Revive Our Hearts

Dana Gresh: Because Jesus is eternal and divine, scripture calls him Alpha and Omega. What does this mean for you? Here's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Everything we need is found in him from A to Z. What do you need? Peace, joy, help, grace, love, kindness, time, perspective, balance, it A to Z, whatever you need. If it's not found in him, you don't need it. Everything you need is found in him.

Dana Gresh: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude. For October 13th, 2026, I'm Dana Gresh. Welcome back for another day of marveling at our precious Savior together. Today really is a day for awe and wonder because we're talking about an underrated name of Jesus, Alpha and Omega. Truly I don't know why we don't talk about this more. It's mind-boggling and awe-inspiring and beautiful and well so many other adjectives. I could go on and on, but I'll let Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth show you just how much this name reveals the glory of Christ.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Alpha and Omega, as many of you know, are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. It's as if we were saying A to Z or soup to nuts or top to bottom or stem to stern. I'm the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. We use different phrases to suggest that entirety of something. And Jesus says, I am the entirety of all of life. As with the other I am names, this is an unmistakable claim on Jesus' part to be God. Twice elsewhere in the book of Revelation, God calls himself with this same name.

He says in Revelation 1, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. In Revelation 21, the father says, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And then in chapter 22, Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus is claiming to be God. And of course, we know that he is God. You see this same concept in the Old Testament. It's emphasized many times, particularly in the book of Isaiah, that God is the first and the last.

Let me just read to you a few of those verses. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God. And then in Isaiah 48, listen to me, oh Jacob and Israel, whom I called. I am he. I am the first and I am the last. So when Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the first and the last.

I am the beginning and the end. He is saying again, I and the father are one. Now there are number of implications to this name of Jesus that I think should be encouraging and helpful to us as we walk and live this Christian life. First of all, it's just clear that he is the one and only. I am the Alpha and the Omega. He is unique. There is no other like him. He has no competitors. And of course, that's the same with his other names as well. He is in a class all his own. And then that name speaks to us of his eternal existence from everlasting to everlasting, from everlasting past to everlasting future.

You are God, Psalm 90 tells us. Jesus, like the father, always existed. There was never a time when he didn't exist. He created all things, including time. Before he created, there was no time. No one created him. He was there before anything or anyone else existed. This is mind-boggling. You can't really wrap your mind around this. If you try to, you lose your mind. But we have to believe it's true because the scripture teaches us this. He existed in all of eternity past. There never was a time when he wasn't. And he will always exist in eternity future.

There never will be a time when he doesn't exist. He always was. He always will be. He was there in the beginning of time and he'll be there at the end of time. He is the beginning and the end of all things. His existence is eternal. And then the Jewish rabbis would commonly use the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Aleph and Tav are those letters. They would use those letters to refer to the whole of something from beginning to end. Well, Revelation expresses that similar concept using the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, if you're speaking Greek. If it's Hebrew, he's the Aleph and the Tav. He is the whole thing. He is not just at the beginning and at the end. He's everything in between. It's an all-encompassing name. You can't get outside of him. He is everything, first and last and all-encompassing, the entirety of it all. And then we see that he is the beginning and the end of history and of all creation. All things were made by him. He holds everything together. He will bring it to its final consummation. There will be an end to time and history and this corrupt and fallen world and he is the one who will bring that about.

He is the one who will create a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. He's the beginning and the end of history and of creation. He's the beginning of all history and is the end toward which all creation is moving. He is the creator and all creation is moving toward him. All things exist for him. All things exist for his glory. Now I'll just tell you that I am swimming way out of my depth. I I I can only like doggy paddle here. Um it's just so amazing. And that's what I want us to see is we have an amazing Savior.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of history and of creation. And he is the beginning and the end of our salvation. Hebrews 12 tells us that he is the author and the finisher of our faith. Or some of your translations have it, he is the founder and the perfecter of our faith. From beginning to end, our faith, our salvation is dependent upon and derived from him. He's the Alpha. He initiated our salvation. He gave his life for us. He drew us to himself. He's in the process of sanctifying us and conforming us to his image.

And he's the Omega of our salvation. He's the end of the Old Testament priesthood and the sacrificial system that we talked about when we saw Jesus as our great high priest. And Romans 10 tells us that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the end, the goal, the aim, the purpose of our faith. And he promises that he will complete the good work that he has begun in us. We will be like Jesus. We will be sanctified. We will be glorified because he is not only the Alpha, the beginning, but the Omega, the end of our salvation.

He accomplishes what he begins. Is that encouraging to you? I know it is to me. Now in addition to the beginning, that concept of Alpha, the Jews also used the word Alpha to speak of the chief or the highest or the best of a group of people or things. Talk sometimes about something being A1. We mean that's the best. It's the most. It's the highest. In the animal kingdom, sometimes you'll hear talk about an alpha male. That's the animal that has the highest rank in a particular animal hierarchy or a social grouping. It's the dominant animal.

It's the leader of the pack, the highest in the pecking order. That's the alpha male. Well, Jesus is the alpha being of the entire universe, preeminent, the chief, the highest, the best, first in priority, exalted. And we see this theme all through scripture. Revelation 1 tells us he's the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of kings on earth. He's the alpha. Colossians 1 tells us he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent, the alpha being. Now by contrast, Omega could refer to that which is the last and the lowliest.

And I think this speaks not just of Christ in being the alpha, the exaltation of Christ, but also the Omega Christ in his humiliation. He made himself lower than the angels. He was despised. He was rejected of men. Psalm says he became a worm and no man. He humbled himself. He became obedient to death. The alpha, the exalted Christ, the Omega, Christ in his humiliation. So whether you're doing top to bottom or left to right, beginning to end, highest to lowest, he is the alpha and the Omega. Now one of the questions I always try and ask here on Revive Our Hearts is so what?

What difference does it make? Why does this matter to us? I think you've already seen some of that, but let's just talk for a few moments about what difference it makes to know Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega. First of all, it tells us that everything we need is found in him from A to Z. What do you need? Peace, joy, help, grace, love, kindness, time, perspective, balance, it A to Z, whatever you need. If it's not found in him, you don't need it. Everything you need is found in him. Now that's easy to agree to while we're sitting here in this nice church being true women of God.

But you need to remind yourself of that when you go home tonight and you need your find yourself needing sanity to deal with Okay, that's an A to Z. You find it in Christ. Whatever you need to deal with whatever situation. It also means that he has ordained the beginning and the end of our lives and everything in between. Psalm 139 says, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance. He knew us before we were born. But it goes on to say, in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them.

He knows our last day. He's ordained it, the beginning and the end of our lives and everything in between. That's a safe place to be. That's a secure place to be, knowing that my life is not lived by chance, but it's been ordained by the Alpha and the Omega. It frees us from fear to know Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega. In Revelation chapter 1, John is on the isle of Patmos and he sees this awesome vision of the risen reigning Christ. And the sight is terrifying to him. It says in verse 17, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

But he laid his right hand on me saying, fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forever more and I have the keys of death and Hades. That's what delivers us from fear. From fear of seeing Christ is to know that he is the alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the living one. Not not only had John just seen this amazing vision of Christ, but he was about to see a vision of a terrifying future. All these great judgments upon judgments, upheaval in the world.

And I think Jesus revealed himself to John before he saw all that terror that was coming because he wanted John to know that Jesus was in charge of it all. The reason John didn't need to fear whatever was coming was that Jesus is the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He's in charge of everything in between. I know there are those here who are looking into an unknown or an uncertain or a fearful future. Maybe you're single or widowed and you're feeling vulnerable, alone, concerned as you get older about who's going to pay the bills?

Who's going to take care of you? It's when we need to remind ourselves that he is the first and he is the last. And it gives us a sense of security to focus on the fact that he is our Alpha and Omega and that we can go into an unknown future, maybe even some things we do know that look terrifying, but we can go into that future knowing that it's all wrapped up in him. This this name of Jesus disrupts the cycle of worry. And some of you live in that cycle of worry. You're worried about things you that you have that haven't even had a chance of happening.

No idea, but then you conjure up these worries in your head, sometimes in your dreams. Listen, you can disrupt that cycle of worry and break into that thing that you're fearful of with this thought that Jesus is your Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Whatever your problems are, they won't outlive him. He will be there. He is there. Talked to a woman recently who was concerned that there might be some abnormality with her newborn grandchild and is wondering, is there maybe something wrong with this baby? Nothing's been diagnosed, but this grandma is just wondering.

She has to trust when she can't see, when she doesn't know what the outcome will be, that Jesus is her Alpha and Omega. Knowing Jesus in this way means that you live in a safe, closed system, that there's nothing that can touch your life that's outside of him. There's nothing bigger than him. There's nothing beyond him. There's no threat beyond him. He encompasses you. He holds you in the palm of his hand. He covers you. He is your first and your last from top to bottom, from left to right, from beginning to end. He surrounds us.

He's the Alpha and the Omega. That gives us grace to persevere through trials. Those letters to the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, they were written to churches that many of whom were being persecuted for their faith in Christ. And Jesus didn't come and say, oh you won't suffer. He said you will suffer. Be prepared for it. But did the church in Smyrna, the church that was the suffering church, he wrote the words of the first and the last who died and came to life. Now he goes on to say, some of you are going to be martyred for your faith.

But I am speaking to you. I am the first and the last. I died and I came to life and because of who I am, you have hope as you go through suffering. Your trials, no matter how weighty or heavy or difficult they may be, are not the end of the story. Jesus is He will outlive and outlast them all. Think about all the things that are going on in our country and in our world. Um many of you have children. You know that there's natural fear about what's it like going to be like for your children and your grandchildren growing up in this world with escalating violence.

And you get to where you're afraid to go to mall, afraid to go to school, afraid to go to church. They're going to be these random shootings. It is a crazy, fallen, messed up world. And I'm not going to tell you, nor does Jesus tell you that some of those things may not happen to us. But the fact is, regardless of what happens here on this earth to these mortal bodies, you can trust the Lord with your future. We know the end of the story. To beyond all of that, there is Jesus. And that we will live with him forever as our Alpha and Omega.

That should encourage us when we can't see the end or the outcome of a matter, to know that he is at work and that he finishes and completes what he begins. He will complete your sanctification. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the author and the finisher of our faith. Sometimes maybe you're um serving in some way, raising kids or serving in some other way and you feel like you're not seeing the fruit of your labors. Especially is that true of mothering, right? And you wonder at times, is anything taking? Are these kids ever going to get this?

Well, before the foundation of the world, the Alpha and the Omega established his purposes. He ordained good works for you to walk in them, Ephesians 1 verse 10. And you can trust that as you're doing what he is called you to do and be, that he will complete the work he has begun through you. Takes pressure off of you. It's not up to you to make your kids turn out right. Some of you have um maybe invested years in a child who's become a prodigal. And um you haven't seen the fruit. And I don't know what the end of that story is for you humanly speaking, but I know that God is still alive, still at work.

The last chapter has not been written and God can still draw that prodigal's heart to himself in all things. He's working for our good and for his glory. He knows the beginning from the end and he is at work in and through all of it. Listen, to know Jesus as our Alpha and our Omega really defines our calling, our mission, and our purpose in life. Because you see Jesus is intended to be the bookends of our life and everything in between. He is our life. But we don't want to have any life, we can't have any life apart from him.

Now the question is as people see us, do they see those bookends? Do they see Jesus? What will they remember about us when we're in the ground, our bodies are in the ground and there's just that marker, two dates with a little hyphen in between. What will people remember about me, about you? Will it be some accomplishment, something we did? Or will it be Christ that they remember? He was her Alpha and Omega. I remember Christ about this woman. Is Jesus the Alpha and the Omega of your life? Do you trust in him? Do you rest in him?

Is it all about him for you? Whatever you're doing, wherever you work, whatever your office environment is like, as you're at church, as you're in the community, as you're shopping, as you're going to the doctor, taking your kids to appointments, sitting on the sideline, watching soccer games and other sporting events, as you're doing Bible studies, whatever you're doing, is it all all all about Jesus? He is the Alpha and the Omega. Fear not. Be encouraged. Lift your eyes up. Look to him.

Dana Gresh: Oh such good heart-probing questions from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. Is Jesus the Alpha and the Omega of your life? Is it all about him for you? I hope you'll take some time to ponder this today as you drive down the road or fold laundry or prepare dinner. When you really believe that Jesus is before you and behind you, meeting you with all that you need, you can respond in rest and worship. That's what Nancy shows you in her newly released Advent devotional, Consider Jesus. This resource, it's an invitation to turn your eyes upon Jesus in the midst of all that would make you anxious or distracted during the Christmas season.

He meets us in our chaos, inviting us to remember him and rejoice. You can request a complimentary copy of Consider Jesus when you donate any amount to Revive Our Hearts. To do that, visit reviveourhearts.com or call us at 1-800-569-5959. For the rest of our time together, we're going to press into the truth that Jesus is all we need, not only today, but eternally. Here's Nancy.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Where there are unfulfilled longings still left, that those are a gift because it keeps me from getting too satisfied down here on earth. God is using those unfulfilled longings to keep my heart detached from this earth, to keep me as a pilgrim on this earth and to cause my heart to be more attached and my longings more firmly set on heaven. Really that thirst is just a picture of a homesick heart. Our hearts are sick for a home that we will never have this side of heaven. And for one whom we now love and worship and pray to and praise by faith, but one day faith will be sight and prayer will be praise.

And then there will be forever no more unfulfilled longings. When Jesus went to the cross, as he hung there dying for my sins and for years, one of his last words that he cried out was when he said, I thirst. Can you imagine the God who made the universe and the 340 quintillion gallons of water on the face of the earth all fit in the palm of his hand that he would let himself go to a point where he was thirsty. Why did he do it? So that you and I would not have to thirst.

He said, I'm willing to endure this thirst, to be separated from my father, to experience all the disappointment and the failure and the guilt and the shame caused by sin. I'm willing to have that thirsty heart myself so that I can give to you the gift that comes from above, the gift of living water. He will meet your deepest need and mine. And so we just need to tell him, here's my need. I can't make it without you. And for those who are thirsty, Jesus offers an invitation. We read about it both in the New Testament and in the old.

Let me read you the Old Testament version in Isaiah chapter 55 where God's word says, come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Now that sounds like a strange thing to say if you don't have any money, you can come and get all that you need. If I go into my grocery store and go through the aisles and put everything in my cart that I need and then I go to the checkout counter and I say, I'm sorry, I don't have any money, what will they say?

No money, no groceries. But you know in God's divine grace grocery store, he says, you don't have any money? That's just the kind of customer I'm looking for. Here take a cart. Take two, take three, take all you can wheel and go down up and down through these aisles and put into that cart everything that you need in your life. Fill your cart up. Fill it full. And then come and tell me that you don't have anything to pay. And I'll say that's what grace is for. He says, you who have no money, come buy and eat.

Why do you spend your money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest affair. Give ear and come to me. Come see a man, the woman at the well said. Come to Jesus and drink. And when you come to him, you will find that he really does meet every need of your heart. You thirsty? He's living water. Are you hungry? He's the bread of life. He's strength for those who are weak. He's righteousness for those who are sinful.

For those who are wounded, he is healing. For those who are weary, he is rest. For the empty, he is fullness. He is joy for the grieving. He is peace for the troubled heart. He is beauty for those who've been scarred. For those who don't know which way to go, he is the way. He is home for the rejected. He is the lover for the unloved. For the fatherless, he is a father. For the widow, he is a husband. He is freedom for those who are in bondage. He is a refuge for the fearful. He is hope for the hopeless and the discouraged.

He is fruitfulness for those who are barren. And for those who are dead, he is the resurrection and the life. Come to Jesus and drink. Would you just now by faith say, oh Lord, I come to you afresh this day. And I know that you are the fountain of living waters, the only one who can supply the deepest needs of my heart. Forgive me, Lord, for looking to other things and people to satisfy that God-shaped vacuum and hole in my heart. And right now by faith, I drink of you. I take you by faith. Fill me up.

Fill my cup till it overflows. And may my life give life and hope to others around me this day. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for you truly are all that we need. And this day afresh, we drink deeply of you that rivers of living water may fill us from within and flow through us to others. For Jesus' sake, we pray. Amen.

Dana Gresh: Amen. What words of encouragement from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. I hope they'll remain with you through the rest of your day and and that they'll richly satisfy your soul. Now huge reminder for our Spanish-speaking listeners, Mujer Verdadera 26 in Miami is only one month away and it's not too late to sign up. So come join me. It would be a joy to see you there. The theme is prepare the way of the Lord. You're going to hear the same Bible-saturated teaching you're used to here on the podcast, but in person with thousands of sisters in Christ.

For all the information, visit mujerverdadera26.com. Today's episode has been all about worshiping the Savior who satisfies. He's the only one who can completely satisfy your every longing. Tomorrow we'll turn our attention to why this is possible. Jesus is God, yes, but did you know that if he hadn't become a man too, he never could have saved you. Nancy explores the amazingly beautiful God man paradox tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts. Join us. This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.