Revelation 1:4-8 (NRSV)
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Verse 4John to the seven churches that 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, Verse 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, Verse 6and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Verse 7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. Verse 8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Devotion
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” the bookends of the alphabet, the first and the last, “who is and who was and who is to come.”
God is first—both in the beginning and in every subsequent moment of creation. Each of us comes from God. And God is last—both at the end of time and at each individual ending. We go to God.
But what of the in-between? Is that not also God’s? God is more than first and last; God is all-in-all. Every moment is related to God and therein we are with God. Nothing can happen–neither joy, sorrow, pain, healing–that we are not with God and God with us. Right now life’s complexities may be confusing as we “see in a mirror, dimly.” But what we see, no matter how imperfectly, is God who loves us, who is our grace and peace.
Prayer
Ever living God, you are present in this and every moment. Help me to know and rejoice in your presence from first to last. Amen.