The New Testament was written in a form of Koine Greek, which was the common language of the Eastern Mediterranean from the conquests of Alexander the Great (335–323 BC) until the evolution of Byzantine Greek (circa 600).
The first letter of the Greek alphabet is Alpha [Ά] (Άλφα) [al’-fah], while Omega [Ω] (o’-me-gah) is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, meaning finality. These Greek letters only appear in the Book of "Revelation of Jesus Christ" – the Book that Pastor Ted has been exegeting since Mar 6, 2022.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8, ESV)
“And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” (Revelation 21:6, ESV)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”” (Revelation 22:13, ESV)
Now that we have that out of the way, what does that mean? It’s not so hard to understand that when John was writing this book, Jesus using this terminology meant He always was and always will. Everything that transpires in between is found else is found om the Holy Scriptures. In between what? Between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21. All sixty-six books of the Bible.
The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament take us from the Earth’s creation, our creation and the many lessons found there (some very tragic, others very sinful, and some very beautiful).
The New Testament also tells us that God selected the Jews to be His chosen people. God gave them the Law through Moses. God made covenants with them through the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, The Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. Yet they disobeyed God’s Laws and broke the covenants. God being perfect in all things always kept His covenants. For more about three of these great covenants, click here! It covers how many times they cried out for His help and having received His help, shortly thereafter forgot how He helped them. Pastor Ted’s sermon on Revelation 16:1-7 (Click this Link) expounds largely on God’s Perfect Wrath as well as all His Perfect Attributes.
The New Testament brings a very different view than the Old Testament; it brings us God’s Grace, which He gives freely and how despite all odds, trials and tribulations, Jesus kept the whole Law perfectly. Yet Jews and Gentiles alike still do not honor His Word; do not recognize Him as the Messiah and even outright deny Him.
Some think the beginning of the world as we know it as we see in Genesis. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). Here the beginning relates to the heavens and earth and all that is on it, over it and under it. However, if you seek the meaning as Jesus calls Himself the Alpha [Ά] (Άλφα) [al’-fah], and Omega[Ω] (o’-me-gah) He signifies He always existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He will always exist with them. There will be no end that means Eternity Past and Eternity Forever. Yet the world would rather believe in the Theory of Evolution than that of supernatural creation.
The father of social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was an enormously influential English philosopher and agnostic of the Victorian era who coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’. Dubbed ‘the philosopher of the Evolution movement’, he published a theory of evolution seven years before Darwin. After reading the Origin, he became the first to apply Darwinian principles rigorously to society, a concept now known as Social Darwinism.
More than 150 years after Charles Darwin published his theory, evolution remains controversial. Some politicians and religious leaders denounce it and would invoke a higher being as a designer to explain the complex world of living things, especially such specimens as humans.
School boards debate whether the theory of evolution should be taught alongside other ideas, such as intelligent design or creationism. Mainstream scientists see no controversy. Evolution is well supported by many examples of changes in various species leading to the diversity of life seen today.
The story has circulated for decades that Charles Darwin, after a career of promoting evolution and naturalism, returned to the Christianity of his youth, renouncing on his deathbed the theory of evolution. The story appears to have been authored by a "Lady Hope," and relates how she visited him near the end and received his testimony.
Ture or False? Evolutionists in general and his surviving family have disputed the account. Those with him at the time insist there was no evident changing of mind. Indeed, in his autobiography written late in his life, Darwin fully supported evolution. He admitted the concept was distasteful to him and had brought him much dismay, but he still held it.
“When it comes to the origin of life on this earth, there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation [evolution]. There is no third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved 100 years ago, but that leads us only one other conclusion; that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds [personal reasons]; therefore, we choose to believe the impossible; that life arouse spontaneously by chance.”
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