Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
(B’re’shiyt bara Elohim ‘et (Aleph – Tav) hashamyim v’et ha’aretz.)
Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Revelation 21:6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The Bible begins with the creation of the heavens and earth, and ends with the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. Thus the Word of God delineates a complete story of everything from the beginning of the created world to the unending eternity toward which we are headed. The scripture also identifies Yeshua as the firstborn over all creation, [Colossians 1:15] and thus the Lord of all time.
In the book of Genesis, the very first verse of the Bible contains the Hebrew word formed from the first and last letters of the alphabet, i.e. aleph-tav. Interestingly, this word is not translated, even though it serves a grammatical purpose as a preposition pointing to the direct object of the sentence. Aleph-tav, nevertheless, may carry an important, if somewhat hidden, meaning, as some commentators see in these Hebrew letters an agent of creation, Yeshua, the image of the invisible God by whom all things were created; [Colossians 1:15-16], the “Aleph and the Tav”…
This identity of our Lord is explicitly expressed in the book of Revelation, for the Bible concludes with the statement that Yeshua (Jesus) is the “Alpha and the Omega”. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. From the beginning to the end of the biblical narrative, then, we receive the revelation that, as the agent of Creation, Yeshua truly encompasses all that is, and as such, it is only in Him that we find our completeness; as the author of Hebrews declares, He truly is “the author and finisher of our faith; [Hebrews 12:2].
While we’re here on earth we are still not completed but remain in the midst of a journey, begun in Him, and pressing, even groaning, toward the blessed hope, the resurrection of our earthly bodies when we will be truly complete. Yes, it is quite obvious — He’s not finished with us yet!
But, the Alpha and Omega, in Whom resides all power and wisdom has not yet finished His good work in us. So be encouraged this day – for we can certainly trust the words of Paul when he said, “He that began a good work in you will bring it to completion” [Philippians 1:6], His very identity as Lord of all time and eternity, Aleph-Tav, and Alpha-Omega — guarantees it!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Another great preacher whose writings I love to read is John R. Rice. He wrote, "I once imagined I was in Heaven, walking along with the Angel Gabriel. I said, "Gabe, what is that big building over there?"
In the modern world, the work ethic is, achieve and produce by working longer and harder! The focus is on getting results through human effort -- we've become product oriented and the bottom line is......the bottom line! But God's way runs contrary to this approach -- His way is much more oriented toward process and relationship rather than performance and production.
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As Israel celebrates Yom Ha'atzmaut – Independence day – Israelis are often reminded of the price that was paid for freedom. But today, in that spirit, I want to recall a time when a heavy price was paid for a translation of our Bible.
A friend writes: "My father did some pretty nasty things to me. But at the end of his life, as I kneeled by his bedside, I told him how thankful I was for every good thing he had done and every way he had blessed me, and there were many. We were good friends when he passed away." One of the greatest regrets you can avoid at the end of your life is the failure to praise others when they deserved it, (and even when they didn't).
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