Mike Bickle emphasizes the profound significance of Jesus being the Alpha and Omega, highlighting that this title encapsulates His eternal nature and authority over all creation. He challenges listeners to seek a deeper understanding of this truth, which is essential for grasping the vastness of Jesus' role in the unfolding of history and personal destiny. Bickle points out that both Jesus and the Father declare this title, underscoring their shared glory and divine essence. He encourages believers to engage with the Holy Spirit to explore the implications of Jesus as the beginning and the end, which can transform their perspective on life and faith. Ultimately, this revelation serves as a source of comfort and strength, especially in times of trial.

Let's pray. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and Lord, I ask you, Holy Spirit, for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, I ask that you would reveal Jesus to us tonight as the Alpha and the Omega. I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Session 7 on the descriptions of Jesus in the book of Revelation. Now, this may sound like an overstatement, but it's not. That the revelation of Jesus as the Alpha and Omega is one of the most significant revelations in the book of Revelation. I want to get your attention with that statement, because it's not only one of the most significant revelations, it is one of the most challenging to our minds, because it's denoting or describing Jesus in His vastness. The very thing that He excels at, vast, eternal, challenges our mind, because our minds are finite and small. What happens is that often we'll read this self-description, Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, okay, good, and then we move right on. And we fail to understand the significance of it, and my point is that we're going to understand it all, but we want to go after it. You want to contend. You want to set your heart to have insight on this truth. Of all the truths in the book of Revelation, I would highlight this title of Jesus at the very top of the list. I mean, there might be a couple other truths that would be at the very top like this, but it's Jesus' Alpha and Omega, vast implications. In John 16, verse 14, I don't have that on the notes. Jesus said, the Holy Spirit, when He comes, He will take what is true of me, and He will reveal it to you. But the implication is, if you ask Him or if you want Him to, He'll take what is mine. He will give it to you, and the implication, if you really want Him to give this particular thing to you. Whatever is true of Jesus, and you set your heart on it and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into that truth, I don't mean just a one-time prayer, but you make it a goal. Holy Spirit, in the next years, I want to go somewhere on this particular truth. Now, that's one of the truths I've really locked in to the Holy Spirit on, this truth of Jesus as Alpha and Omega. I groan it and pray it many times. Holy Spirit, show me Jesus as Alpha and Omega. This, again, it's most significant, but it's most challenging to our small minds, and we need a spirit of revelation. As I've studied the commentators on it, I'm surprised, well, I guess it's not that surprising, but there's not much on this. I've read many different commentaries, and mostly there's just a couple sentences, and it moves on, because it's a challenging truth. Paragraph A, Jesus describes himself two times at the beginning of the book of Revelation and at the end. This is his first description of himself. So, the book is about to be given to John, and Jesus said, know this first. I am the Alpha and Omega, and then after the book is completely given to him, at the very end, he goes, John, let me tell you again who I am. I'm the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus mentions this about himself. It's not an angel describing him. Jesus says very few things about himself with his own lips, but he says this one twice at the beginning and at the end of the book, because he's emphasizing that he has the power over all of the events in the book between those two descriptions. He's saying, I have all the authority, I have all the wisdom, I have all the love necessary to oversee the unfolding of the events in this book. Paragraph B. Now, this is doubly significant. I mean, not only did Jesus, that's the first thing he says, it's the first thing that the Father says. Now, the Father only talks twice in the book of Revelation. I mean, imagine the Father. He only comes out of hiding from behind the veil, so to speak, and speaks directly twice, and what does he say both times? I am the Alpha and the Omega. I mean, you can't exaggerate the significance of that. Jesus speaks both times and describes himself, but he speaks a couple other times in the book, but the Father only speaks twice at the beginning and the end of the book, and on both occasions, this is what he says. So I say, Holy Spirit, I have to know what this means. I have to go there, and so I want to challenge you to set your heart, not just for a week, you know, because we're in a series, week seven, but to set yourself for, I'm talking about decades. I want to climb this mountain, so to speak. The Holy Spirit is the escort up this mountain, just using that figurative language of the knowledge of God being the Mount Everest of the body of Christ. We will need help for this truth to unfold in our spirit. Paragraph C, there are six main titles of God in the book of Revelation, and they're grouped together, and again, that speaks of the significance that they're all together, and they're spoken by the Father and the Son directly. Now there's, as we're covering in this class, there are many descriptions of Jesus, but only a few actual self-descriptions from his own lips. Paragraph C, the six titles, Alpha, Omega, Beginning and the End, First and the Last, and so I have it laid out there on the notes. Now the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, they seem, I'm saying the word seem, because I'm on the front end of this. Ten years from now, I may say, boy, that was a very short-sighted statement back in 2009, but they seem like they're saying the same thing. It's possible they're pointing at different things, but Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, seem to be saying the same thing. But the First and the Last, which we'll look at later on in the series, is distinct. It's not the same, and we'll look at this later, not tonight, but in the series. Jesus is the only one who says First and the Last. The Father never says that, so this is something particular to Jesus that's distinct from the Father, that title, First and the Last. I believe it has to do with His glory in His humanity, but that's for another session. Paragraph D, these titles, they mention two polar extremes, Alpha and Omega, because what they are meant to do is to emphasize everything in between them, so it's two extremes, the far right and the far left, and the meaning is everything in between is included in this title. In other words, all the events, all the events that are described in Revelation 1 to 21, they are all under Jesus's sovereign leadership. These titles, because Jesus is speaking them Himself, and the Father is speaking them, they are expressing the guarantee from God that these things are true. Paragraph E, it's significant that Jesus has the same titles as the Father in these, in terms of Alpha Omega beginning and the end, that they both utter the same titles, that they have the same. This is emphasizing that Jesus has the same glory and the same dignity as God the Father. Now we're talking Jesus of Nazareth, a man with a flesh and blood body, fully God, fully man, but the man that walked the streets of Galilee has the same essence of God as the Father. I mean, this is staggering to the mind. I just cannot get over this, that a man with a flesh and blood body has the same deity and the same glory as the uncreated God, because Jesus is also the uncreated God, like the Father and the Spirit. Now it's one thing for the Father to be God, but it's another thing for a man with a body and a human mind, for him to be equally God as the Father is. This is one reason. Now, well first I'll say this, that we've all heard, we all know Jesus is fully God, fully man, but we can kind of, kind of run past that, run by that, and the awe of it doesn't move us. Beloved, I can't imagine anything more awesome than a human is fully God. What Jesus said, not just the promises, not just the assurance of victory, but what Jesus said about salvation, we cannot in any way compromise it, as is happening so often in the church today, in the context of tolerance with other religions. Jesus isn't like Buddha or Muhammad or all the other world religions. He is the uncreated God, like the Father and the Spirit. He's in an entirely different category from the prophets of the world religions, and they'll say, well how can you say that your religion is better? Because the man who is the center of this religion is fully God, and he became a man, and he died so we could enter into salvation. There's nothing like it. We cannot in the name of humility and unity, even one small fraction of a degree, can we lower the glory and the absoluteness of who this man is. We cannot even one percent draw back in the name of quote love or unity or humility. We have no right. We bow before the awesomeness of who this man is. Paragraph E in John 17 5, Jesus praying said, Father glorify me with the glory I had beforehand, before the world was. Jesus had the glory with the Father before the world was ever created. He was filled with the glory of God in the full glory equal to the Father before Genesis 1. Paragraph F, Colossians 1 verse 15. Jesus is the visible, is the image, the physical image of the invisible God. When we see the humanity of Jesus through the study of the scripture, it leads us, it gives us insight into the invisible God. Jesus is the physical image, the physical picture of the invisible God, because he is the uncreated God like the Father. In Hebrews 1 verse 3, the writer of Hebrew says that Jesus being the brightness of the Father's glory, he is the express image or other translations say the exact image of the Father's person. There is no difference in the degree of glory or the reality of deity between the Father and the Son. He is the express or I prefer the other translations that say he is the exact image of the Father's person. He possesses total deity. The fullness of God dwells in him. I don't have that verse but it's Colossians 2.9. It's a well-known verse. All of the fullness of the Father dwells in the Son. He shares the Father's attributes. He possesses equal dignity with the Father. Paragraph G. Now this should be challenging you. I don't mean just inspiring you. I mean, I trust that these truths inspire you but I'm saying something a little different. Our minds are so small compared to the vastness of this truth and our spirits are naturally dull compared to the vibrancy of this truth. I'm not saying that as a criticism. I'm saying that as to so we measure the challenge before us. I say, Father, I want to touch more of the reality of who your glorious Son is, who my beloved Bridegroom King is. I want to understand this and the Holy Spirit, He beckons us to beckon Him. He says, do you want to know more about Him as Alpha and Omega? Ask me. I will take you on a journey. Top of page two. Okay, we're going to just learn some of the natural information about Alpha and Omega. Paragraph A. The Greek alphabet starts with the letter Alpha and it ends with the letter Omega, as most of you are familiar. And because John is writing primarily to a Greek audience instead of a Hebrew audience, I mean, there were plenty of Jewish believers but there were, he was writing to an audience to the seven churches of Asia Minor that were mostly Gentiles. So he's using the Greek language. He's writing to them in a way they would understand. He is saying Alpha and Omega is the same thing as saying in English, Jesus is the A to Z. He's the beginning and the end. He's the A to Z of everything. And when we say, you know, something is like the A to Z, you know, so-and-so knows the A to Z of mathematics or the A to Z of science, it means that he knows all that's in between. It's just a figure of speech. Jesus said, I am the A to Z. I am the totality of what it means to be God but I have all the wisdom to declare the prophecy of this book, the book of Revelation. Because remember, Jesus is revealing himself as the Alpha and Omega in context to the unveiling of the prophecy of this book. We can't just take Revelation 111 and separate it and just study Jesus Alpha and Omega. It's in context to the prophecy he's going to give John. And he's saying to John, you have to know I'm the A to Z of love. I'm the A to Z of power. I'm the A to Z of strategic wisdom. I am the A to Z of what it means to be God. What I'm going to tell you in this prophecy, John, you must take it at the most serious level that is possible. In your weakness, you want to take this at the most serious level because I as the Alpha and the Omega am talking to you. I'm not just talking as a shepherd. I'm talking as the one who claims to be the A to Z of love, wisdom, power, and deity itself. I'm about to give you a message that is commensurate with this title. And then after he gives the message, the 22 chapters of the book of Revelation, at the end he comes and says, I am, I want to say it again, I am the A to Z, the Alpha and the Omega of truth. And what I've just told you, John, for 22 chapters, I want to put an exclamation point on it and I want to affirm I know everything about love, everything about wisdom, everything about power, and everything about God, and I stand behind the prophecy I just gave you. And then the Father, as we've already covered, he does the same thing. He says it on the front end of the prophecy and on the back end of the prophecy. Paragraph C, what Jesus is saying through this title, well the Father is saying the same thing. He is saying he is the sovereign Lord over everything in existence as well as all the events, not just that will transpire in the book, it's bigger than the events in the book, although that's the immediate context of which he's revealing this dimension of his glory. He's over everything in existence. He's over every event in history, of all of natural history. It says in Psalm 29 that even at the time of the flood, he's set as king, even in that hour of great crisis, he's set as king, enthroned as king in the greatest turbulence in history up to that time, the flood. He's revealing himself as fully God, as deity. He's revealing himself as transcendent. What that means is he's infinitely superior to everything that exists. He's revealing his eternal nature, his perfect leadership. He's saying in this one title as is the Father that he's omnipotent, that means all power, most of you are aware of that. He's omnipresent, that means he's everywhere and he's omniscient, that means he has all knowledge. Of course the word omni means all and so Jesus is in essence, we're continuing in paragraph C, he's saying I have absolute completeness. I have all the power, all the love, all the wisdom to lead God's purposes to completion and to bring human destiny to the place that God's ordained. Now that's not just corporate destiny. This isn't just who Jesus is before history, this is who Jesus is actually even before you. He is the alpha and omega for your own personal destiny. When we get anchored in this truth of which I'm certainly not anchored in it, I'm studying it, I'm challenged by it, I'm wooed by the spirit, the spirit's wooing me to go deep and I'm beckoning the spirit. I want to go deep on this truth. I want to know Jesus on this ground but I want to say this, as we come into living understanding of Jesus as alpha and omega, as challenging as it is and as naturally repelling, our human spirit is this truth because of the vastness and not just the vastness because of the the unfamiliarity of our mind to the vastness of this. I mean it's unfamiliar it's actually it's it's it's uh our mind doesn't even want to go there. It repels such big thoughts that are so unfamiliar but the spirit says beckon me I will take you there. He is complete in every way. He is absolute completeness. Roman numeral three as the alpha and the beginning and and I'm assuming at this point in time that that is saying the same thing but I'm also aware that the Holy Spirit may be saying no just only in the most general way. They may have different facets of emphasis those two titles. Paragraph A. Jesus as alpha he is referring to his eternal pre-existence. As I've already said he has existed forever as the uncreated God. There was never a time that Jesus was not. In John 8 when he stood before the Pharisees and they said well Abraham is our father and in Jesus I believe it's John 8 56 he goes before Abraham was I am and they drew back. Well they were upset by that statement. He goes I am the uncreated God like the father. We're talking about a man walking in the streets of of Israel. They just couldn't comprehend that anybody could make such a statement as that. So when he says I'm the alpha he is referring to his pre-existence eternally pre-existent before the creation of the world. The uncreated God is what he's saying. Paragraph B. Jesus uses the title I am the beginning and then in Revelation 3 14 Jesus is speaking himself and it says this these things says the one who is the beginning of the creation of God. So he says my title is the beginning and then here in Revelation 3 14 he he develops it a little bit more. He says the beginning of the creation of God. Now some cult groups read that and they think that he's the first one created. That's how they read that. That's not what he's saying. He's using the word beginning in a similar way that he's using the word alpha. He is the creator as I have in paragraph B. He's the source meaning he's the beginning of the power. He's at the front of the line of the power that was used in creation and not only does he have the power he also saying I'm the beginning I'm at the front of the line in terms of rank of authority. So it's a statement about his power and it's a statement about his rank. He's at the first of the class, the front of the class we might say in English. He's the beginning. He's the front of the line. He's not talking about the beginning as the first one created but the first one who is the source and the cause and the reason for creation. Creation begins in his power and in his heart with the Father. That's what he's saying. Now Paul the apostle touched this same truth in Colossians 1 18. He said Jesus is the head of the body the church and Jesus is the beginning that in all things he would have the preeminence. It talks about Jesus being the first born from the dead. Now he's the first one raised from the dead as we'll see when we study Jesus as the first and the last but it's more than he's the first one raised from the dead. He is the front of the line. He's at the first of the class. He's the first in power among those that will be resurrected in eternity. There's none like him. He is the heir. He's the firstborn. He's the first in authority is what he's saying. Colossians 1 verse 18 Paul said the point of all of this is that you would understand that he has preeminence. Not that you would misunderstand and think he's the best of the created of the human race. He's not the best of created people. He the point of this he has the preeminence the authority and the wisdom over all creation. That's Paul's point. Paragraph C as the alpha when he says I'm the alpha or I'm the beginning I'm just going to say the same thing again but I'm going to put it in different words so you can get some handles on this and again so you can get this into your prayer life and you and the Holy Spirit can go on a journey together. Again I would say Holy Spirit escort me up this mountain of truth. I want to know Jesus this way. I want my spirit to tremble before the glory of who this man is and as again as we understand this it gives us confidence. Beloved when we get more rooted in this truth we need not fear anything. If we understand who it is we are connected to. Who it is that we are co-heirs with when we understand who it is it changes the way we view the future. It changes the way we view trouble and that's why one of the reasons Jesus is speaking this truth to the to the saints to the church is that we're in persecution because if they could get anchored in this truth even in the face of death they would they would not waver because if Jesus is is a merely a provider someone that provides for our needs that's not enough but Jesus oh I'm far beyond that I am the alpha me and the father I am like him I am the alpha the father is the alpha I am the source of everything you are anchored in relationship with me even death itself you can face it fearlessly even if you lose your life you live forever because I am the alpha and that's what he's saying to them a persecuted church paragraph c as the alpha he's the first cause he's the source of all things he is the creative power he is the genius behind everything that's what he's saying as the alpha paragraph d Colossians 1 16 Paul pushes the boundaries of our ability to comprehend he makes the statement because it's true but we stand before this awesome truth and we stand as beggars almost I mean as paupers in terms of truth Lord we hardly grasp what the what these great truths mean Colossians 1 16 by him all things were created whether the things in the heavenly realm or the things in the earthly realm whether visible or invisible everything was created by Jesus but that's not enough he's not only the alpha it wasn't only created by him as the source it's created for him he's the omega he's the purpose he's the end reason for why there is a created order so he is not only the source of creation he is the purpose of the creation that's what we'll look at in a moment that omega means he's the goal it's it's his end purpose for which creation exists paragraph e at the end of the paragraph I'll say this that when Jesus becomes our alpha when Jesus becomes our omega even with a little bit of understanding it opens up a whole new world of possibilities of where we can go in our spirit with him holy spirit let me see Jesus is my alpha I want to go on a journey with you holy spirit into whole new experiences in God and I'm not talking about kind of uh strange exotic experiences I'm talking about my spirit in growing in truth and in the fear of the Lord is what I'm talking about top top of page three Jesus isn't only the alpha and the beginning he's the omega he's the end and the omega it's he's not the source only but he's the purpose he's the reason he's the logic behind creation paragraph a Jesus is the omega he's the final reason but he's also the final authority what's in his heart is the end product of where the created order is going this affirms that all creation has its final or highest purpose its end purpose its highest purpose is the idea in Jesus himself he's the goal of history he's not just the one that forgave us give us a better deal in life he himself is the goal for why we have life and when we connect with that then our spirit prospers the more we connect with that reality that he is the reason it's not just that we would be blessed though that is important to him that we are blessed throughout eternity he loves our welfare but there's a bigger story even behind that story it's he is the purpose the infinitely good one who is the alpha is also the final reason for everything he creates he is the omega paragraph b he's the beginning and the end of everything it's orchestrated by the same man the same purpose now as the omega he is going to bring natural history to salvation and to judgment all of history of natural history is going to end in redemption or in judgment one way or the other he is the end he is the going to see it to its completion and you could use the word completion there as one of the words associated with the title omega the completion the reason the purpose the goal the final authority the final purpose nothing is outside of jesus's purpose or authority now again this encouraged greatly the persecuted saints because they were losing so much in the natural and they had to know that in reality they were losing nothing because everything had its purpose in him the point of the career wasn't for the sake of the career is that that he we would experience him and his pleasure in a greater way that's the purpose of a ministry it's not just so we would be blessed or that we would bless others though those are important to the lord but there's something bigger he's the omega even behind the anointing of the ministry he gives you he is the reason for it at the end of the day paragraph d jesus guides not just human his natural history but he guides our life personally to its rightful end to its fullness he is the way to fullness he is the omega he is the way to fullness to completion now of course we know that intellectually but when that gets a hold of our spirit then we don't need to drink from other wells to seek fullness we all know that he is the way to fullness he is fullness but we drink from other wells because we don't really see him as our omega yet and i don't say that negatively i certainly uh at the beginning of the beginning of where i need to be in this but i want to go after this i got a vision to experience him as the omega the completion that he is not just a means to an end he is the end he is the reason itself for why we're saved it says in isaiah 46 10 he's talking about god is speaking declaring the end from the beginning from ancient times things that are not yet done saying this my counsel shall stand and i will do all of my pleasure i will see it to an end i will see it to completion let's go to roman numeral five jesus is omnipotent as the alpha and the omega because to be the alpha and the omega it's founded on the reality that he possesses all power because he cannot be the alpha and omega without being omnipotent paragraph b in revelation 19 verse 6 the multitudes around the throne declare for the lord our god omnipotent he reigns and obviously omnipotent means he possesses all power it is true of the father and of the son and that is inherent in the titles alpha and omega he has infinite power his power can never be increased he can never gain more power than he has no matter how many people come to him even in salvation he possesses all power himself he's the source of all power that exists this is the assurance of all of his promises is that he is the omnipotent god this fills us with comfort it fills us with courage let's go to top of page four and i have in paragraph c and d a number of passages and the reason i i gave them to you is so you can declare them again is your spirit may feel unresponsive to these grand truths and your mind may just you know bow down and just say i don't want to go there it's because it's it's rigorous to even pursue this line of thought because we're crossing from the familiar to the unfamiliar as created finite as those with finite minds this is challenging but i want to give you some verses you can declare these passages to the lord regardless whether you feel anything while you're doing it you say jesus this is who you are and you read these different passages i want to give them them to you paragraph d i'm just going to point out one about jesus's omnipotence and it's related to the enemies in the book of revelation because isaiah 40 is actually talking about the time frame in which the book of revelation unfolds in history the generation the lord returns now of course isaiah 40 has been applicable from the time god gave it to isaiah 700 approximately 700 bc up to today 2700 years but it has a particular application in the generation where all the nations see the glory of god together which is isaiah 40 verse 5 that's the context but there's something unusual that's going to happen when all the nations see the glory of god together there are going to be enemies that the book of revelation lays out the antichrist and the false prophet but look at isaiah 40 verse 23 we're talking about jesus is alpha and omega the book of isaiah develops the theme of alpha and omega first and the last even more than other books do isaiah had a particular connectedness to these truths that jesus is confessing and declaring about himself isaiah 40 verse 23 read this he this is jesus he will bring the princes of the earth to nothing that means those that are opposing him because we know from the scripture that the kings of the earth will gather together against him and against his purposes but he will bring them to nothing he will make the judges of the earth useless meaning in their ability to stop his purposes i don't care if 200 kings of the earth all come in unity they will be useless before the alpha and omega verse 24 scarcely shall they be planted we're talking about these kings scarcely shall they come on the world scene scarcely shall their political career be sown scarcely shall their authority be established jesus will blow on them they will wither and the whirlwind will take them away like the stubble or the straw now this is talking actually in context about the antichrist scarcely will he be planted three and a half years and jesus will come and blow on him and his worldwide dominion will blow away just like the chaff in the wind that's the alpha and omega i had to read that one but these other passages are along the same line roman numeral six jesus is self-sufficient he's self-existent meaning he's the beginning not just the source but he is the reason for all the created order jesus has no origin paragraph a god is self-caused god isn't caused by anyone else he is self-caused i don't even know how to say it he's uncreated he is helped by none he needs no one's help he owes nothing to the worlds that his hand has created he loves the world that his hands have created but he's not in debt to it at all as human beings every moment every second of our life we are dependent on him but he is not dependent on us for anything paragraph b he is totally self-sufficient says in act 17 verse 25 it's not as though he needs anything he desires us but he does not need us he chooses to enjoy relationship with us we don't come to him and make his day we don't bail him out i mean make his day i mean it makes his heart half glad but we don't meet an unmet need in his heart when we come and bring all of our wealth and all of our allegiance to him it does not add to his strength at all emotionally he enjoys it and finds desire and delight in it but in terms of his strength his strength is not increased because a billion people will come to the lord in the great harvest it's not now that he's because of a greater following somehow his power is now enhanced that's not how it works top of page five jesus is totally satisfied in the fellowship of the trinity he did not create human beings because he was lonely he created them to show his glory and because he desired them because he chose to desire them not because he had an unmet need he did not create in a vacuum or in in a a need that was unmet says in john 17 that before the world was created the father and the son and the spirit enjoyed deep love in their fellowship he was fully self-satisfied before the earth was ever created he created in the overflow of his love not in a vacuum and in a need it says in paragraph e paul said this what do you have that you did not first receive is the idea now his point is saying what do you have do you have wisdom or you received it from god do you have strength you received it from god do you have gifts well god gave them to you do you have breath he gave it to you what do you have that you did not first receive as a gift from god so paul's logic is now if you did receive it if that's true why are you boasting as though you didn't receive it as though somehow it started within you as the source he goes why are you drawing attention to yourself as though you are the alpha and the omega of your gifting he goes it was a gift of god because he enjoys you because he set his heart upon you so he said whatever you've received from the lord carry it as though you received it as a gift not as though it was something that was generated within your own being because of your own inherent goodness of some sort now we all know that but how easily the human spirit steps across that line and gets that funny attitude called pride let's go to the top of page six just in these last three four minutes i just want to you can read the notes and again challenge your mind with these ideas these difficult ideas these ideas that we naturally repel that we read them and they bounce right off but we say no we're not content with that we're going after this thing i think it would be one of the most challenging and probably even one of the most difficult truths to make known is the truth of jesus alpha and omega but the most satisfying and even the most significant in terms of the stabilizing and strengthening the church for the book of revelation events because if jesus started with this and ended with this revelation and the father does the same you can be sure the book of revelation events we must be anchored in this truth it's worth the effort is my point top of page six it's just a few facts here paragraph a i highly recommend a book by thomas dubay called the evidential power of beauty how many of you have ever read that book okay two or three of you that's okay this book will really stir your spirit in a dramatic way thomas dubay i take a couple chapters seven eight nine i i've loved i've read them over and over they're they're beyond my grasp intellectually because what he does is he takes the majesty of jesus into the realm of science and i just want to give you just a little touch i'm not even quoting the book directly because i have other sources as well i'm just but i'm mostly drawing from him just to stir you up this is by no means a summary of the book this is to kind of stir your spirit up a little bit what he does in this book in chapter seven eight nine he takes three different facets of jesus of creation of jesus the creator he calls it the macro marvels in other words the vastness of the universe the macro the big then he goes the mid marvels and that's the marvels of just animal and plant life i mean he puts a chapter on it it is just absolutely mind-boggling just a little deposit of truth of what the truth is about the created order even in the mid marvels he calls them then he has the micro marvels where he takes a very uh popular kind of easy human friendly approach to the micro world how vast how vast the universe is in the cellular level down there's as much complex uh complexity in the human cell as there is the universe there's a universe on the inside as big as the universe on the outside and he takes the the microscope and brings us in to that world in the macro he takes the telescope and shows us a little bit of how big the world is and then he takes the microscope and shows us it's just as complex in the in the small level in the infinitesimal not just the vastness anyway i just wanted to stir you with that paragraph b i'll just give you a thought or two this again this is a very just just to kind of hit and miss a few little quotes the sun is a million miles about in diameter the sun is a million miles approximately he's got more of the facts in in the book there the earth is 8 000 miles about in diameter you can fit a million earths into the space of the sun you could put the earth a million times into the space of the sun now the sun is only one star the sun reaches 2 million degrees fahrenheit it's the heat of the surface of the sun 2 million degrees the energy released from the sun now we're talking alpha omega now we're talking about a man who's fully god who created the sun we're talking about a man who walked the streets of galilee who understood the science behind the sun because he he's the alpha and the omega of the sun the sun burns enough energy then it could be compared to a catch this a hundred billion hydrogen bombs going off every second that's how much energy is coming off the sun the sun's one star there's different views but many say there are a hundred billion stars in the milky way galaxy the sun is one of them it's not even one of the biggest ones who is this man jesus anyway the sun burns up for about four million tons of its own mass every second four million tons it loses four million tons of mass every second and at that rate the sun will exhaust itself in six look at this billion years at the rate that it's losing mass right now losing four look at the numbers they're losing look at that four million tons a second at that rate the light will be out in six billion years that's how big the sun is the sun is one star in the milky way galaxy nobody knows some say billions but some say a hundred billion stars in the milky way galaxy the milky way galaxy there are a hundred million galaxies of which the milky way is one of the small ones jesus is the alpha and the omega who is he when he was standing before the pharisees they had no idea who they were talking to when he hung on the cross we cannot imagine what was happening in the in the fullness of what he would of who it was that was giving himself to us and the measure of commitment he has to us look at paragraph c the universe i already said this but i'll just say it a little bit again there are a hundred million galaxies in the known universe a hundred million galaxies now the milky way is only one and that's a small one the time it takes to get from the known universe from one end to the other at the speed of light would take 15 billion light years to go from one end to the other 15 billion light years that's how big the known universe is jesus is alpha and omega paragraph d let's look at the the mid marvels not the not the macro let's go to the mid he spends a chapter in each one it's just mind-boggling and he only gives a you know a fraction of percent of the knowledge that science has in a chapter he just he just stirs your spirit as to who jesus is now in the mid the that's the marvels you can sense with your five senses you can discern them without a microscope or a telescope there are 10 million species of animal and plant life on the earth 10 million there's 35 000 species of just the orchid 35 000 i just gave you a few little things here 40 000 muscles in an elephant trunk and he just goes on and just develops how marvelous and how complex even what we can measure without a telescope or a microscope then he goes paragraph e into the the infinitesimal the very small the micro level and he develops which is well known in the scientific world the complexity of the human cell a human cell has like a vast city inside of it of complications complexity the tiniest cell is made up of a hundred million atoms a single cell catch this a single cell 100 million atoms of course there's there's all different sizes has more information than 30 volumes of the encyclopedia britannica all 30 volumes there's more information in one cell in a plant or in an animal than 30 volumes of an encyclopedia that's how vast the world is in terms of its smallness each person has a hundred trillion living cells there's 15 million bacteria in a drop of water there's trillions of cells in one branch on a tree trillions and each one of them have are a vast city in them in their own right with a 30 volumes of the encyclopedia in each one of those cells that much information in each one jesus is the alpha and the omega who is this man he is orchestrating history unveiling himself as the alpha and the omega paragraph f we'll end with this it's the uh ark principle in terms of prayer principle that you want to apply this prayer principle to each of these descriptions of jesus a you want to agree with it simply say it declare it to him and again my point isn't to make you feel bad but how many times have you settled your spirit got quiet stared at the glory of god just by in the just by faith at the revelation forethrown and said to jesus you are you are the alpha you are the omega just to declare it agree with who he is now probably unless you're unusual you haven't done it very many times in the last 10 years but we want to start getting this into our language we want to start saying this then are simply ask the holy spirit john 16 14 jesus said the spirit will take what is mine he'll give it to you holy spirit take me on a journey give me more insight into who he is than k the promise in the book of revelation to those that keep the prophecy those that apply the prophecy to their life is what it means to keep the prophecy to apply it to their life we want to set our heart before the lord we want to give ourself to him and set ourselves to obey him to worship him to honor him to submit to him as the alpha and the omega not just as one that forgives us as the alpha and the omega the source and the reason for all created order lord jesus i want to give myself and honor you and worship you and i want to be a faithful witness based on who you really are i want to apply the prophecy in my everyday life i want to encourage you to take this ark prayer principle and apply it to this truth that is not easy to get a hold of but the holy spirit is very willing and you can be sure again if jesus introduced the book of revelation saying this about himself and he ends it and the father only speaks twice in the entire book and he speaks both times declaring his alpha and omega we can be sure this truth is bigger than that which meets the eye amen let's stand so i wanted to push you tonight i want to stretch your brain i told anne on the way here she said how are you doing i said oh i love jesus i just don't hardly know him at all but i love him i just don't hardly know him at all how many of you feel that way i love him but i just don't know him i'm i'm i'm in the book of life we got a long time to get to know each other but i want to know him now let's just worship me i can hear the skies speech of the world there's no language where their voice has not been heard me to the end of the world oh the works of your fingers the moon and the stars which you ordain who am i who am i who am i who am i who am i you so you