Our Alpha and Omega (Revelation 19-22)
The most important thing you can do to prepare yourself for Christ’s return is to get to know him as much as possible.
Revelation 19-22
Today's Scripture Passage
A Few Thoughts to Consider
Do you spend much time thinking about eternity?
Revelation 19-22 depicts the climactic triumph of God and the fulfillment of his eternal kingdom. In Revelation 19, Jesus is portrayed as a victorious rider on a white horse who defeats evil and establishes his reign. Revelation 20 describes the millennial reign, Satan's final rebellion, his ultimate defeat, and the great white throne judgment.
Revelation 21-22 are the grand culmination of Scripture. “In these final two chapters of the Bible, then, we see the final restoration and advancement of the creation introduced in the first two chapters of the Bible—only this time without any possibility of sin or its effects entering in, for Satan has been destroyed once and for all.”[1]
John writes in Revelation 21:1-2, 1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.” This passage aligns with Isaiah 65:17, where God says, “For I will create new heavens and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.” As N.T. Wright notes,
Throughout this book, as in much of the Bible, the sea is the dark force of chaos which threatens God’s plans and God’s people. It is the element from which the first monster emerged. It is contained in the first heaven, ‘contained’, that is, both in the sense that it is there as part of the furniture and in the sense that its boundary is strictly limited. Evil is only allowed to do enough to overreach itself and to bring about its own downfall. But in the new creation there will be no more sea, no more chaos, no place from which monsters might again emerge.[2]
John continues in verses 3-4, stating: 3 “Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.”
The word “dwelling” literally means “tent,” and we can’t help but think of John 1:14, which says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John adds in Revelation 21:5-6,
5 “Then the one seated on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new.’ He also said, ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’ 6 Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’”
As the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the phrase “Alpha and Omega” symbolizes Christ’s eternal nature, sovereignty, and completeness. Christ is the source of all creation, the one who sustains it, and the one in whom all things will be fulfilled.
