Jesus never says goodbye!

My Bible’s concordance is abbreviated. It will run out of words about God before the end of this year. But the Bible will not.

Today my eye stopped at OMEGA. It is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and signals finality, an ending. It is used in only three verses, all in the last book of the NT and seems to Jesus describing the end of something. However, the concept behind this word is vast and fascinating.

First, Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and signifies a beginning, significance and importance. The combination of alpha and omega in secular literature designates the entire universe and all kinds of divine and evil powers. When used of Christ, it refers to His dominion and status over the universe. However, there is more.

The idea of an ending regarding time periods occurs throughout the OT. Events, ceremonies, all sorts of things end, sometimes after a certain amount of days or years. Job was the first to mention it in terms of the Messiah. In Job 19:25, he declared, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” However, there is more.

The prophet spoke for God and God declared Himself the Omega, not using that word but with the same meaning in three verses that identify Him as who He is and what He has done:

Isaiah 41:4. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Isaiah 44:6. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Isaiah 48:12. “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.

Here God is not referring to time but to His all-inclusive sphere of authority and high status. In Revelation Jesus says the same thing about Himself:

Revelation 1:8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 2:8. “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life” (referring to Jesus).

Revelation 1:17. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last . . . ’”

Revelation 21:6. “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.’”

Revelation 22:13. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

This declaration affirms that Jesus in Revelation is the same One in Isaiah who declared His identity as the first and the last. He envelopes all that exists — in the past and in the future, from beginning of time to its end, from the first to the last, the Alpha and Omega!

Isaiah 46:9–10 says it this way: “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Romans 11:36 says it this way: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. This is an eternal focus that begins with His revelation of Himself to me — but it never ends. When He talks about omega, He means the end of things here as I know it. It also means that when all is done, He remains. As the NT says, Jesus will “deliver the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” yet before that happens, He is here with me too. In Matthew 28:20 He commissions me to make disciples and teach them “to observe all that I have commanded you” and adds this wonderful assurance: “And behold, I am (Alpha) with you always, to the end of the age (Omega)” and His promise in Hebrews 13:5 says He will never forsake us — never means we are together forever!