A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 48
Jesus describes Himself four times in Scripture as the Alpha and the Omega. All four mentions are in the book of Revelation. Jesus says this two times in the first chapter of the book, and he says it again two more times in the last chapters of the book, illustrating the truth that He is the First and the Last. He is the Beginning and the Ending.
We need to understand what else Jesus is saying here. The way that Jesus manifested Himself in the beginning is different from the way He will be seen at the end. We have to see both the “Alpha Jesus” and the “Omega Jesus” to get the complete picture of Who Jesus is.
Jesus is the Creator from the Beginning, as John tells us:
“Before the world began, the Word was there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was there with God in the beginning. Everything was made through him, and nothing was made without him.”—John 1:1-3 (ERV)
Jesus is also the Ancient of Days Who will sit in judgment of all mankind at the end of this age.
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son”—John 5:22 (NKJV)
We have to see both manifestations of Jesus to get the full picture. We have to see the “Alpha Jesus” (the Jesus of the beginning) and the “Omega Jesus” (the Jesus of the end times). They do not look the same.
It was “Alpha Jesus” who appeared at His first coming at the beginning of the Church Age. But it will be “Omega Jesus” who will appear at His second coming at the end of the Church Age.
Some people were confused by Jesus’ first coming because they were expecting ALL of the prophecies about Him to be fulfilled at the same time—the prophecies of the Savior and the prophecies of the reigning King. But the fulfillments of those prophecies are split. They are fulfilled in TWO comings of Jesus. that’s why He is the FIRST and the LAST.
Jesus’ disciples may have been expecting all of the prophecies of Jesus to be fulfilled at His first coming. They may have been expecting Him to reign as an earthly king, but that was not to be fulfilled by “Alpha Jesus.”
“So when they were assembled, they asked Him, Lord, is this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel?”—Acts 1:6 (AMPC)
“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.’”—Acts 1:7 (ESV)
That is one of the messianic prophecies that will be fulfilled by “Omega Jesus” at His second coming, not His first coming, as we read in Revelation 11:15:
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (NKJV)
This is important to understand because it takes both the “Alpha Jesus” and the “Omega Jesus” to fulfill all of the messianic prophecies, and the first coming of Christ will not be the same as His second coming. “Omega Jesus” looks very different from “Alpha Jesus.” He is the same Messiah. He is the same Jesus, but He will look very different at His second coming than He did at His first coming.
He came the first time as a Lamb—the suffering servant. He is coming the second time as a Lion—the conquering King.
“Omega Jesus” appears in a very different form to John in Revelation chapter 1 than the “Alpha Jesus” that John had become so familiar with during His earthly ministry.
When “Alpha Jesus” came the first time, He went to the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth and read a prophecy about Himself from the book of Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
“Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”—Luke 4:18-21 (NKJV)
But Jesus did not read the entire prophecy from Isaiah 61. He only read the first part of that prophecy that was to be fulfilled by “Alpha Jesus” at His first coming. The rest of that prophecy will be fulfilled by “Omega Jesus” at His second coming. That is the part of the prophecy that proclaims “the day of vengeance of our God” in Isaiah 61:2.
John the Baptist seemed to understand this. In Luke chapter 7, John sent messengers to Jesus with a question. It was just after Jesus had raised up the dead son of the widow in the city of Nain.
“Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ‘God has visited his people!’ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
“The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you** the one who is to come, **or shall we look for another?’ And when the men had come to him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
“In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.’”—Luke 7:16-22 (ESV)
Most people seem to believe that John was having a crisis of faith, and so he sent messengers to Jesus to gain reassurance. That’s ridiculous, as Paul Keith Davis has shared. The angel Gabriel came from Heaven and prophesied John’s birth! John had a firm grasp on his purpose in life. He saw the Messianic prophecies come true before his eyes. He knew exactly who Jesus was because it was clearly revealed to him by God. He is the one who boldly proclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” There was probably no one on earth at that time, besides Jesus, who was more firmly grounded in his faith than John. Jesus even declared that “among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”
This question did not come from a crisis of faith. This question came from a clear understanding of the Messianic prophecies. John evidently understood by revelation that, in addition to Jesus’ first coming, there would also be One who would come later who would complete the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. John understood that there would be an “Omega Jesus” who would come later, as he revealed in his question, “Are you** the one who is to come …”** John is just asking for clarification.
Jesus’ response is very interesting. To answer John, He simply described what He was doing.
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”—Luke 7:22 (ESV)
In describing what He was doing, Jesus answered John’s question. At that time, Jesus was doing the work of “Alpha Jesus.” He was not doing the work of a conquering king. He was not doing the work of the judge who will administer the vengeance and wrath of God on the earth. That will be the work of “Omega Jesus.”
So, the answers to both of John’s questions are “Yes!”
Is this Jesus also the One who is coming? Yes! He is!
Should we look for another coming of the Messiah? Yes! We should!
The same Gabriel who announced the birth of John the Baptist came to Daniel and spoke of the Messiah in Daniel chapter 9. In describing the prophecy of the 70 weeks, Gabriel tells Daniel that the Messiah will be “cut off, but not for himself.” Here Gabriel is speaking of “Alpha Jesus,” who was cut off when He was crucified after only 3½ years of ministry. This left the last 3½ years of the 70th week unfulfilled.
Who then will be the One who will return to fulfill the last 3½ years of the 70th week and see to it that “the full determined end is poured out on the desolator” as Gabriel described in Daniel 9:27?
The last 3½ years will be accomplished by “Omega Jesus.” This is the manifestation of Jesus that John saw briefly in Revelation chapter 1, just before John fell at His feet like a dead man.
