(5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Though these distinctions of character, belong in common to all the Persons of the Godhead, (Isa_43:10; Isa_44:6; Isa_44:8) yet I should humbly conceive, that in this place Christ is the Speaker; because in this Millennium state of the Church, it is Christ reigning with his saints. And how very delightful are those declarations to this redeemed? Reader! do you know Christ, under these precious characters? Doth Jesus sit upon the throne of your heart? Hath he there made all things new? Hath he taken away the heart of stone, and given you an heart of flesh? Are your desires, your affections, your appetites, become new, and spiritual? Is he indeed, the Alpha, and the Omega, in your creed? If the Lord hath created your heart anew, sure I am, you must have made him the Alpha of this great work; for creating work, you cannot then but know to be his. But do you know him as the Omega too; that is, the Finisher, as well as the Beginner of salvation? If creating-work be his, so is renewing-work, confirming-work; strengthening-work, recovering after backslidings, and raising up again after falls. Do you know the Lord Jesus under all? Then do you make him what God the Father had made him, and what he here declares himself to be, the Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. Oh! it is blessed, as we begin, so to go on, upon a free grace bottom. This is a tried way, a sure way, yea, the good old way, which, when a child of God walks in it, he finds rest to his soul. But to halve it with Christ, is robbing Christ of his glory, and the soul of happiness, Jeremiah 6:16
Reader! listen to what Jesus saith, in the close of this scripture. I will give to him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely What! is there no qualification needed beside? No! if Christ be welcome to the thirsty soul, that soul is welcome to Christ. Observe, it is a gift, not a purchase. It is bestowed upon the thirsty, not the full. Could a poor sinner but see this, he would discover, that the only qualification, is a sense of want, and a view of the Lord's goodness to supply. Hence the ignorance of this is the sad cause of all our misery. And Jesus taught this to the woman of Samaria. She was ignorant that Christ was the gift of God. And to that ignorance, the Lord ascribed the cause, wherefore she asked not for living water from Christ. It is blessed to feel our want, blessed to know where alone is the supply of that want, and blessed to see God the Father's gift in the provision, and blessed when God the Spirit leads to Christ, for the mercy, see John 4:42 and Commentary.