13, Moses knew that the
children of Israel would ask the Name of the One who had sent him, and Moses
asks God what he was to tell them?
In v14, God first tells
Moses who He is; “I AM THAT I AM:…”
and then Moses was to tell the children of Israel,
“I Am hath sent me unto you.”
1. This Name, “I Am” has the same meaning as Jehovah, the ever present,
eternal God of the O.T.
Finally, in v15, God says,
“…this is My Name forever, and this is My
memorial (“remembrance”) unto all generations.”
And Jesus says in
our verse, “I Am,” and He means “I Am” Jehovah the ever present, eternal God of
the O.T. (proven also in Jn. 8:58, “Before
Abraham was, I Am”).
1. So the beginning of Jesus’ final testimony is that He is the eternal,
ever present God!
Feeling alone? You are in
Christ, the Spirit of Christ is in you and underneath are God’s everlasting
arms! Rejoice & again I say, rejoice!
Second
II. Jesus Christ Gives Testimony of His Universality
(“I Am Alpha and Omega”)
1. The first and last letter of the Greek alphabet
Note: Most scholars believe
that Jesus spoke Aramaic during His earthly ministry. But new studies are
showing that the basis of Aramaic was the Hebrew language, which makes more
sense since Jesus and His early followers were all Jews.
The Rabbis used the first and last letters of
the Hebrew alphabet to denote the whole of anything, but here Jesus says that He
is the alpha & omega, the language of the Greek gentiles. He could have used the
Hebrew.
The language of the Jews was religious, while
the language of the Greeks was philosophical.
Thus Christ encompasses and includes both Jews and Greeks as the Alpha &
Omega.
A. As the “I Am” He was
particularly related to the Jews, but as the Alpha and Omega He is especially
related to the Gentiles. In other words,
“Whosoever will may come.”
1. Perhaps you have doubts about the sufficiency of Christ, either as to
His ability to save you or keep you. Those doubts are doubtless a delusion for
Christ is able from beginning to end and everything in the middle! Rest in
Him—trust in the Alpha & Omega! Rejoice & again I say, rejoice!
Third
III. Jesus Christ Gives Testimony of His Infinity
A. “I Am the Beginning and the End”
1. Notice first that Jesus is “the”, the definite article. He is not one
of many, but is the one and only!
a. Only God was there at the beginning and only God will be there at the
end.
2. Second, He is present at
the beginning and present at the end of each great event in the history of His
universe, and
a. He is present at the beginning and present at the end of each major or
minor event in your life, from conception to the grave!
1) Remember Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God...”? The early Rabbis
recorded that the word “beginning” referenced the Wisdom of God, which they took
as an actual reference to the promised Messiah. Jesus Christ was there at the
beginning!
b. This is also confirmed in Col. 1: 17
3. Third, the “beginning”
points us to an illimitable past, as the “end” points
to an impenetrable future. And the I Am is already there.
But with Christ, and for a believer, there is no
empty dash, for He truly is the beginning and the end and everything in between!
And you are in Christ, so you remember your beginning and you know your end!
Rejoice
& again I say, rejoice!
Fourth
IV.
Jesus Christ Gives Testimony of His
Preeminence
A. “I Am the First and the Last”
1. I can do no better than to read Col. 1:15-18.
Note: He is "the Seed of the woman," the promise of Whom lights up
the first prophecy. The first sacrifice, the first death, speak of Him. And from
these earliest teachings concerning Him right down to the last utterance of the
Word of God, in what book, chapter, or page is He absent? Patriarchs saw His
day; types told of Him; laws led to Him; psalmists sung of Him; prophets
prophesied of Him; princes and rulers, and the events which the sacred history
records, prepared the way for Him; and the New Testament is all of Him. He it is
who gives unity to the Scriptures, which otherwise would be a mere collection of
ancient writings, having no point, or aim, or plan. He is the Keystone of the
arch, without which it would have neither symmetry nor strength.
2. Christ was there first and He will be there at the last
a. Think of the comfort, child of God. Christ was there before your
trying circumstance and Christ will be there at its passing. And that, over and
over!
Rejoice & again I say, rejoice!
Concl:
In God’s opening statement we read,
"In the beginning Elohim created," or
“in the Messiah God created.”
Heb. 1:11 says, "They shall
perish, but Thou remainest"
Bros & Sis., anchor your soul to the I Am; fill your mind with the alpha &
omega; satisfy your emotions with the Beginning & the End; and let the First &
the Last be the cornerstone of your life!
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