Is Jesus Really All You Need? Worshiping the Savior Who Satisfies

Dannah Gresh: Because Jesus is eternal and divine, Scripture calls Him Alpha and Omega. What does this mean for you? Here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Everything we need is found in Him—from A to Z. What do you need? Peace? Joy? Help? Grace? Love? Kindness? Time? Perspective? Balance? A to Z, whatever you need. If it’s not found in Him, you don’t need it. Everything you need is found in Him.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude, for October 13, 2026. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Welcome back for another day of marveling at our precious Savior together! Today really is a day for awe and wonder, because we’re talking about an underrated name of Jesus—Alpha and Omega. Truly, I don’t know why we don’t talk about this more! It’s mind-boggling and awe-inspiring and beautiful and so many other adjectives. I could go on and on, but I’ll let Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth show you just how much this name reveals the glory of Christ.

Jesus Is the Alpha and the Omega

Nancy: Alpha and Omega, as many of you know, are the first and the last letters of Greek alphabet. It’s as if we were saying A to Z or soup to nuts or top to bottom or stem to stern. He says, “I’m the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.” We use different phrases to suggest that entirety of something. And Jesus says, “I am the entirety of all of life.”

As with the other I AM names, this is an unmistakable claim on Jesus' part to be God. We’ve looked at that through this series twice elsewhere in the book of Revelation, God calls Himself with this same name. He says:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Rev. 1:8)

[The Father says,] "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." (Rev. 21:6)

[Jesus says,] "I am the Alpha and the Omega." (Rev. 22:13)

Jesus is claiming to be God, and of course, we know that He is God.

You see this same concept in the Old Testament. It’s emphasized many times, particularly in the book of Isaiah, that God is the first and the last. Let me just read to you a few of those verses:

Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and the last; I am he. (Isa. 41:4) 

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” (Isa. 44:6)

Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. (Isa. 48:12)

So when Jesus says, “I am Alpha and the Omega; I am the first and the last; I am the beginning and the end,” He is saying again, I and the Father are one.

Now there are a number of implications to this name of Jesus that I think should be encouraging and helpful to us as we walk and live this Christian life. First of all, it’s just clear that He is the one and only. "I am the Alpha and the Omega." He is unique. There is no other like Him. He has no competitors. And of course that’s the same with His other names, as well. He is in a class all His own.

Jesus Is Eternal and All-Encompassing

Then that name speaks to us of His eternal existence—“from everlasting to everlasting" from everlasting past to everlasting future, You are God, Psalm 90:2 tells us. Jesus, like the Father, always existed. There was never a time when He didn’t exist. He created all things including time. Before He created there was no time. No one created Him. He was there before anything or anyone else existed.

This is mind boggling. You can’t really wrap your mind around this. If you try to, you lose your mind. But we have to believe it’s true because the Scripture teaches us this. He existed in all of eternity past. There never was a time when He wasn’t. And He will always exist in eternity future. There never will be a time when He doesn’t exist. He always was; He always will be. He was there in the beginning of time, and He’ll be there at the end of time. He’s the beginning and the end of all things. His existence is eternal.

Then the Jewish rabbis would commonly use the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet—aleph and tau are those letters. They would use those letters to refer to the whole of something, from beginning to end. Well, Revelation expresses that similar concept using the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega if you’re speaking Greek. If it’s Hebrew, He’s the aleph and the tau. He is the whole thing. He’s not just at the beginning and at the end, He’s everything in-between. It’s an all-encompassing name. You can’t get outside of Him. He’s everything—first and last and all-encompassing, the entirety of it all.

Jesus Is the Beginning and End of All Things

Then we see that He is the beginning and the end of history and of all creation. All things were made by Him; He holds everything together; He will bring it to its final consummation. There will be an end to time and history and this corrupt and fallen world. And He is the one that will bring that about. He is the one who will create a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. He’s the beginning and the end of history and of creation.

He’s the beginning of all history, and He’s the end toward which all creation is moving. He is the Creator and all creation is moving toward Him. All things exist for Him. All things exist for His glory.

Now, I’ll just tell you that I’m swimming way out of my depth. I can only doggy-paddle here. It’s just so amazing, and that’s what I want us to see is we have an amazing Savior. He is the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and end of history and creation.

He is the beginning and the end of our salvation. Hebrews 12 tells us that He is the author and the finisher of our faith. Or as some of your translations have it, "He is the founder and the perfecter of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). From beginning to end, our faith, our salvation is dependent upon and derived from Him. He’s the Alpha. He initiated our salvation. He gave His life for us. He drew us to Himself. He’s in process of sanctifying us and conforming us to His image.

He’s the Omega of our salvation. He’s the end of the Old Testament priesthood and the sacrificial system that we talked about when we saw Jesus as our Great High Priest. And Romans 10:4 tells us that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the end, the goal, the aim, the purpose of our faith.

He promises that He will complete the good work that He has begun in us. We will be like Jesus. We will be sanctified. We will be glorified because He is not only the Alpha, the beginning, but the Omega, the end of our salvation. He accomplishes what He begins. Is that encouraging to you? I know it is to me.

Now, in addition to the beginning, that concept of alpha, the Jews also used the word alpha to speak of the chief or the highest or the best of a group of people or things. We talk sometimes about something being A-1. We mean that’s the best; it’s the most; it’s the highest.

In the animal kingdom sometimes you’ll hear talk about an “alpha male.” That’s the animal that has the highest rank in a particular animal hierarchy or social grouping. It’s the dominant animal. It's the leader of the pack, the highest in the pecking order. That’s the alpha male.

Jesus is the alpha being of the entire universe, preeminent, the chief, the highest, the best, first in priority, exalted. We see this theme all through Scripture. Revelation 1:5 tells us He’s the “firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” He’s the alpha. Colossians 1:18 tells us, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent,” the alpha being.

Now, by contrast, omega could refer to that which is the last and the lowliest. And I think this speaks not just of Christ being the alpha, the exaltation of Christ, but also the omega, Christ in His humiliation. He made Himself lower than the angels. He was despised. He was rejected of men. Psalms says He became a worm and no man. He humbled Himself. He became obedient to death.

The alpha, the exalted Christ; the omega, Christ in His humiliation. So whether you are doing top to bottom or left to right, beginning to end, highest to lowest, He is the Alpha and the Omega.

One of the questions I always try to ask here on Revive Our Hearts is, so what? What difference does it make? Why does this matter to us? I think you’ve already seen some of that, but let’s just talk for a few moments about what difference it makes to know Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega.

Everything We Need Is Found in Him

First of all, it tells us that everything we need is found in Him—from A to Z. What do you need? Peace? Joy? Help? Grace? Love? Kindness? Time? Perspective? Balance? A to Z, whatever you need. If it’s not found in Him, you don’t need it! Everything you need is found in Him.

Now that’s easy to agree to while we are sitting here in this nice church, being true women of God. But you need to remind yourself of that when you go home tonight and you need to find sanity to deal with things. Okay, that’s an A to Z. You find it in Christ. Whatever you need to deal with whatever situation.

It also means that He has ordained the beginning and end of our lives and everything in-between. Psalm 139 says:

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret . . . your eyes have seen my unformed substance . . . [He knew us before we were born. But it goes on to say,] in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (vv. 15–16)

He knows our last day. He’s ordained it, the beginning and the end of our lives and everything in-between. That’s a safe place to be. That’s a secure place to be. Knowing that my life is not lived by chance, but it’s been ordained by the Alpha and the Omega.

It frees us from fear to know Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega. In Revelation 1, John is on the Isle of Patmos, and he sees this awesome vision of the risen, reigning Christ. The sight is terrifying to him. It says in verse 17:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (vv. 17–18)

That’s what delivers us from fear, from fear of seeing Christ, is to know that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the living one.

Now, not only had John just seen this amazing vision of Christ, but he was about to see a vision of a terrifying future, all these great judgments upon judgments, upheaval in the world. I think Jesus revealed Himself to John before he saw all that terror that was coming because He wanted John to know that Jesus was in charge of it all. The reason John didn’t need to fear whatever was coming was that Jesus is Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He’s in charge of everything in-between!

I know there are those here who are looking into an unknown or an uncertain or a fearful future. Maybe you’re single or widowed and you’re feeling vulnerable, alone, concerned as you get older about who’s going to pay the bills? Who’s going to take care of you? So we need to remind ourselves that He is the first, and He is the last. He gives us a sense of security to focus on the fact that He is our Alpha and Omega and that we can go into unknown future—maybe even some things that we do know that look terrifying—but we can go into that future knowing that it’s all wrapped up in Him.

This name of Jesus disrupts the cycle of worry. Some of you live in that cycle of worry. You’re worrying about things that haven’t even had a chance of happening. You conjure up these worries in your head, sometimes in your dreams. Listen, you can disrupt that cycle of worry and break into that thing that you’re fearful of with this thought that Jesus is your Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. So whatever your problems are, they won’t outlive Him. He’ll be there. He is there.

I talked to woman recently who was concerned there might be some abnormality with her newborn grandchild and is wondering, Is there maybe something wrong with this baby? Nothing’s been diagnosed, but this grandma is just wondering. She has to trust what she can’t see, what she doesn’t know what the outcome will be, that Jesus is her Alpha and Omega.

Knowing Jesus in this way means that you live in safe, closed system, that there’s nothing that can touch your life that is outside of Him. There’s nothing bigger than Him. There’s nothing beyond Him. There’s no threat beyond Him. He encompasses you. He holds you in the palm of His hand. He covers you. He is your first and your last, from top to bottom, from left to right, from beginning to end. He surrounds us. He is the Alpha and the Omega.

That gives us grace to persevere through trials. Those letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, they were written to churches that many of whom were being persecuted for their faith in Christ. And Jesus didn’t come and say, “Oh, you won’t suffer.” He said, “You will suffer. Be prepared for it.”

But to the church in Smyrna, the church that was the suffering church he wrote: “The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life” (Rev. 2:8). Now he goes on to say, “Some of you are going to be martyred for your faith. But I’m speaking to you. I am the first and the last. I died, and I came to life. And because of who I am, you have hope as you go through suffering.”

Your trials, no matter how weighty or heavy or difficult they may be are not the end of the story. Jesus is! He will outlive and outlast them all. Think about all the things that are going on in our country and in our world. Many of you have children that there is a natural fear of what it’s going to be like for your children and your grandchildren growing up in this world with escalating violence.

You get to where you are afraid to go to a mall, afraid to go to school, afraid to go to church. There are going to be these random shootings. It is a crazy, fallen, messed-up world. And I’m not going to tell you nor does Jesus tell you that some of those things may not happen to us.

But the fact is, regardless of what happens here on this earth to these mortal bodies, you can trust the Lord with your future. We know the end of the story, that beyond all of that there is Jesus. We will live with Him forever as our Alpha and Omega.

That should encourage us when we can’t see the end or the outcome of a matter, to know that He is at work and that He finishes and completes what He begins. He will complete your sanctification. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Sometimes maybe you’re serving in some way, raising kids, or you’re serving in some other way. You feel like you’re not seeing fruit of your labors, especially is that true of mothering, right? And you wonder at times, “Is anything taking? Are these kids ever going to get this?” Well, before the foundation of the world, the Alpha and the Omega established His purposes. He ordained good works for you to walk in them, Ephesians 1:10. And you can trust that as you’re doing what He has called you to do and be, that He will complete the work He has begun through you.

It takes pressure off of you. It’s not up to you to make your kids turn out right. Some of you have maybe invested years in a child who has become a prodigal, and you haven’t seen the fruit. I don’t know what the end of that story is for you humanly speaking, but I know that God is still alive, still at work, the last chapter has not been written, and God can still draw that prodigal’s heart to Himself. In all things He’s working for our good and for His glory. He knows the beginning from the end, and He is at work in and through all of it.

Listen, to know Jesus as our Alpha and our Omega really defines our calling, our mission, and our purpose in life because you see, Jesus is intended to be the bookends of our life and everything in-between. He is our life. But we don’t want to have any life, we can’t have any life apart from Him.

Now, the question is, as people see us, do they see those bookends? Do they see Jesus? What will they remember about us when we’re in the ground, our bodies are in the ground, and there is just that marker, two dates with a little hyphen in between? What will people remember about me, about you? Will it be some accomplishment, something we did? Or will it be Christ that they remember? He was her Alpha and Omega. I remember Christ about this woman.

Is Jesus the Alpha and the Omega of your life? Do you trust in Him? Do you rest in Him? Is it all about Him for you? Whatever you’re doing, wherever you work, whatever your office environment is like, as you’re in church, as you’re in the community, as you’re shopping, as you’re going to the doctor, taking your kids to appointments, sitting on the sideline watching soccer games and other sporting events, as you’re doing Bible studies, whatever you’re doing, is it all, all, all about Jesus? He is the Alpha and the Omega. Fear not. Be encouraged. Lift your eyes up. Look to Him.

Dannah: Such good, heart-probing questions from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. Is Jesus the Alpha and the Omega of your life? Is it all about Him for you? I hope you’ll take some time to ponder this today as you drive down the road or fold laundry or prepare dinner. When you really believe that Jesus is before you and behind you, meeting you with all that you need, you can respond in rest and worship.

That’s what Nancy shows you in her newly-released Advent devotional, Consider Jesus. This resource is an invitation to turn your eyes upon Jesus in the midst of all that would make you anxious or distracted during the Christmas season. He meets us in our chaos, inviting us to remember him and rejoice. You can request a complimentary copy of Consider Jesus when you donate any amount to Revive Our Hearts. To do that, visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. 

For the rest of our time together, we’re going to press into the truth that Jesus is all we need—not only today, but eternally. Here’s Nancy. 

Come to Jesus and Drink

Nancy: Where there are unfulfilled longings still left, those are a gift because they keep me from getting too satisfied down here on earth. God is using those unfulfilled longings to keep my heart detached from this earth, to keep me as a pilgrim on this earth and to cause my heart to be more attached and my longings more firmly set on heaven.

That thirst is really a picture of a homesick heart. Our hearts are sick for a home we will never have this side of heaven and for One whom we now love and worship and pray to and praise by faith. One day faith will be sight and prayer will be praise and then there will forever be no more unfulfilled longings.

When Jesus went to the cross, as He hung there dying for my sins and for yours, one of His last words He cried out was when He said, "I thirst" (John 19:28). Can you imagine the God who made the universe, and the 340 quintillion gallons of water on the face of the earth that all fit in the palm of His hand, that He would let Himself go to a point where He was thirsty? Why did He do it? So that you and I would not have to thirst.

He said, "I am willing to endure this thirst and to be separated from My Father and to experience all the disappointment and the failure and the guilt and the shame caused by sin. I'm willing to have that thirsty heart Myself so that I can give to you the gift that comes from above, the gift of living water." He will meet your deepest need and mine. So we just need to tell Him, "Here's my need. I can't make it without You."

For those who are thirsty, Jesus offers an invitation. We read about it both in the New Testament and in the Old. Let me read you the Old Testament version in Isaiah 55:1. "Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come buy and eat." Now that sounds like a strange thing to say if you don't have any money, you can come and get all you need.

If I go into my grocery store and go through the aisles and put everything in my cart that I need and then I go to the checkout counter and I say, "I'm sorry but I don't have any money." What will they say? No money, no groceries. But in God's divine grace grocery store He says, "You don't have any money? That's just the kind of customer I'm looking for. Here, take a cart, take two, take three, take all you can wheel. Go down through these aisles and put into that cart everything you need in your life. Fill your cart up. Fill it full, and then come and tell Me you don't have anything to pay and I'll say, 'That's what grace is for.'"

He says, "You who have no money, come buy and eat. Why do you spend your money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me."

"Come see a Man" the woman at the well said. Come to Jesus and drink. When you come to Him, you will find He really does meet every need of your heart.

Are you thirsty? He is living water.

Are you hungry? He is the Bread of Life.

He's strength for those who are weak.

He's righteousness for those who are sinful.

For those who are wounded, He is healing.

For those who are weary, He is rest. 

For the empty He is fullness.

He is joy for the grieving.

He is peace for the troubled heart.

He is beauty for those who have been scarred.

For those who don't know which way to go, He is the way.

He is home for the rejected.

He is the lover for the unloved.

For the fatherless He's a father.

For the widow He's a husband.

He's freedom for those who are in bondage.

He's refuge for the fearful.

He's hope for the hopeless and the discouraged.

He's fruitfulness for those who are barren.

For those who are dead, He is the Resurrection and the Life.

Come to Jesus and drink.

Would you by faith say, "Oh Lord, I come to You afresh this day, and I know that You are the fountain of living waters, the only One who can supply the deepest needs of my heart. Forgive me, Lord, for looking to other things and people to satisfy that God-shaped vacuum and hole in my heart. Right now by faith, I drink of You. I take You by faith. Fill me up. Fill my cup until it overflows. May my life give life and hope to others around me this day. 

Thank You Lord Jesus, for You truly are all that we need. In this afresh we drink deeply of You, that rivers of living water may fill us from within and flow to others. In Jesus' name we pray it, amen.

Dannah: Amen. What words of encouragement from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. I hope they’ll remain with you through the rest of your day and richly satisfy your soul. 

Now, huge reminder for our Spanish-speaking listeners! Mujer Verdadera '26 in Miami is only one month away, and it’s not too late to sign up. So come join me! It would be a joy to see you there. The theme is Prepare the Way of the Lord. You’re going to hear the same Bible-saturated teaching you’re used to here on the podcast in person with thousands of sisters in Christ. For all the info, visit MujerVerdadera26.com. 

Today’s episode has been all about worshiping the Savior who satisfies—He’s the only One who can completely satisfy your every longing. Tomorrow we’ll turn our attention to why this is possible. Jesus is God, yes, but did you know that if He hadn’t become a man, too, He never could have saved you? Nancy explores the amazingly beautiful God/man paradox tomorrow, on Revive Our Hearts. Join us!

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the ESV.

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