(Revelation 21:1-8) And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

We often wonder why there is suffering in this world. No one suffered like John the Apostle. Boiled in oil for his faith, he was not killed. When they could not destroy his body nor defeat his spirit (for John loved Jesus more than any have ever loved Him) they cast John out on a deserted island called Patmos. Unlike Gilligan’s Isle there was no comedy, no bumbling Gilligan nor a directionally deprived Skipper. John was alone. John was abandoned. But John loved God, and looked up.

And there was God.

1 The Alpha And Omega Is God. We are first introduced to the Alpha and Omega name of God in the last book of the Bible. God spoke to John, abandoned John, lonely John, hurting John, and said …

Revelation 1:8 (KJV) 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.

Why is the Alpha and Omega name of God found at the end of our Bibles, and not at the beginning? Because Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the GREEK language. In the Old Testament Greece was not a superpower. Egypt was a superpower. Egypt was the first place that God planted His Israel. He sent Joseph to Israel (you remember Joseph of the coat of many colors?) and raised Joseph up so that Israel and his small family would have a place to go and be protected. Joseph told his brothers who betrayed him:

Genesis 50:20 (KJV) 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Joseph understood that God is always there, and that God works to bring all things together for the good of His people. The Bible declares without reservation:

Romans 8:28 (KJV) 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

How can we know that all things work together for Good to us who love God? Because God is the First and God is the Last. Though He was not called Alpha and Omega in the Old Testament (because Greece was not a superpower) God was called the First and the Last. We are told in …

Isaiah 41:4 (KJV) 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

The Eternal God, the LORD (notice the ALL CAPITAL LETTERS? This is YAHWEH speaking, the Great I AM of Moses). The LORD is the first and with the last. God has always been. God is absolutely the beginning and absolutely the end. He is the First Cause of Creation. If this universe started with a BIG BANG it was our God who did it. Man manufactures, but God God creates. We take things and make things out of things. God makes things out of nothing. Someone once said that when God created, He stepped out on a stage of nothing and spoke into that vast nothingness and said “let there be” and there was something.

Man manufactures. The first three letters of manufacture is MANufacture. We take something from something and make something else. But God is ALPHA – the First, the Beginning of Creation. There was nothing before God, and no things exist apart from Him.

Isaiah 44:6 (KJV) Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

The LORD, the I AM our Redeemer is the First and the Last. He says “beside me there is no God”. The gods that this world chase after are false gods, imposters, created from man’s mind for man’s pleasures. God is alone the First and the Last. Allah is a false god. How do I know? Because the First and the Last tells me so. The god of Joseph Smith, the Mormon god, is a false god. How do I know? The First and the Last tells me so. The Hindu gods are but imaginations of fevered and off put minds. The idea that a man may become god, forwarded by that confuses Buddha idol, is foolish. The little fat gods that sit in the Chinese restaurants. The men who would be gods. To all these false and foolish statues pretending to be gods and goddesses the True God of Scripture says I am First, I am Last, and beside Me there is NO GOD.

Isaiah 48:12-14 (KJV) Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

Our God, the First and the Last, calls a people unto Himself. Israel was not a great people. They were a nation of slaves before God called them out of Egypt. Pharaoh thought that he was god. He thought that he could hold back the people of the First and the Last. His armies died in the Red Sea. He died screaming, breathing water, crushed under tons of fluid. God is First and Last. He controls the nations. Israel got cocky, God sent Babylon to whip His children. God punishes. God loves. God is in control.

So how did God come to be known as Alpha and Omega? Because God used a Grecian named Alexander. About 356 years before our Lord Jesus came to this world through a virgin named Mary there was a man named Alexander of Macedonia, son of King Philip II. Alexander had a desire to rule the world. Trained by the Philosopher Aristotle Alexander led his armies to attack and conquer Persia, and then over a period of thirteen years came to rule all of his known world. Alexander required all those he conquered to learn Koine or Common Greek. His armies and his people all spoke the same language, the Greek language. The First and Last letters of the Greek language is Alpha and Omega.

It was not Alexander’s power that made him great.
God allowed Alexander to rise to greatness.
The Alpha and Omega is in control of all things.

In due time, God allowed Alexander and his empire to die out and be taken over of Rome. But the language of the people – of the common man – in the Apostle John’s day is GREEK, and the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet are Alpha and Omega. So when God told John …

Revelation 1:8 (KJV) 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.

He was not endorsing Alexander the Great, nor any other king. The language of that day was GREEK because GOD Who is FIRST and LAST caused it. God is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He has not changed. The world changes. World powers change. But God never changes.

He was Lord at the beginning of creation, and will be Lord when the sun no longer shines.

2 The Alpha And Omega Is Jesus Christ Our Lord. People say “All right, I believe in God. I believe in the Alpha and the Omega”. Yes, but do you believe in Jesus Christ? Because Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. The Eternal God speaks to us through Christ. We find this out as we continue to read. John writes:

Revelation 1:10-18 (KJV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day {on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the Day He rose from the grave}, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

God commissioned John to write what you see in a Book. This is where God told John to write the Book of Revelation. Do you know what language John wrote this Book in? Greek. Koine Greek. The same Greek that has Alpha and Omega as the first and last letters. Do you see the irony here? The Alpha and Omega God we serve told John to write this Book. This Book was written to His Church, the Church He loves.

What does the text say about the Alpha and Omega God Who speaks?

• He looks like unto the Son of man. This was one of the favorite phrases that Jesus used to describe Himself. The phrase “Son of man” in the Old Testament is a reference to fallen and weak man:

Numbers 23:19 (KJV) 19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Psalm 8:4 (KJV) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

But in the New Testament our Lord Jesus – God become flesh – took the title “Son of man” to Himself. Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of man 81 times throughout the Gospels. Why? To show the love of God for us. We separated ourselves from God, so God came down and became one of us (but without sin). Someone once said that the Author of The Story of Mankind wrote Himself into His own Book. The one who looks like unto the Son of Man is Jesus. What else did John see?

Revelation 1:14-16 (KJV) His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

• His head and hairs white like wool. He is pure and holy. His eyes as a flame of fire. This is God, the Judge of Heaven and Earth. He is holy and righteous. And His feet are like brass. He never slips. He stands on solid rock, and is the Rock of Ages. His voice as the sound of many waters. He is the Living Water of God. This may not declare Him to be Jesus, but the next words do.

Revelation 1:17-18 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

This Alpha and Omega is Jesus. He is the first and the last. He is the One Who lives, and was dead, and is alive for evermore. Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins and for mine. He is the Redeemer of His people. It is His Blood shed that gives us righteous access to God.

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV) 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

This is Jesus. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is not just another man, He is the God Man, the Son of God become Son of Man.

3 The Alpha And Omega Is Calling A People To Himself. Our destiny is a New Heaven and a New Earth. We started out reading this text:

(Revelation 21:1-8) And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The Alpha and Omega is calling His people to a new reality. This present earth and this present heaven will one day pass away. God will destroy all that is broken by sin, and create a new Heaven and a new Earth. This new Heaven and new earth is not for old, broken mankind. It is for NEW CREATURES. We are told in

(Galatians 6:15) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but A NEW CREATURE.

Preach This! The Christian is a NEW CREATURE. We are different than the lost. We walk with God, and God walks with us. You say, “Yes preacher, I know we are ‘new creatures’. The Bible says this. And yet, we seem to suffer just as other lost souls suffer. We experience pain as other lost souls experience pain. We leave this life as other lost souls leave this life. How then are we ‘new creatures’?” To which I reply … God is not finished YET! New creatures need a new place to be.

Right now we who are saved are NEW creatures in an OLD broken world. But God tells us that this will not always be so. One day our present will be different.

Revelation 21:3-4 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

There is coming a day – glorious endless day – when the Tabernacle of God will be with men. We shall see the Alpha and Omega every single moment of that endless day. God Himself shall be with them – with us. And as we sit with Jesus – our Alpha and Omega – He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. There will be no death, no sorrow, no pain. All the old ugly of sin will be gone.

There Will Be Only Sons Of God On This New Earth

(Revelation 21:6-7) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Who will be in this glorious new Kingdom? Those who have drank of His water of life. Those that overcome through Him. Those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. To those – to us – God says “I will be your God, and you shall be my son”.

Who is NOT in the new creation? Those whose god is self and sin!

(Revelation 21:8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The inheritance of the unsaved is the unparadise. The inheritance of the sinner is sizzling. Those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ and sing “I did it my way” throughout this life have no part in God’s glorious new creation. But those who have believed on Him – overcomers because they follow Christ daily – these will be on that glorious earth.

Let us close with this final responsive reading.

Revelation 22:13-17 (KJV) 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 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. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 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. 17 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.

May God touch your hearts with His Word!