I Am the Alpha and the Omega

BY Erin Davis

Age has taught me that I don’t need a smaller view of my problems—I need a bigger view of God. Few truths comfort me more than the fact that God is infinite. He extends indefinitely in all directions; past and present, before and behind. Though the thought is truly mind boggling, Scripture is clear: He has always been.

God has no beginning, no point of origin. There was no “before” Him. There can never be an “after.” No one breathed life into His lungs, and no one can take His life from Him. “He is before all things, and by him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). He is both the first and the last (Isaiah 44:6). He is “the Alpha and the Omega… the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). He was and He is, and is He coming again (Revelation 1:4).

Though God created time, He stands outside of it. Since my finite mind cannot grasp His expanse, I like to think of Him like a paper-towel-roll God. Go ahead, grab the empty paper towel roll from your kitchen counter to see what I mean. Hold it up. Look at it from end to end and consider this: This is God’s view of our lives.

The Alpha and Omega existed before us. He will exist long after our earthly days are done. He can effortlessly see our lives from beginning to end, like glancing through a cardboard tube. This means our infinite God stands outside of temporary troubles. There is no heartache that can outlast Him, and no hurt He wasn’t around to see.

But as vast and incomprehensible as our Creator God is, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to put on flesh and dwell with us, to die for us, and to save us from sin and death. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation… all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16).

A bigger view of God turns my heart toward worshiping Him. That worship often boomerangs back as peace within my own heart. Every fear and worry we will face today, every insult and besetting sin—everything is fleeting. The things of this world are already circling the drain. Our lives are just a blip on the timeline of eternity, yet each of us matters to Him, our Creator. God, in contrast, is the end-all-be-all, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Today we can rest in His goodness and constancy. We can rest in His power and His “bigness,” and that is no small thing.