Of the Father’s love begotten

CHRIST BEING THE FIRST AND THE LAST,

THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA

In Revelation 22:13 Christ declares that He is “the First and the Last. ” Christ is not only the First but also the Last. The First indicates that none is before Him, and the Last that none is after Him. In the same verse Christ also says that He is “the Alpha and the Omega. ” Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. That Christ is the Alpha and Omega means that He is every letter in the spiritual alphabet. He is not only the first letter and the last letter but also all the letters in between. In God’s economy Christ is everything. We are not, but Christ is; we are nothing, but He is everything; and we cannot be anything, but He can be all things.

Enjoying the All-inclusive Christ
as the Life-giving Spirit
for the Fulfillment of God's
Eternal Purpose:
Chapter 2 (LSM)

THE LORD HAVING BEGUN

A GOOD WORK AND COMPLETING IT

The work of overcoming is initiated by the Lord ( Phil. 1:6 ). In fact, both the initiation, continuation, and consummation of the overcoming life are from the Lord Himself; we have nothing to do with them. The Lord’s name is Alpha and Omega ( Rev. 1:8 ). Alpha refers to the beginning, whereas Omega refers to the end. He is the only One from beginning to end. He is the beginning of everything and the end to everything. He is the initiation of the overcoming life, as well as the consummation of the overcoming life. Hence, the overcoming life is abiding. Someone asked once, “What is victory? ” I responded, “Victory is just Christ. ” Let me ask: Does Christ remain the same? Of course He does. He is the One who remains the same from the beginning to the end. Everything will pass away, but the Lord will remain forever. This afternoon we have to declare that our experience is just Christ Himself. He has done everything. All our experiences are centered upon Christ. We experience victory through faith in Christ. Yet from beginning to end, even our faith is just Christ Himself. It has nothing to do with ourselves. All we have to do is praise and rejoice. As long as He is the One who begins the work, He will complete it.

Conferences, Messages, and Fellowship (1):

Overcomer Conference in Chuenchow, November 1935

Chapter 17 (LSM)

7. The Alpha and the Omega

In addition to being the First and the Last, and the beginning and the end, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega ( Rev. 22:13a ). We may be troubled by these terms and think that they are repetitious and that the beginning, the First, and the Alpha are the same and that the end, the Last, and the Omega are the same. But this is not a matter of repetition but of different aspects. Being the first does not necessarily mean that one is the beginning. Being the first simply means that one is the first and that prior to that one there was nothing. However, to be the beginning does not mean only that one is the first but that also one has begun something. What, then, is the difference between the Alpha and the beginning? A certain thing may be the beginning, but it may have neither the content nor the continuation. For Christ to be the Alpha and the Omega means that He is the complete content and continuation. As the Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Christ is also every other letter in the alphabet. This means that Christ is the content and continuation of God’s operation, for He is not only the beginning and the ending but also the Alpha and the Omega.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
God, Christ, and the Spirit,
Volume 1 Message 24 (LSM)

He is Alpha and Omega,

He the source, the ending He, Amen.

Aurelius Clemens Prudentius grew up in Spain, becoming a lawyer and judge. In 379 he was invited to Rome to become part of the emperor's staff. He was fascinated by Rome with its new Christian churches and the tombs of the martyrs. Christianity had been legalized earlier that century and was now the official religion of the empire.

Despite his early enthusiasm, Prudentius soon grew weary of public life. He felt he had become too self-centered, so, in 395 he forsook his worldly position and entered a monastery. There he wrote several devotional and practical works. A few fragments like this have been translated and set to music. - Great Songs of Faith by Brown & Norton

Here are additional stanzas:

Between stanzas 1 & 2:

-------------------
At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
in their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
evermore and evermore!
-------------------------
Before the last stanza:
------------------------
Righteous judge of souls departed,
righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
none in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
evermore and evermore!
---------------------------------
Thee let old men, thee let young men,
thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
with glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
evermore and evermore!
-----------------------------------
He is found in human fashion,
death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
evermore and evermore!
-----------------------------
O that birth forever blessèd,
when the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!