January's Verse
03/01/08 17:16 Filed in: Bible
For the last few years, along with the Baptist church, we have given out a calendar at Christmas to quite a number of homes in the town. This year the calendar deals with the all important theme “Who is Jesus?”.
Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ – the only ‘voice’ to live, die and rise again; the only ‘voice’ to offer to take our place before an angry God. Throughout the course of the year I intend to explain a little of what each month’s verse means.
January’s verse is found in Revelation 1:8, ‘“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”’
Sometimes people say, “Christianity is OK for you, but it’s not for me. You can believe it, but I’ve got my own beliefs.” That would be fine if the final day of reckoning was like an airport check-in hall, with all the different religions each having their own check-in desk, with their own little deity and his staff seeing to those flying with them.
If this verse tells us anything, it tells us that it will not be like that. There is one God, not many. He is all-powerful. He has been in existence, and will always be in existence. There were no gods in existence before him, and none have come after him. Alpha and Omega refer to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – it is a way of saying that Jesus is before all things, after all things. He is the all-encompassing one, with whom all mankind will have to deal. He is sovereign. And he is coming back.
This verse also means that Jesus is what life is all about. Life is not about getting all you can, or even giving all you can. It’s all about Jesus – that’s what we’re here for. If our lives haven’t been about Jesus, then we aren’t ready for him coming back. Does he pervade your life in every aspect, or is he left on the periphery?
If you would like to know more, or would like a calendar, just get in touch.
www.newlifefellowship.ie
Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ – the only ‘voice’ to live, die and rise again; the only ‘voice’ to offer to take our place before an angry God. Throughout the course of the year I intend to explain a little of what each month’s verse means.
January’s verse is found in Revelation 1:8, ‘“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”’
Sometimes people say, “Christianity is OK for you, but it’s not for me. You can believe it, but I’ve got my own beliefs.” That would be fine if the final day of reckoning was like an airport check-in hall, with all the different religions each having their own check-in desk, with their own little deity and his staff seeing to those flying with them.
If this verse tells us anything, it tells us that it will not be like that. There is one God, not many. He is all-powerful. He has been in existence, and will always be in existence. There were no gods in existence before him, and none have come after him. Alpha and Omega refer to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – it is a way of saying that Jesus is before all things, after all things. He is the all-encompassing one, with whom all mankind will have to deal. He is sovereign. And he is coming back.
This verse also means that Jesus is what life is all about. Life is not about getting all you can, or even giving all you can. It’s all about Jesus – that’s what we’re here for. If our lives haven’t been about Jesus, then we aren’t ready for him coming back. Does he pervade your life in every aspect, or is he left on the periphery?
If you would like to know more, or would like a calendar, just get in touch.
www.newlifefellowship.ie