READ: JOHN 1:1-14; COLOSSIANS 1:15-20; REVELATION 21:1-6

In my life, there are many starts and stops. I start a new hobby, and I finish a TV show. I wake up and start my workday, and I end the day by going to bed. At the start of my life, I came into being. And eventually my days on this broken earth will end.

In the last book of the Bible, Jesus calls Himself “the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 21:6). This name signifies the completeness of God. Alpha and Omega are actually just the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These Greek letters work like a metaphor here. It’s similar to saying you sang the alphabet from A to Z.

Jesus was there at the beginning, before time began, and He played an important role in creation. John 1:3 says that everything was made through Jesus.

Jesus is also the end of all things. He is the end to sin and suffering. Jesus ended the power of sin and death in His own death and resurrection. And Jesus will be there at the end of time to bring justice down and right the wrongs of the world.

It’s important to remember that Jesus is God the Son, and when He calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, He is helping us better understand who He is. God does not have a beginning, or a starting point. God has always been. Similarly, God does not have an end. God is eternal, and in Jesus, we can share that eternal life in His new creation. • Naomi Zylstra

• When Jesus returns and makes all things new, everyone who has put their trust in Him will live with Him forever! As we experience the many starts and stops of life, how could it be comforting to look forward to eternal life with Jesus, when sin and brokenness will finally come to an end?

• Are you starting something new? How have you seen Jesus present with you in this new beginning? Consider spending some time in prayer, asking God to help you see how He is working in and around you.

• Endings can be sad, scary, and difficult, but Jesus is always Lord, and He rules over every beginning and every end. How can this truth give us hope when we experience endings?

This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.” Isaiah 44:6 (NLT)