We are looking today at the final messages that Jesus leaves His people, and we begin in Revelation 22:13 with a comment by Christ Himself that says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” All three of these titles have been used throughout the book of Revelation in reference both to the Father and the Son. Depending on the context, you will find both being called these things. So, let’s look at them very quickly. We know Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The book of Revelation was written in Greek, so it was the common language at the time. People would know what that meant. So, Jesus is the beginning and the end and everything in between. He encompasses all things. He reinforces that by saying the first and the last. A very similar way of saying the same thing, but He is the One who is first of all things. He is preeminent over all things. He is preeminent over creation, the church, humanity, angels, and everything. He is the creator of all things as well. So, being the first, He is the one who created all things that followed. He is also the last. He is the One who is going to bring everything to an end. We found in Revelation 21 that He is going to destroy the present heavens and earth and create a new heavens and earth. He is the last. He brings it all to a conclusion. Then we have the beginning and the end. Again, very similar overlapping ideas, but in case anybody missed it, He is the first of all things and He is the ending of all things. He is the sustainer of all things. That is Jesus Christ. What a beautiful description of who He is, and this flows all the way back to Revelation 1 where these kinds of titles are being used.
We move on to another blessing. This is the seventh blessing, found in Revelation. Seven different times it says, someone is blessed for a particular reason. So, we have one of those here in Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” If we go back to Revelation 1:3 we find the first blessing that says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” . . .
