Alpha & Omega (6/18/12)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading Rev 22:12-17.

Jesus is exclusively the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He's the beginning and the end of the Word of God. It's his blood which confirms all things and how all virtue is passed along to mankind. Our Risen Lord is not only the ruling and directing power of his Church, but also the source of all physical and spiritual life. There are lots of way we describe his being the ultimate. He's the End All and Do All. He's the completeness of all Yahweh has done. Without him there would be no hope or salvation.

Jesus himself said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He's the only-begotten Son of the Father, truly and exclusively God Almighty's Son. He's of the same nature, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He's not just figuratively or secondarily God, he is as sovereign and all-everything as Yahweh. The Father, Son, and Spirit are so united there's no separation in them. The only separation ever was when Jesus become sin on our behalf.

When we say Jesus is the Alpha and Omega we're actually stating that he has no beginning or end. It actually refers to the fact that we have our beginning and end in him. The same Lord who started creation will also finish it. And being eternal, he's unchanging, which should give us confidence in all he's shared with us in the Bible. Yes, this is difficult for our finite humans minds to grasp and understand. But that doesn't make it false. We, the changeable, must trust that the unchangeable One is exactly what he said he was: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb 13:8).

God, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, stands above history. He's not limited by time and space. He's not limited by anything. The same Jesus who came into this world to save us is the one who first made our world and everything in it. To deny any of this is to reject the revelation of the Creator of humanity. Belief in "god" should be an almost automatic action for every human being based on the evidence Yahweh has presented. Rom 1:20, "Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Atheism is philosophical illiteracy. If there is a God, eastern mysticism and pantheism and other philosophies don't work - logically or spiritually. If there is a God, wouldn't he decree a single path to himself? Why would the all-knowing (omniscient) Creator be schizophrenic and offer many ways to reach him? It's only man in his rebellion and selfishness who demands that there must be more than one way to reach our heavenly Father. A Creator with any intelligence wouldn't give his error-prone creatures the option to do it their own way.

If there is a God, he must by definition be sovereign. Because if Yahweh isn't truly sovereign, he isn't God Almighty. For example, if there's one subatomic particle which he isn't aware of, then he isn't all-knowing and completely sovereign. Then his authority breaks down and his Kingdom crumbles. If those things happen, he's no longer Lord of All Creation. Yahweh set everything in motion and sustains everything by his absolute power (omnipotence). If he's unable to do that, he's not God Almighty.

To say Yahweh is sovereign is to say that he rules sovereignly in all the affairs of mankind. The idea of some grandfatherly old windbag sitting up there on a throne just passing the time and without the power to touch men's lives is ridiculous. It's spiritually ignorant and extremely shallow-minded. To call that being "God" would be an oxymoron, and I believe only a moron could believe such a thing. Our Creator God can do anything, anything he wants and any way he wants. It's petty and arrogant for us to demand that he do things our way. He has the right to interrupt what we're doing. He has the right to judge and condemn. He has the right to save us the way he chooses, and not according to all our man-made forms of religion.

Therefore, if Yahweh rules sovereignly, then once again it necessarily follows that he would provide the way to carry out his purposes. This would then logically produce an implementation plan by which he would reveal himself - because in order to carry out his rule and reign, he must show us his character. And the Bible clearly fills this prescription, giving us exactly what we need to learn of him and also to enable us to learn his ways. He decides what works and what doesn't concerning salvation and eternal life. He determines who's been a good person and deserves his mercy and grace. No matter what we think or believe, Yahweh always has the final say. No matter how many people agree with us, Yahweh's decision is the majority one.

So, if you're prepared to admit to a belief in Yahweh God, then you must conclude that he's unique in his being, sovereign in his will, and singular in his purpose. Those claims take us directly back to John 14:6. Only the Sovereign King of Glory could give us such precise instructions without being presumptuous. Yahweh doesn't presume to do anything. Whatever he does is always true and just and good because that's who and what he is.

When we reach this conclusion, we must realize that Yahweh has chosen a means by which to reveal himself to his creation. In order to rule and reign he must reveal himself to us so we can acknowledge him. Since his character is solid and is the rock upon which all truth rests, then the revelation of his character demands that he himself be of singular and unalterable definition. He's not a human who bounces up and down with emotion and indecision. He's not even an exalted human who's "evolved" into something better. He is the Lord God Almighty, who is and was and is to come.

You do realize that we have a major tendency to relegate "God" to the fictitious inventions of mankind. This is what most people and most religions unwittingly do. So it still comes down to faith. Even though in the minds of many faith is only imagination, it's still absolutely necessary in approaching the Eternal and Almighty God. The most compelling argument in the world about the existence of "God" can't overcome a lack of faith. No matter how concrete the evidence we offer, a person must still trust in something beyond his ability to humanly perceive.

The call of Yahweh is to depend on him for our beginning and end, to offer a complete trust in his ability to take care of our needs. Everything we do must begin and end in the Holy Spirit. Anything else takes us into the realms of the flesh and out of the eternal. When we attempt to approach Heaven in our own strength, we're imitating Satan and his attempt to put himself on Yahweh's throne. To use a spirit guide or meditation or any other occult method is to enter the spirit realm is spiritual adultery. It's a corruption of Yahweh's plan and purpose and will leave us spiritually empty because it's an evil deception designed to turn us away from our Creator's Truth. Allowing Jesus to be the Alpha and Omega in our lives prevents this deception and is vital to our spiritual health.

We must return to a worshipful and reverent fear of Yahweh. To see him as the Great God and Savior, the one who will sit on the Great White Throne of judgment, is to be faithful to the revealed Word of our God. Prov 1:7 says, "Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge." The beginning here means the principle and choice part, the starting point and essence of everything. To clearly see the revealed God of the Bible we must follow his instructions and directions. We must stop making adjustments based on our faulty human logic and trust that our Creator, the one who designed us, knows what's best and never lies to us.

In general, the American Church has lost the sense of the power of Yahweh, the overwhelming sense of his presence. We're the creation. We should be in awe of our Creator. If we're following his instructions we should be having times of this overwhelming closeness happening because of our dedication, worship, and praise. Our heavenly Father is too big for us to minimize and trivialize. Yet far too many people believe far too little about the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator God. You've heard it said that some people put "God in a box." Actually that's impossible because he's much too big for any container to hold him.

Psalm 8:1 says, "O Yahweh, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens." To be majestic is to have supreme power and authority, to display great splendor and dignity. His glory being above the heavens means we can't perceive or understand it all. But we don't have to. He's already shown us enough to keep us in awe and wonder forever.

Yahweh is God. We're his creation. We need to hear his call and respond to the salvation he offers. We need to remember he is God and he makes the rules. He's given us the Bible for our good. If we deny what's written in it, or say that it's less than the revealed Word of our Creator, we speak against the Sovereign God and place ourselves as his enemies. Don't go there. Seek after his Truth, humble yourself and draw near to him. Psalm 2:1-5 lays out what's going to happen to those who think they can replace him. "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against Yahweh and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters.' The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath."

Follow Yahweh's design and plan and you'll find that the world will think you're crazy. Let them, they're the ones on the wrong path. Try to help them understand what you've learned about your heavenly Father. Do your best to show them the way of mercy and grace. Your sovereign God expects that you'll share the eternal seed of salvation you received when Jesus came into your life.

Blessings & Peace, Mike