365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 293: The One Who Was

The One Who Was

" 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.' " (Revelation 1:8 CSB)

" 'I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,' says the Lord God. 'I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.' " (Revelation 1:8 NLT)

I love the New Living Translation's version of Revelation 1:8 because of one word it includes that most other versions do not: "always." As in, "who always was."

God is beyond time. He is uncreated. He simply always has been. He is the Beginning and the End, but He Himself has no beginning and no end. I find this to be one of the many pieces of truth about God that I can't wrap my human mind around...which is fine with me, because I so very much need God to be beyond what my mind can comprehend.

God as "the One who is" reveals Himself to be God of the present. Yet the One Who Was is also God of the past. 

We're cautioned not to live in the past, and it is true we don't want to dwell there. Yesterday isn't our home.

We're told not to look back, that we're not going that direction—and it is true that if we're always glancing over our shoulder, we're going to stumble over what's in front of us.

Yet our past is part of our present and our future. 

Where we've been affects where we are and where we're going.

Who we were has something to say about who we are and who we're becoming.

We can't just brush our history aside as if it has no weight, yet with God, our history becomes part of His story. He takes our lessons and transforms them into wisdom. He takes our pain and transforms it into purpose. He takes struggles and turns them into victories. 

I'm so thankful that, because the Almighty has worked on me, I'm not who I was. And I'm so hopeful that, because the Almighty is still working on me, I'm not who I'm going to be.