April 12, 2022

The Year of our Lord, Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:8

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.

From A to Z He is the I AM. The verse above is one of famous renown. Quoted often for various reasons it encapsulates the entire spectrum of being. But the second part of the verse is probably as obscure in its fame as the first part is known. However, there is in that second part a statement so brilliantly relevant as to blind the eyes once looked upon. For as looking upon the sun can only be tolerated for a second, this small two-word phrase likewise shines radiantly. Not upon the physical eyes or body, but way down into the innermost parts of the soul.

That life changing proclamation if believed changes everything. For it is transformative in nature, superb in wording, simple in the saying, any yet infinitely profound in its reality. That phrase so boldly spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is…

Which is…. Yes, He is the Alpha – the beginning. He is the Omega – the ending. He was. He is He which is to come. He is the Almighty. But make no doubt. He is! Right now, He is. Interestingly, when the Lord stated the above to John in the opening salvos of the book of the Revelation, He said Which is first. Notice the order, naturally most would place which was before, which is. Not the Lord. On purpose He said first which is.

He is now. He is alive, He is at the right hand of God, He is advocating for His workers, interceding for His believers, overseeing His continual work, empowering His Word, managing the elements, dispatching faith, welcoming new converts, receiving the ones who go to eternal sleep, chastising the disobedient, and so many other things that time and space prohibit their conveyance here and now.

He let John know with no uncertainty that He is. Hebrews 1:3 testifies of this; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

From time to time, within my heart so low

I search the ever living one, the one who loved me so.

I find Him there, not to despair, but with a love so true

This Lamb of God came from above for my most dire need,

And He stands there now before the Throne for me to intercede.

For all of this, “I love Him so” ‘twill be my heavenly creed.

Yes, He was. Yes, He will be. But, to the comfort of the soul today, He is.

Until next time,

William T. Howe, Ph.D.