Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. God was traditionally given the title of being the first and the last, a title abbreviated by the use of A, and O. In Hebrew (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12) He was called ‘the first and the last’. Hebrew scholars explained that this came from the word for “truth” whose three Hebrew consonants are the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet! They took the truth of God to be symbolised in His being beyond all time. In the New Testament the word omega is used in three places, all in John’s Revelation (1:8; 21:6; 22:13). Here the term is used twice of God and on the other occasion is given completely to Jesus, signifying that He shares God’s divine nature.
The use of the term omega meant that Jesus was the complete expression of God. He was “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel” (Rom. 15:29). Christ was beyond time and place, beyond history, and beyond humanity’s concepts. Christ is the cosmic reality, the source of creation and its ultimate goal. Although John (1:3) expressed this in part, it was Paul whose keen philosophical mind made clear this reality (Col. 1:15-20). He saw Christ as the source and the goal of creation. Christ was the cohesive force in the universe. “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). In Him the whole universe coheres (Col. 1:17).
FOR TODAY
In the centre of the great stained glass window in the Box Hill, Victoria Church of Christ is a picture of an open Bible with the letters A, and O. As a young child I had many speculations during long sermons over these letters stood for!
It was impossible to talk of omega without referring to Teilhard de Chardin – the magnificent heretic or far-seeing prophet of our time. This Jesuit scientist, theologian and philosopher had a commitment to Christ that had a cosmic scope. He saw the end point of the processes of evolution coming into focus at what he called the omega point. This is where the whole creation meets and is renewed in the reigning lord of history. Christ is both the end of creation and its sustaining life force.
We are all aware of centrifugal force, that force on a spinning disc which moves loose objects outwards. In a whirling world like ours things tend to fly apart. There are few forces that bring things together and hold them in cohesion. Christ is a centripetal force; in Him things come together and hold fast.
The New Testament Christians used the philosophical terms of their day to express the theological truth without fears that the contemporary philosophy would contaminate the Christian truth. Worlds like omega, logos and Eikon were used in the Christian apologetic. We ought to have Christian philosophers today who are prepared to make a defence for the hope that is within them by filling the current philosophies with Christian content. The trouble is when they do, as with Teilhard, the Church becomes frightened and their works are banned. Christians of all people should never fear searching for ultimate truth.
REV THE HON DR GORDON MOYES AC MLC