Alpha and Omega: The Alpha Man, #2 | Mac Hammond
Recap
Pastor Mac taught his second installment of his two-Sunday Christmas message entitled, “Alpha and Omega.” He reminded us Christmas messages are for the purpose of elevating our celebration of Christmas to the point where the celebration makes a difference in our lives. The things that you celebrate in your life are really the things that you’re giving permission to impact your life. And so it’s important that we understand what we’re celebrating at Christmas time. Jesus declared He is the Alpha and the Omega, meaning He is the beginning of life and the end of death. In the first message, Pastor Mac talked about how Jesus is our Omega Man, in that He destroyed death in the many forms it may take in our lives. In the second message, he talked about Jesus being our Alpha Man, the beginning of life.
Dive Deeper
Pastor Mac started a two-Sunday series with Revelation 1:8 as the scriptural reference:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending sayeth the Lord. Which is, which was, which is to come the Almighty.”
Jesus is representing Himself as God Himself come in the flesh; He is a representation of eternity. Timelessness.
It’s most important that we understand the terminology: Alpha means beginning; Omega means ending. And according to what we read in the Word, it is the beginning of life and the ending of death.
This is who Alpha and Omega is, and this is why Jesus said He came: He is the beginning of life and the ending of death.
You have to talk about the death part first because life can’t begin until death has ended. So Pastor Mac started with Omega last Sunday.
He referred to Jesus as our Omega Man: The ending of death, or the experience of death, which is cursing and leads to death. Just as blessing leads to life or emanates from.
And so we see that the Word makes it clear that Jesus wants us to know Him as this: the beginning of life, the ending of death.
Hebrews 2:14 says, “For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood.” He’s talking about humanity. Since we’re partakers of flesh and blood, “He also Himself, likewise, took part of the same.”
He took on the human condition that “through death He might destroy him, that had the power of death.” That is the devil. Jesus is the end, or ending, of death.
However, death is still here until the end of this dispensation. 1st Corinthians 15:26 says death is the last enemy to be put underfoot.
Though death still exists through the balance of this dispensation, Jesus has ended death’s dominion over our lives.
Pastor Mac gave us three keys on how to bring an end to death being manifest in your life.
Key one: Choose to believe the Word of God.
Key two: Choose to bring your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
Key three: You must take control of your tongue.
And with these three keys in place, now you have a basis for being obedient to the Word and it not being legalism.
Now that we have the three keys in place that will limit the dominion of death in our lives, we can now begin considering Jesus as our Alpha Man, the beginning of life.
How do we tap into that? It’s with the same keys!
The keys to life and blessing are the same keys that free you from hell and death: 1) Choosing to believe the Word, 2) thinking in line with the Word, and 3) speaking and acting in line with the Word.
The main thing is to know what the life of God is and what it’s all about.
John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for steal to kill and to destroy.” Anything that steals, kills, and destroys is not of God. It’s from the enemy of our souls.
Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
The Greek word for life is zoe, which means “life as God has it.”
This definition of zoe life is not simply a reference to the timeless dimension of eternity. It is qualitative as well, meaning a quality of life defined as the life that God experiences.
How does God experience life? He doesn’t have any sickness, disease, relationship problems, or any of the things that we have to deal with because death never can even approach Him. And so that’s the kind of life we can experience: a life free of sickness and disease.
That’s why we should celebrate the right thing at Christmas time.
Read About It
Rev. 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending sayeth the Lord. Which is, which was, which is to come the Almighty.”
Isa. 1:19, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.”
Heb. 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
1st Cor. 15:26, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Discussion Questions
After listening to Pastor Mac’s two-Sunday Christmas message, are you able to summarize the meaning of Jesus being the Alpha and Omega?
Pastor Mac gave a few examples of how death can touch your life: a sickness, divorce, bankruptcy. Can you think of experiences when your life was touched by death?
Can you name the three keys that will help you overcome the touch of death in your life?