,, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.“
Rev. 22:13-15
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."
We said earlier that the Bible is written so it is very easy to understand what it says if a person is interested and wants to know the content. Here we have a sentence that is very clear and that tells us that the Lord Jesus is a God who has no beginning and no end.
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega or the Beginning and the End of all that He created as Creator and that is because He was before creation through all eternity and when "time" is over He will continue through all eternity. The Lord Jesus has on earth beginning as "man" but as God has neither beginning nor end. In Revelation we first come across a sentence similar to this in the first chapter where it says:
,, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."”
Rev. 1: 8
And this exactly confirms what we said a moment ago that God is without end and beginning, because "who is" means the one who was, the one who is now and the one who will be, and no one can say that except God.
Only the words written in the Epistle to the Hebrews apply to the Lord Jesus:
,, And: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment;Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail."
Heb.1: 10-12
The Lord Jesus is the Creator, "You, O Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands:" therefore He may write at the beginning of the Bible:
,, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Gen. 1: 1
And at the beginning of his Gospel, John writes about the Word Logos, that is, about the Lord Jesus Christ:
,, All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1: 3
And that was at the "beginning" and since we have seen in the study that the "end of time" is coming, the Lord Jesus says as the Creator that He will re-create a new heaven and a new earth:
,, Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
Rev.21: 5-6
So the Lord Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of creation, but he is also the Alpha and Omega of all human history. various emperors ruled, wars were fought, people lived "with God" but also "without God", but all these events are controlled by God, although one can say that events are arranged spontaneously or without a plan, it is true that God controls everything.
,, "But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does.”
Job 23:13
,, Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.”
Ps.135: 6
,, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,'”
Isa.46: 10
,, And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.”
Daniel 2:21
We know from the Bible that Satan causes or causes great problems on earth, but we must say that even he can only do what he is allowed to do, so he is under God's control.
Here is an example from the book of Job from God's conversation with Satan where we see that Satan must obey God:
,, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
Job 1: 6-12
,, Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause." So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. "But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."”
Job 2: 1-6
From the book of Job, we can read that Satan practically "destroyed" Job, but he did not touch his soul because God said that we must not touch and he must obey.
As for people, God has given people guidelines in the form of moral and ceremonial laws to make them function more easily, and the ultimate purpose is for people to turn to God and understand that the Lord Jesus is their Savior. This law was given to the Jews chosen by God to be God's people and all the sacrifices regarding the ceremonial law were the "shadows" of reality and the Reality is the Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning of this law is "at Sinai" and the end is the Lord Jesus Christ:
,, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Rom.10: 4
The Apostle Paul also wrote about this:
,, Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
Col. 2: 16-17
As for the moral law, it is "written" in the conscience of all people and all people can distinguish what is good and what is not, although today people are less and less "listening to the voice" that tells them that something is not good or that something is wrong .We should know that no law could and cannot save man and keeping the law can help anyone, especially today when we have the Reality and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood on the cross for our salvation and He is the Alpha and Omega of salvation and this is what the Apostle Paul says, when the Lord Jesus saves someone He saves him completely and to the end:
,, Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
Phil.1: 6
He is saved by God's hands and we have the promise of double security:
,, "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
"I and My Father are one."
John 10: 28-30
God has given people another "knowledge" in the form of the Bible or the Holy Scriptures and anyone who is enlightened by the Holy Spirit in the pages of the Bible can recognize and see the Lord Jesus Christ. The main theme of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible teaches us God forbid:
,, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ..."
2 Tim.3: 16
It also says that the Word of the Lord is "established in heaven."
,, Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”
Ps.119: 89
And the Lord Jesus said:
,,Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Mt.24: 35
So far, there have been many attempts to destroy the Bible, but no one has succeeded or will succeed because it clearly says:
,,… and the Scripture cannot be broken,”
John 10:35
As we see the Alpha and Omega of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ who gave us the Word to show us things that without the Bible we could not see from the "beginning to the end of the world" and the most important thing is that the Lord Jesus Christ shows us through the Word the only Savior, who is the Alpha and Omega of all.
And when we have all that, we just need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved and then we will avoid all those catastrophes that we have studied so far and that are coming to this world of ours in the near future.
Many people don’t think about these future events, many even scoff at saying it’s not true or anything like that but the Lord Jesus still calls people to believe in Him and repent and gives us a little more time and a chance to repent because He doesn’t want us to die :
,, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Pet.3: 9
So below he writes about those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ:
"Blessed is he that doeth his commandments, that they may have authority over the tree of life, and that they may enter in through the gates into the city."
Some translators translate this sentence like this:
"Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Saric
"Blessed are they that wash their garments, that they may obtain the tree of life, and may enter into the city by the gates."
Carnic
"Blessed are those who wash their garments to gain the right to the tree of life and to enter the gates of the city."
Bakotic
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Stefanović
Whether the translation is wrong here or not, the Bible clearly teaches that salvation is only in the Lord Jesus Christ and that He alone is the Savior and that there is no other way to heaven except faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because everything else we would do is works "from us" and that is not a "gift of God"
,, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”
Eph.2: 8
,, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”
Titus 3: 5
and in Revelation it is written that Jesus loves us and that our "sins are cleansed or washed away" by His blood:
,,… To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,”
Rev. 1: 5
While in the fifth chapter of Revelation for the Church it is written:
,, And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
Revelation 5: 9-10
While in the seventh chapter he writes about the "multitude" who will be saved in great trouble:
,, And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Rev. 7:14
The only way, justice, sanctification and deliverance is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Apostle Paul writes about it:
,, But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."
1 Cor.1: 30-31
Therefore, only those who have surrendered by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in Him can enter the heavenly Jerusalem, and He cleansed them with His blood and clothed them with His justice.
We have seen who can enter the "city" and in the following verse it says who cannot enter:
"And outside are dogs and sorcerers and whores and executioners and idolaters and everyone who loves and lies."
And this verse is clear, anyone who does not live by the moral values of men is a "bad man, a villain, a transgressor, or an apostate," and what if we compare them to God's justice and holiness except that they have no access and no place in heavenly Jerusalem? in the Lake of Fire as the Bible teaches.
,, "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Rev.21: 8
Here it is written first..dogs "and it does not mean animals but people who live as" animals "if we compare them with" dogs "they put their" snout everywhere, they smell everything, they see well the things that are they don't care, they touch where they shouldn't, they advertise almost everything, ... "but let's say that even that is" not terrible "because if they see their sins they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord will receive them and cleanse and whiten them they only need to want to open "the door to the Lord Jesus Christ who knocks." The Lord Jesus said:
,, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Rev. 3:20
Finally, let us add the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, who tells everyone:
,,Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
John 8:36