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NASB | John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 1:1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [Gen 1:1; Is 9:6] |
Subject: who can explain to me? |
Bible Note: Hi, Mary01! Part 1 of 2 I wonder if your problem is not accepting the Bible instead of the grammatical construct or lack thereof? If you truly are a novice in Bible study I am willing to help you learn--don’t get me wrong, I am not carrying a flag and patting myself on the back for being “some type of theo-something or another.” When I meet people who want to learn about Jesus, I am motivated to search the Scriptures! It is something akin to testing my mettle: Jesus called us to witness to the world about Him! Let’s look at something I read last night: Alpha and Omega: Revelation 1:8 ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty. This verse is quite specific: our Lord, God Almighty, is the Alpha and the Omega! There is no confusion here! Yahweh is the Alpha and the Omega! These two words signify the beginning (alpha--first letter of the Greek alphabet) and the end (omega--the last letter). Though emphasized in Revelation, this is by no means a new idea: Isaiah 41:4 Who has acted thus, who has done this? He who calls each generation from the beginning: I, Yahweh, who am the first and till the last I shall still be there.’ Isaiah 44:6 Thus says Yahweh, Israel’s king, Yahweh Sabaoth, his redeemer: I am the first and I am the last; there is no God except me. So it is established: Yahweh God is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. If this would be all that the Bible has to say about the Alpha and the Omega this would be a very short Bible study, indeed… But there is more to it, isn’t there? When reading Revelation 1:8 all by itself there should be no question at all to our views of beginning and end… but just one verse before Revelation 1:8 we find an introduction to one who is to come: Revelation 1:7 Look, he is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. Indeed this shall be so. Amen. As clear as 1:8 is, 1:7 cannot be mistaken as speaking of anyone other than the Christ--actually the Lamb of God! This announcement about the pierced one who all the races of the world will see coming on the clouds precedes the revelation that God is the Alpha and the Omega! How can we separate the two? It is like saying that, for some strange reason, God decided to reveal something that has no bearings on anything else! Now, in Revelation 22:12-13 Jesus announces that He is coming soon and that He is the Alpha and the Omega: Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone as their deeds deserve. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Some would quickly point out that we can’t really tell that it is Jesus talking or that what is said is being said about Jesus… I see two problems with that: 1. Yahweh did not promise to come to the gentiles (the non-Jewish world), He promised to come to the people of Israel (He did as Jesus Christ!: John 1:1-18). 2. Revelation 22:6 tells us that Jesus is speaking to John (at times directly, at other times through his angel): Revelation 22:6 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the sake of the churches. I am the spring from the root of David and the bright star of the morning. There is no mistaking that Jesus is the shoot or root of David, the One who was, who was pierced, and is to come (both to the Jews and gentiles) and the one who is speaking! |