| Vol. IV Number 42 | October 22, 2000 |
Last week we discussed that God does not exist in a realm where time and space make a difference. As we discussed last week the Bible starts off with the phrase, ``In the beginning...'' we expounded on that and came to the conclusion that if the Bible started off with a phrase, ``In the end...'' it would also be correct. This week we will dwell on that God and Jesus truly are the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega
Revelation 1:1-20
1 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:
2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
3 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.
4 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;
5 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,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 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.
8 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.
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the saps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Since the Lord dwells outside of time and space as we know it, he is the beginning and the end simultaneously. Therefore, when Jesus says that he is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, he is saying that before him there was nothing and after him there will be nothing. Also, Jesus has already been and has seen the end. In other words, Jesus has every right to say that he is the beginning and the ending. All of this agrees with Einstein's theories. An Excellent site titled SPACETIME WRINKLES, ``http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/NumRelHome.html'' from the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois gives you a great introduction to Einstein's theory. You might want to go through this site and view the quick time and mpeg files that are available.
What does the Bible and Einstein have to do with each other? There are a lot of things in the Bible that do not make any sense until viewed through the eyes of Einstein's theories. An example of this is where Jesus in the Book of Revelation tells the Apostle John that he is the Alpha and Omega. In other words Jesus is the beginning and the ending. He is the first and the last. Whereas we are constricted to a space time continuum, Jesus is not. Jesus is outside of time and space as we know it. As we look upon time as an ongoing continuum, Jesus sees it as just another dimension. Where we can visualize three dimensions, length width and height, Jesus can view and see all of time just like we can see the total length of a ruler. Where we can only see time in the past, and sometimes that view is a little murky, our view of the future is dark and unseen.
The Bible goes further telling us that Jesus not only knows and sees the ending, but that he is the beginning as well as the ending. This may seem strange to many of us, but look upon it as if you built any thing. Take for instance a computer programmer who designs a new computer game. The programmer works for a long time designing and creating the game. The programmer knows every line of code that makes the game work. Though there may be a lot of variables and a lot of calls of the random function, the programmer still knows the end from the beginning of the game. The programmer may even like playing the game and see how all of the random variables play out. Though the programmer may not know the value of the of the variables, she still will know the outcome from the beginning. Thus as far as the game is concerned, the programmer that created the game is the beginning and the ending of the game. Jesus, when he created the heavens and the earth is in the same position as the programmer who created the game. Since he is the creator, he is the beginning and the ending.
John 1:1-10
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
The world for the most part still doesn't know their creator and redeemer. Though the world was made by him, they have no concept of his magnificence and glory. Some see Jesus as a baby in the manger, others see him as a prophet, some visualize him as a martyr, while a few see him as their Lord and savior. Since the Bible says that he is the creator as well as the savior, he knows the end from the beginning of his creation and is also the beginning and the ending!
When John saw Jesus in Revelation, he was not seeing the same Jesus that he knew on the earth. He was looking and seeing the almighty in all of his divine glory. All of the sudden he was seeing Jesus outside of the universe and the space time continuum. Here in an instant he saw the last days and the battle of Armegedeon. He saw all of the modern fighters, helicopters, tanks, and even a nuclear explosion. He was able to see the demons as they really are, and also their abode. And though he did not have the vocabulary to enunciate and explain what he was seeing, he was told to write what he saw anyway. So John wrote using the terminology of his time attempting to describe items that he never saw before.
Now that we know about such devices and have the terminology to describe them, reading John's book of Revelation makes sense to those who have the ability to imagine what John saw and wrote. So when John saw Jesus in all of his divine glory John was also at that point in time outside of the universe as we know it. John saw the Lord as Moses wanted to see him, but wasn't able.
Exodus 33:17-20
17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
In Revelation 1, John was translated to a form where he was in the spirit and able to see the Lord in all of his magnificence. John was able to see the Lord face to face whereas Moses was not able to view the Lord's face. John was taken out of our universe into the universe that is commonly called heaven. Thus John did not meet the demise that is described in Exodus 33:20. Being in the spirit, allowed John to see the face of the Lord without being destroyed.
Throughout the ages many have attempted to draw what John saw like the following from Urbino Bible in the Vatican Library.
Needless to say, how can artists really depict what John saw in the spirit universe while he could hardly describe what he saw. Imagine 100 years ago when someone would describe people working in paper-less offices writing stuff on a computer and the storage medium would be a shiny cdrom disk. A 100 years ago Edison just invented the gramophone recording device. Imagine if someone had a vision of an office files with computers and the employees looking at a screen like:
Heedless to say, all of the attempts to visualize what John saw is next to impossible. John described what he saw in heaven, which is not part of this universe. And how can you describe something that you don't even have the vocabulary to talk about what you are seeing. Well, John did a wonderful job. John saw Jesus as he really is in heaven in the universe that he created. Jesus truly is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending. Before him there was nothing and after him there will be nothing.
3014 E Street Philadelphia, PA 19134 Church Office Phone: (215) 634-3637 Published by: Rev. LeRoy D. Cressy (215) 535-4037
Services:
Sunday School . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10:30 AM
Sunday Morning Worship . . . . . . . . . . 12 NOON
Sunday Evening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30 PM
Wednesday Evening . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 PM
Copyright © 2000 LeRoy D. Cressy
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
transcript as long as the copyright and this
permission notice appear.