The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
...
I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord,
which is,
and which was,
and which is to come,
the Almighty.
*
Grace be unto you
and peace
from him
which is
and which was
and which is to come.
(((The similarities right there within such a short bit of writing does what? Usually we call such repetativeness redundant and any writer worth their salt would have deleted such reiteration as unnecessary use of words. Change things up we say; learn how to say the same thing in a new way so it doesn't come off as repetative. But here in the Bible we know for a fact that the writers of this holy book got it right the first time with no need for an editors sharp pen to run through any lines and make little notations to change things up a bit. These are God's words to man through the Holy Spirit inspiring them to write and if these are holy words we read they are being written for a reason. If there is any repetition it's there for a reason as well, there to show emphasis perhaps? There to indicate important knowledge that we shouldn't overlook. The Bible isn't a novel, the Bible is unique and the message it holds for any who reads it is unique.
Reading the beginning of Revelation and these words- which is, which was, which is to come, we can find again further along--
Rev. {4:8} '...saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.'
There is no mistaking the importance of this is there? The fulness glorified in those words is amazing. The Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the ending. Through it ALL the Lord is present, in all stages- past, present, and future. Never was there a time and never will there be a time without the Lord living in it, never. People tend to read the Bible as if it's OLD news, or confusing and complicated and for those interested in such things. People look for the spectacular all over the place. People thrive watching movies, reading books, all about the supernatural and one of the supernatural beings that fascinates them is the vampire who can supposedly live forever and ever. The idea of a being living hundreds of centuries, thousands of years is just incredible and secretly people wish they were able to live that long- that they could be one of these beings with this power over death in life, not power over death and living on another plane of existence either right off or at some future time. The wondrous idea of being able to live among finite creatures holds an allure that has captured the imagination of many people and it's no wonder- Satan's lie way back in the garden of Eden was what? Gen. {3:4} 'And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.'
Power over death. Satan has His own brand of life and he offers the allure of living forever in any way that pleases man so long as man doesn't believe in living forever through Jesus' Christ. Did God lie when He told Adam and Eve they would die? No. We are living proof of that fact and yet Satan would use all the tricks He can to get us to believe that we can live forever without God.
Satan was a created being. Satan can not lay hold of the claim that he is from the beginning, yet he would have people think he is. He wants people to believe that he is God. That they too can be God. It's no joke. There are a lot of people searching for inner power and laying claim to their lives and finding empowerment from themselves. In fact there are a whole slew of people who will try and convince you that you are the captain of your own ship, the ruler of your own destiny, the power over a good life is in your own hands. The stress on self is the same lie satan used at the start. Gen. {3:5} 'For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' Do you hear the lies? Yet that same lie is being spouted today and embraced as something wonderful. People want to be as gods. People want to believe they have a godly power.
Truthfully, while we get all caught up in the fantasy and lies of satan, while he projects his evin into every facet of our lives, when we find a certain hope or wish fulfillment from reading of beings that live forever we are showing that we do have a need for such hope in our lives- only Satan has twisted it and pulled it down to the the level of man as men exist full of sin-- the very opposite of the truth.
There is a being who 'was, is, and is to come', God.
There will never be a time without God. Never. He is all.
He is the beginning and the end, there is nothing before and nothing after God.
We can struggle to find understanding and bring God down to our level and we can even pretend we are gods ourselves, but realizing that as creatures of the Creator we will never be the Creator ourselves is paramount. There is no shame in a son wanting to be like his father, but there is shame in the son wanting to be the father as if the father never was, as if the father isn't, and as if the father will no longer be. If you want to be like your father that's a good thing if you are embracing the good qualities of your father. But if you want to push your father aside and take his place, that's not so good. Usurping the life of another is never right. Creatures trying to usurp the Creator is completely wrong. If I'm told to be like someone, it's not the same as being told to take over that person's life.
Satan full of pride wanted to take over the Creator's position. He didn't want to be like God, he wanted to be God, the same as God without any distinction. And failing at that he wants us to believe we can obtain that position. He wants us to desire to have control over ourselves in place of us allowing God to control us. He's twisted things around perfectly.))))
...
I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord,
which is,
and which was,
and which is to come,
the Almighty.
(((No other can make this claim. We can know this wonderful, amazing, Alpha, Omega, which was, which is, and is to come. We can cling to Him and the promises we find in Him knowing there is no other like Him nor will there ever be. We will always have had a beginning that includes many before ourselves, we will never be the Was at the beginning no matter what we believe. Some can embrace Satan's lies and most will, but by the grace of God I pray I'm not among them; that my Creator, my Redeemer, my God will always be first and foremost in all that I am and all that I do, it's only by His great mercy and love that this can be and I cling to Him through the Holy Spirit, hoping and praying in His everlasting, ever-existing love!
Amen.))))
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