And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (Revelation 21:6).”
With the words “it is done,” God announces that the climax of his redemptive purposes has been reached. God who stands at the end of history speaks to John in the midst of history to declare the finality of his purpose. God can do this for he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end – that is to say, He is sovereign through all of history.
And what is in store for those who belong to this One? Wondrous words indeed! The words are addressed to the thirsty – those who lived in this world with a thirst that could not be satisfied by things purchased with gold or silver. And what is promised to them is that they would be given water of life without payment.
All of this should sound familiar to those who know the scriptures. Long ago the prophet Isaiah spoke the Word of God issuing this wonderful invitation: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat (Isaiah 55:1).” Someone who owned the only refreshing spring in a dry wilderness could charge a fortune for a drink; yet the God who is the beginning and the end gives satisfying water without payment.
Yet most memorable are the words Jesus spoke to a nameless woman at the well: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).” The water that our God gives without payment is unlike any other – this water of life will satisfy our deepest thirst. Has this life made you thirsty? Then come to Jesus and drink.