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I. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of HUMAN ASPIRATIONS. He meets men's strongest yearnings.

1. It is so in reference to theological aspirations.

2. Immortal aspirations are likewise met in Jesus. Men believe in a hereafter. On the last page of life's book we do not write Finis, but "To be continued in our next." Christ ministers to this yearning for immortality. "I go to prepare a place for you"; "This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise"; "Where I am there also shall My servant be."

II. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of HUMAN CHARACTER. Christ comprehended in Himself every form of excellence. No virtue was lacking; each grace was present. A visitor in Spain, delighted with the paintings of Rubens, asked where his bad pictures were? He failed to discover them. Inquire for the defects of Christ, and you cannot get an answer.

III. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of HUMAN PRIVILEGE. What is true of the Bible is true also of Christ. It meets all moral needs. There is a bridge in a certain Austrian city on whose parapets stand twelve statues of the Saviour. He is represented in various relationships, as, for instance, prophet, priest, king, physician, pilot, shepherd, sower, carpenter. The country people, coming into town soon after dawn with produce for the market, pause before the sower or the shepherd Christ, and offer their prayers through Him. The artisans, two hours later, repairing to the workshop, bend before the carpenter Christ. Later on the sailor kneels at the feet of the pilot Christ. And in the warm sunlight of the forenoon invalids, creeping out to enjoy the fresh air, rest under the shadow of the Great Physician. Apt symbol of our Lord's adaptation to universal necessities! He is all and in all.

(T. R. Stevenson.)

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KJV: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

WEB: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."