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.”
THE GOD WHO GOES BEFORE YOU
Brethren, As we draw close to the end of the the year 2026 , God has brought you this far. You made it through the year 2026. Whatever the year held for you, the things you celebrated, the things you lost, the prayers that were answered and the ones you are still waiting on, you are here.
And that matters.
As we proceed further in october, I want to remind you of something simple: God was already there before you arrived.
He is the Alpha and the Omega.
That means He is not only at the beginning of your story. He is at the end of it too.
So I am confident about the remaining days and months of this year because I know the God who is going it with us.
If God says He will do something, He is not guessing. He is not making an empty promise. He is God, and He has the power to finish what He starts.
That is why Revelation 1:8 matters.
When God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” He is telling us who is speaking. Before we consider the promise, we must consider the One who made it.
A promise means very little when the person making it has no power to keep it.
But God is not like that.
When God speaks, heaven backs His word.
So the question is not simply, “What has God promised me?”
The deeper question is:
Do I believe Him enough to live by His word?
Do we still take God’s word seriously?
It is easy to quote Scripture when everything is going well. The real test comes when life does not look anything like what God said.
Will you still trust Him then?
In the remaining days of this year, God’s word must become more than something we hear on Sunday. It must become our compass. When we do not know which way to go, His word must guide us. When fear speaks loudly, His word must speak louder.
Because the Alpha has spoken.
And what He begins, He is able to complete.
THE BEGINNING AND THE END
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
God is using them to show us something about Himself: He is eternal.
He was there before everything began.
He remains when everything else passes away.
He does not become outdated. He does not weaken with time. He does not change because circumstances change.
He is God.
And because He is the Alpha, nothing about your life is outside His knowledge.
Think about an inventor and his invention. The inventor knows the thing he has made in a way nobody else can.
How much more does God know us?
He knows what is broken.
He knows what we have hidden.
He knows what we need.
And He knows what He created us to become.
That means the things in your life that look beyond repair are not beyond God.
He can restore.
He can rebuild.
He can redirect.
But there is another side to this truth.
If He is the Alpha, then He is Lord.
Our lives are not ours to design without Him. We were created for His purpose.
And God is not moved by our excuses, our status, our connections or our sentiments. He looks at the heart and calls us to live according to His word.
Peter discovered this in Acts 10:34–35:
“I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
Romans 2:9–11 makes the same point. There is trouble and distress for those who choose evil, but glory, honour and peace for those who do good.
God does not show favouritism.
So as we enter this new year, we have a choice.
What will we pursue?
Trouble and distress?
Or glory, honour and peace?
My prayer for everyone connected to Jesus Sanctuary Northampton, whether you worship with us physically or connect with us through this website is that the remaining days in this year will be marked by the presence, grace and glory of God.
But more than that, I pray that we will become people who take His word seriously.
WHO IS, WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME
There is another part of Revelation 1:8 that I love.
God describes Himself as:
“Who is, who was, and who is to come.”
Past. Present. Future.
He was God before
He is God in 2026.
And He will still be God in every year that follows.
That should change the way we face the future.
Maybe your past is painful.
Maybe there are things you wish you could undo.
Maybe so far, the years did not turn out the way you hoped.
God was there.
Maybe you are in this year with questions.
Maybe you do not know what the year will bring.
God is here.
Maybe the future scares you because you cannot see what is ahead.
God is already there.
You don’t have to know everything that is coming when you know the One who is already there.
That is the confidence of the believer.
Revelation 21:6 gives us another beautiful picture of this same God:
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
Notice that invitation.
“To him who is thirsty…”
God is not asking us to pretend that we have everything together.
He is inviting the thirsty.
The searching.
The tired.
The hungry.
The people who know they need Him.
So as you begin this year, don’t just ask God to bless your plans.
Ask Him to lead your life.
Don’t only seek His hand.
Seek His presence.
Don’t only come to Him when you need something.
Walk with Him every day.
Because the God who was with you in your past is the God who stands with you now—and the God who is already waiting for you in your future.
He is the Alpha.
He is the Omega.
And if He holds the beginning and the end, you can trust Him with everything in between.
Seek Him in, and you will find Him.
May this year draw you closer to God, make His Word more real to you, and give you the courage to follow Him wherever He leads..
Shalom.
Dr. Yinka Okude
Pastor-in-Charge
RCCG Jesus Sanctuary Northampton
