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Question: In the Book of Revelation
we find the verse, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says
the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). But what do you do with
Revelation 22:13, which appears to be Jesus speaking
(see verse 16), when he says, "I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the
end"? Doesn't the command by Matthew's Jesus to, "Go
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing in the name
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew
28:19) show the existence of a triune deity.
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Answer: Despite the distinctiveness with which God and
Jesus are regarded in the New Testament some Christians
are under the misconception that God and Jesus form
two- thirds of a triune deity. Partial responsibility
for this error is due to the New Testament writers,
who use a number of designations for Jesus, which are
the same as those given to God in the Jewish Bible and
in the New Testament. The resulting confusion as to
whether certain New Testament passages refer to God
or to Jesus helped to produce the belief in a triune
god.
That Jesus, who is considered by the New Testament
writers to be the link between God and creation, is
called by some of the same designations that are applied
to God is understandable. After all, the New Testament
writers believed that God had conferred a tremendous
amount of power upon this angelic being, so why not,
as well, some of His names, which express certain facets
of His being? But it is nevertheless clear that although
the God of the New Testament interacts with the world
He created solely through His "firstborn" (Colossians
1:15-17), the latter is still subservient to God. Because
of the exalted yet subservient position in which they
envision Jesus, the New Testament writers do not believe
it compromises God's status to apply some of His names
to Jesus (cf. Ephesians 1:21, Philippians 2:9, Hebrews
1:4). The use of common names is not intended to indicate
that Jesus is of one substance with God.
Perhaps, if "the Alpha and the Omega" in Revelations
22:13 is actually a reference to Jesus it stems from
the New Testament belief that the pre-incarnate Jesus
was the first thing created by God. What is significant
is not so much the use of this name as the fact that
whenever the relationship between God and Jesus is treated,
the New Testament writers always describe God as superior
to Jesus.
In any case, in verse 12 the subject of verse 13 ("the
Alpha and the Omega") says he is "coming quickly." Since
Jesus has not come "quickly" this is either false prophecy
or the text is not speaking about Jesus. |
