Jesus says: I am from eternity to eternity, I am the destroyer as well as the creator of all things. John of course was writing in Greek, so he includes the whole Greek alphabet, of which Α alpha and Ω omega are the first and last letters.
“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.” (Rev. 1:8)
John spoke this from the isle of Patmos, a small, rocky island belonging to the group called “Sporades,” in that part of the Aegean known as the Icarian Sea. Because of its rocky, barren and desolate nature the Roman government used the island as a place of banishment.
“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 1:9)
John turned the negative into a positive. Instead of life becoming somewhat one of despair, to the point of overwhelming him, he used those negative circumstances and that foreign place to continue his superb relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, what you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia…” (Rev. 1:10-11)
If John could rise to such great heights in the Spirit in the midst of tribulation, suffering and despair, then surely, we can too, dear Lord Jesus, give us a renewed thirst, for that WATER OF LIFE from your fountain today
JESUS IS THE FIRST AND LAST, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING!
-Bill Stockham