(I began this service with a 4 minute clip from the movie Amistad. The clip begins at 1:35:11 and ends at 1:39: 12
But who was the man in the pictures? He was none other than Jesus, but you knew that, you have the benefit of the book in your language, the benefit of having experienced church, the benefit of dozens of readings of the Christmas story and as many Easter sermons. But who is this man Jesus? He speaks for himself in the scripture that Larry read earlier. The book of Revelation was written by John, one of the apostles about 60 years following the death and resurrection of Christ. Because of his preaching he had been banished to the Isle of Patmos, a penal colony situated in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and the Isle of Crete. If I pull up a map here we can see where the Isle of Patmos is actually located and here is a picture of Patmos today. It looks fairly pleasant, a small island ten miles long and five miles wide but listen to the Words of Sir William Ramsay, “John’s banishment would be preceded by scourging, marked by perpetual fetters, scanty clothing, insufficient food, sleep on the bare ground, a dark prison and work under the lash of the military overseer.” Pretty rugged conditions for a man probably in his nineties, no matter how pretty the view.
And it was here that John tells us he had a vision, a vision of someone he hadn’t seen for sixty years, his friend Jesus. Who now appears in his glorified state and reveals to John the ultimate destiny of humanity. In closing Jesus makes a statement that in 2001 doesn’t seem all that important, or even relevant but to John clearly reiterates the identity of Christ. Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Huh? Well Alpha was the first letter of the Greek Alphabet and Omega was the last letter. Today he would have said “I am the A to Z, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” This statement signified a completeness to Christ. That he is indeed the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Start and the Finish. That he is one with God the Father who describes himself in Isaiah 44:6 this way “This is what the LORD, Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty, says: I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.”
God says “I am the first and the last” and Jesus says “I am the first and the last” How many firsts can there be? Or for that matter how many lasts can there be? But then again we already know that Jesus is God and now we know that he is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Start and the Finish. But what is he the beginning of? And what is he the start of? And what is he the finish of?
He is the Alpha and Omega of Creation If you want to know the beginning of our world you need to go to the beginning of the book. In Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. You say, “I’m not sure that I really believe the Biblical account of creation Denn, I’m more of a big bang proponent myself” Wow, you must have a pile of faith, to believe that everything just kind of happened, five Gazillion years ago. Kind of mind boggling isn’t it, when they talk in millions of years. What was it 2000 years ago that Christ was born? So one million years would be 500 times longer than that, 50 million years would be 25000 times longer than the period of time between the birth of Christ and today, the difference between the hour we are in church and a period of almost three years. And you can believe that 50 million years ago, out of nowhere things just appeared, and from that nothing our world was created and eventually we evolved from a single cell protoplasm to what we are today.
Wow! Think I’ll stick with Genesis 1:1, even Voltaire the Atheist said “The world embarrasses me, and I cannot dream that this watch exists and has no watchmaker.” And the watchmaker is God, who is the Alpha and Omega the first and the last, the beginning an the end, who is Jesus. Listen to what John, the same John who wrote the Revelation wrote concerning Christ, John 1:1-3 In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.
It was Sir Isaac Newton, the Scientist, remember the apple and gravity and the whole story, who said “This most beautiful system [The Universe] could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”
So not only does our world have a beginning, it has a beginning in God, in Jesus. For he is the Alpha and the Omega the first and the last the beginning and the end. And just as he was responsible for the beginning of our world, he will be responsible for the end of our world, it was French Scientist Pierre Bercelt, who said “Within a hundred years of physical and chemical science man will know what the atom is, and it is my belief that when science reaches this stage, God will come down to earth with his big ring of keys and say, ‘Gentleman it is closing time’”.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
Just as God brought about the beginning of this world, he will bring about the end of this world. When the time has come, and the last battle has been fought and won, or fought and lost, depending on what side you are on then this planet, this world, this earth will disappear. How many of you used to watch the Cosby show, you know the one with the Huxtables? My favourite line in that show was when Cliff Huxtable, the dad, looked at his son Theo and said “I brought you into this world and I can take you out and make another one just like you.”
And that is what God is going to do.
He is the Alpha and Omega of Life When did your life begin? Was it when you squinted in the light of the delivery room, took your first breath and let out your first scream? It was Groucho Marx who said “Although it is generally known, I think it’s about time to announce that I was born at a very early age.” It was earlier than Groucho thought. King David wrote these words in Psalm 139:13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.
You aren’t an accident, you aren’t just a biological opps, regardless of what you might have been told. You are part of God’s plan, and while there may be those who tell you that you weren’t planned remember this, “God planned you.”
In the book of Jeremiah the prophet Jeremiah tells of the amazing revelation that came his way from God, this is what God told him, Jeremiah 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”
If God knew Jeremiah before he was born, if God had a special purpose for Jeremiah 3000 years ago what makes you think you are any different. Jesus himself said Luke 12:6-7 “What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.
The same God who created the universe, the same God who threw the Milky way into the sky, they same God who scooped out the oceans with his hands, the same God who etched the Grand Canyon with his finger, and doodled across the sky with rainbows and sunsets. That very same God created you, and God don’t make junk. He is the is the Alpha and the Omega the first and the last the beginning and the end of who you are.
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the early believers in the city of Rome, and this is what he told them Romans 14:8 While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord. Here’s the facts of life people, nobody will live forever. Every person here is going to die someday. And it will be in God’s time not ours. Maybe you will live to be a hundred, maybe you’ll die tomorrow, you don’t know and I don’t know. You can’t control when you die, and you can’t control how you die. But you can choose how you respond to death.
Tony Campolo a Baptist Minister and Professor of Sociology at Eastern University in Philadelphia asks this question: “When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this: When you die, will YOU be happy when everybody else is crying?” There are only two of you who were present at your birth who you can guarantee will be present at your death, you and God. It was John Wesley who said The world can say what it likes about us Methodist, but they have to admit: we die well.
He is the Alpha and Omega of Your Salvation Probably one of the most widely known and most memorized scriptures in the bible is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. It doesn’t say, so that everyone will not perish but have eternal life. It’s conditional, it’s everyone who believes in him will not perish and have eternal life. And that’s not just a head knowledge. Story is told about Charles Blondin, now if you don’t know who Charles Blondin is I’ll tell you. He was one of the greatest tightrope walkers in the world. And one of his greatest stunts was walking across Niagara Falls on a tight rope, here’s a poster for one of his performances. It was 1860 and he had already made the trip several times, 1000 foot journey 160 feet over the raging Niagara. After he got to the side after one trip he asked, “Who believes that I can do it with a man on my back?” The crowd roared it’s approval, so he asked “Who wants to be the man” and the crowd was silent. Finally one man stepped out of the crowd and agreed. Who believed? The crowd who believed in their mind, and even verbalized the belief but refused to act upon it? Or the one who acted upon his belief?
Bob Dylan said “Don’t matter how much money you got, there’s only two kinds of people: there’s saved people and there’s lost people.” He is the Alpha and Omega for everyone in creation, He is the Alpha and Omega for everyone in their life and Death, but you have to choose him to be the Alpha and Omega of your Salvation.
We’ve seen it before, but let’s do it again. In the beginning God and Man enjoyed a life of fellowship together, but when sin entered the world through disobedience a division came between Man and God, The Bible says in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
But inside each of our hearts is a God shaped vacuum and we try to bridge the gap with religion, offerings, and good deeds but we are told in God’s word in Isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away.
The worst part though is revealed in the Bible in Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.” Let’s see if we have this straight, All have sinned, we can’t change that on our own and the wages of sin is death. Pretty dismal sounding, but that’s not the end of the story. Romans 6:23 Goes on to say For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
It’s only the cross of Christ that can wipe away our sin, and we can only accept that by faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Mark Twain said the same thing “Heaven goes by favour; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” How do you get that salvation that Christ gives, you just ask him to forgive you your sins and turn your life over to him. I’m going to put a prayer up on the screen, if you’ve never taken that step to make him the Alpha and Omega of your Salvation today is the day. 2 Corinthians 6:2 Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.
Here it is “Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Saviour and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
If this message has been helpful please visit:
www.helpbuildachurch.com
If you could build a church for a dollar . . .
Would you?
Power Point May Be Available for this message, please e-mail me at denn@bccnet.ca
