Revelations 1:8, 22:13
(“Alpha” and “Omega”)
PROPONENTS OF THE Christ-is-God have misinterpreted or misunderstood the book of Revelations, particularly regarding the terms “Alpha” and “Omega.” Trinitarians have argued that both God and Christ, being referred to as the Alpha and Omega, means that Christ must be God. However, is their interpretation correct? Let’s examine both verses:
GOD THE FATHER:
“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.'”
(Reference: Rev. 1:8 NKJV,Emphasis Mine)
CHRIST THE SON:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev. 22:13 ibid, Emphasis Mine)
(Reference: Rev. 22:13 ibid, Emphasis Mine)
First of all the word Alpha and Omega, these are letters of the Greek alphabet which signify:
ALPHA (FIRST)
OMEGA (LAST)
First, we must clarify when the verse states that Christ is the “Alpha” and “Omega,” the “First” and “Last.” The scriptures made a clear distinction between God and Christ, who are both ‘First’ and ‘Last’ or ‘beginning’ and ‘End’ ― but of different categories.
First, let us examine why God is the “Alpha.” Let us read:
“But for us, “There is only one God, the Father. Everything came from him, and we live for him…”
(Reference: I Cor. 8:6 GWT,Emphasis Mine)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
(Reference: Gen. 1:1 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
“By My great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. …”
(Reference: Jer. 27:5 Holman Bible, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, God is the “Alpha” because from the above verses, we can easily recognize that from the very beginning, everything came from God; He is the source of all things, including the creation of mankind and all animals.
BUT WHY IS GOD ALSO THE OMEGA?
God is the “Omega” because God will put an end to the world on the Day of Judgment and He has appointed a day. Let us read:
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world…”
(Reference: Acts 17:31 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, God is the One who decides when everything that He has created on earth will end, which will be on the Day of Judgment. As we read, “For he has set a day when he will judge the world…” So God is the Alpha and the Omega when it comes to who is the beginner and the ender of all things and the overall decision maker. Because all things come from God the Father, who is also the One who decides when all things end on the Day of Judgment.
BUT IS CHRIST GOD BECAUSE HE IS ALSO THE ALPHA AND OMEGA?
Now, let’s explore the role of Jesus Christ. In what sense is He the Alpha and Omega? What does it mean for Christ to be the first, and what is He the first and/or the beginning of? To find answers, we turn to Colossians 1:15 . Let’s examine this verse closely:
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
(Reference: Col. 1:15 DRB, Emphasis Mine)
Christ is the “firstborn of every creature,” therefore, “ALPHA” (First or beginning). This was part of God’s divine Lógos/Plan from the beginning, His plan about Christ. Let us read:
“THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.”
(Reference: Jn. 1:1 Moffat Translation, Emphasis Mine)
“Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.” (Koine Greek)
“En archē ēn ho Lógos, kaì ho Lógos ēn pròs tòn Theón, kaì Theòs ēn ho Lógos.”
(Reference: Greek transliteration)
The Definition of “Lógos”:
LOGOS
Greek: “reason,” or “plan”
LOGOS
“its use as respect to the MIND alone; reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating.”
“A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan…”
(Reference: Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica; The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, Christ is the Alpha – (First) because He was the Lógos/Plan of God from the very beginning. He is the “firstborn of every creature.” Now we want to make it perfectly clear that Christ was not the first to be created by God, but rather the first that God thought of when planning all creation, it was God’s plan and purpose to create Christ and thus in God’s mind: “the LOGOS was with God” (the PLAN was with God), (Jn. 1:1b). This is why Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world as part of God’s master plan of salvation:
“He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you”
(Reference: I Pet. 1:20 NASB, Emphasis Mine)
“which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”
(Reference: Romans 1:2-4 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
May he be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of his master plan of salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ.”
(Reference: Eph 3:21 LB, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, Christ (the visible representation) is a creature (the firstborn) of God (the invisible); Christ had a beginning, He was foreknown before the foundation of the world and came to be for God’s master plan of salvation through Christ. Christ, therefore, is the Alpha or the first, because God planned for Him first, before anything was created. But why did God think of Christ first, before creating all things? There is an important reason, and we can read that reason here in Hebrews 1: 1-2:
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”
(Reference: Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Why did God, with divine foresight, plan for Christ first, even before creating anything else, and always have Christ in mind during the creation process? It is because Christ will inherit, in the end, all that God creates. As we just read, “His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things.”
Now, in what sense is Jesus Christ the Omega or the end? If God had Jesus Christ in mind in the beginning, when planning creation, did God also have Him in mind when planning the end of creation?
If we go back to the verse we read earlier, we’ll get our answer in the book of Acts 17:31. It reads this way:
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
(Reference: Acts 17:31 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Hence, God is the One who “has set a day when he will judge the world.” But how will God judge the world? As we read here, “by the man he has appointed.” The man that God has appointed to carry out His judgment is none other than His son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So because of this, what must everyone do at the end of it all? In another writing of Apostle Paul, this time in the book of Corinthians, he writes:
“For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless.”
(Reference: II Cor. 5:10, ISV)
And when all or all nations appear before Christ, this is when Christ will separate the goats from the sheep that each of us may receive what he deserves:
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him [for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right [the place of honor], and the goats on His left [the place of rejection].”
(Reference: Mathew 25:31-33 AB, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, the biblical truth is that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, the Messiah. Why? Because Christ has been appointed by God, the Father, to be the judge — all will end with Him.
Therefore, both God and Christ are Alpha and Omega in their respective roles. To argue that Christ is God because Christ holds such titles is to offer a false argument and an erroneous form of reasoning, which logicians call the “fallacy of equivocation.”
God being the Alpha and Omega is different from the way Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega. Since God is the Creator, who rules over all, He is the One who decides all things, from when all will begin to when all things will end. Hence, He created all things in the beginning and will end all things at the end on the Day of judgment.
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega from within God’s plan of creation. He is the beginning of God’s plan as the firstborn of every creature this is why Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world as part of God’s master plan of salvation, and Christ is at the end of God’s plan as the one who will judge the world because God will Judge the world through Christ on the Day Of Judgement. “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (Acts 17:31 NKJV).” This is the correct way to understand them, when they use the term “Alpha” and “Omega” or the “beginning” and the “end.”
So why should we accept that explanation? Because that’s in the Bible, and what is not in the Bible is the teaching that Jesus Christ is God!
IN CONCLUSION
1
The term Alpha and Omega in the Bible simply means the first and the last or the beginning and the end.
The term Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The term simply means the first and the last or the beginning and the end of something. Therefore, depending on what we’re talking about, there can be multiple beginnings or alphas and multiple endings or omegas. The verses do not say that Jesus is God. However, the verses do state that God is Alpha and Omega, and Christ was referred to as Alpha and Omega. But it would be wrong to conclude that, therefore, they are one and the same. It does not follow that since butterflies have wings and airplanes have wings therefore, butterflies are airplanes.
The phrase “Alpha and Omega” appears three times in the book of Revelation in the Bible, and the Alpha and Omega reference to God is very different from the Alpha and Omega reference to Jesus.
2
God is the Alpha and Omega because He is the One who is the originator and creator of all things; He decides when everything will begin and when everything will end. As it is written in the Bible, “For he has set a day when he will judge the world…”
3
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega from within God’s plan of creation. He is the beginning of God’s plan as the firstborn of every creature this is why Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world as part of God’s master plan of salvation, and Christ is at the end of God’s plan as the one who will judge the world because God will Judge the world through Christ on the Day Of Judgement. “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.” (Acts 17:31 NKJV)
4
Therefore, both God and Christ are Alpha and Omega in their respective roles. To argue that Christ is God because Christ holds such titles is to offer a false argument and an erroneous form of reasoning, which logicians call the “fallacy of equivocation.”
WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of Christ and His apostles as they were taught in the first-century Church Of Christ:
The Truth about God and Jesus Christ
SUPPORTERS OF THE BELIEF in the divinity of Christ, also known as the Christ-is-God or the God-man doctrine, assert that God exists as a trinity consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although they are three in nature and considered distinct beings, proponents maintain that they form a single God. The concept of the Trinity lacks explicit biblical endorsement; thus, proponents often argue that it represents a profound mystery beyond human comprehension and should be accepted by faith alone.
Reach Out
If you wish to acquire a deeper understanding of our Church Doctrines and have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would be delighted to direct you to one of our local resident ministers in your vicinity. Kindly include any queries you may have so that we may forward your inquiry in advance. Thank you.
Please note, we only read and respond to messages that do not contain hate speech or insults...
“Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”
(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
“Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)