In the scriptures in several places, Jesus Christ describes himself as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Most people know that Alpha and Omega are the first and last characters in the Greek alphabet. If we substitute the Greek letters with their Hebrew counterparts it would look and go like this:
I am Aleph, א, and Tav, ת, the beginning and the end.
The Aleph, א, is the first character in the Hebrew alphabet and represents God, the One, the First, and the beginning.
The Tav, ת, is the last character in the Hebrew alphabet and represents a sacred enclosure or place, the most important of which is the Holy of Holies or the temple, which represent the presence of the Lord.
The phrase the beginning and the end, is called a merism. From Wikipedia, it states that a merism is a figure of speech by which a single thing is referred to by a conventional phrase that enumerates several of its parts, or which lists several synonyms for the same thing. Merisms are conspicuous features of Biblical poetry. For example, in Genesis 1:1, when God creates the heavens and the earth, the two parts combine to indicate that God created the whole universe. Similarly, in Psalm 139, the psalmist declares that God knows my downsitting and mine uprising; indicating that God knows all that he does.
So the phrase the beginning and the end, includes all that God has done in the beginning and everything in between and finally until the end.
In Hebrew, we get additional insight, that Christ left God the Father, the One or Aleph, and in the end, He returned to the presence of the Father in the temple or Tav or the celestial kingdom. Hence, this merism, symbolically represents the entire Plan of Salvation that Christ made possible and paved the way, via His atonement, for all of us. We all leave the Father and if we do all the things in between, like live by faith, repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end, we will return to the Holy of Holies or presence of the Father and the Son.
Do I have to be water baptized to be saved?
Taking your question seriously, we can go to the New Testament in John 3:1-5 where Jesus said:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
The phrase to be born again by water and spirit refers to being baptized by water and spirit. Baptism by immersion is to take a person that has sincerely repented and bury them under the water and then to bring them suddenly out of the water which is symbolic of burying the old person and being reborn as a new person having symbolically washing away your sin. This is what Jesus Christ meant. This saving ordinance of baptism needs to be performed by one who has the proper priesthood authority. The baptism by the spirit, sometimes referred to as fire, is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost or the Spirit. When we receive this gift, also done by one who has the proper priesthood authority, the Spirit burns out sins much like fire can destroy germs and make things sterile or clean. So we need to be baptized by both the water and the spirit in order to cleanse ourselves of our sins.
I give you a new name – LDS Women Of Love.
I have never written here before I wanted to get your take on what happened to me last nite in my sleep. .. I have recently become Mormon and have not been keeping with my faith and felt lost so I asked in my mind really .. god are these things true? Are u the only god and is Mormon the way to go for me show me a sign ?.. I had totally forgot about it and my day went on ….I fell asleep and was not thinking about it at all nor knew much at all really about any of Mormon views or religions or verses from bible or anything at all … anyway I fell asleep and had a dream that was so real I woke jumped from my sleep and out of bed and got a pen and paper. .. in my dream Jesus was there and he said I testify to u these things are true … he said I did not ask to be here but was commanded by God to take the sins of man in the flesh … and as he said this I saw him being crusified!! It was so real! And he showed me symbols as I don’t remember all of them I remember a Omega! And one or two more but don’t remember but the omega was burnt into my brain to write down ! So I jumped up wrote down what he said and the omega. I don’t even know much about a omega or what it even looks like or means but as I looked it up there were things on it in the bible as meaning the biggining and the end alpha and omega .. what do u make of this ?? I started crying like wow this dream really meant something it must have. Tell me what u think ? I have never known omega was linked to the bible at all.
Alpha and Omega is simply the first and the last and all things in between. With a dream like that, I would become active in the LDS church and learn all I could about Jesus Christ.
Trust your intuition; June to July, from the solstice June 21, to July these are special times, as is January 6. Jesus represents everything, that God is; every letter ; every word, and the best timeless qualities that transcend this world, time and space;
that is the expression of your soul, who we are. We are like small particles of light, in a sea of darkness in the world. When we find our soul, that little bit of light is like a portal to God; and so the world ends, and heaven begins.