April 28, 2019 Second Sunday of Easter

“John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”” (Revelation 1:4-8 NKJV)

The Second Sunday of Easter? What does this mean? Some see Easter as one day involving eggs, chicks and chocolate. We might go to the Sunrise service to recognize it is a special day but why should we continue celebrating Easter?

Easter is too big to fit into one day because Easter is a forever happening. The affects of Easter reach back to Adam and Eve and forward to the last person to cry out to God on this broken, darkened world. Easter opens the doorway between us and eternity and us and God!

In this Revelation Jesus declares in one of His “I am” statements “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

It is not that Jesus is involved from the beginning and the end BUT IS!!! Jesus reaches beyond time and is the Creator of time. Just as Jesus does not just love but is Love, does not just create light but is Light and so many things we think come from Jesus but He actually IS! Or I am.

This so important for us to know Jesus not only tells us in three ways but also reveals to us what this means.

“Alpha and the Omega” This would be like say A to Z meaning the fullness of every way we have of expressing ourselves.

“the Beginning and the End,” To be the beginning and the end means Jesus must have existed outside of time to create time! This is a short way of saying what John shared in the first chapter of his gospel.

“who is and who was and who is to come” Jesus not only exists outside of time but has and will enter into time. This is not an expression of a distant God but a God who though beyond time and the creator of time still has an impact and presence within time.

“The Almighty” Jesus as the Almighty is described by the three Revelation above. We are able to see the wonder of who Jesus really is and not left with the kind Jesus alone. Jesus is shown to be God and Almighty and we are also given a definition of Almighty.

Take time to look over this passage of Scripture and list what it reveals to you about God. Realize Jesus IS God and not just an expression of God! God, who created all and even time itself, saw our need and our pain and came from the light and wonder of heaven to this dark and horrible world because of His love for us!

HAPPY EASTER!