Revelation 1:8(KJV) - I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Just to add to your correct statement:
The heavenly resurrected Jesus is identified as Almighty God and the “First and the Last” because there can be only one “First and Last” and one “Alpha and Omega” and Jesus assumed both titles. [Top]
In the Book of Revelation Jesus can be identified as the Almighty and the “Alpha and the Omega,” titles used to identify God. Even if the Jehovah's Witnesses were correct in stating that Jesus is never specifically called the Almighty, which they claim is a title reserved for God (Reasoning, 414), that title can readily be ascribed to Jesus by logically piecing together selected verses.
For instance, both Jesus at Revelation 1:17, 18 and God as the Alpha and Omega at Revelation 22:13 are referred to as “the First and the Last.” Therefore, because Jesus and the Almighty are both “the First and the Last,“ Jesus must be the Almighty who is the Alpha and Omega.
Also, the Alpha and the Omega (God) of Revelation 1:8 is identified as the Almighty, and because Jesus is also the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus is the Almighty, a title identifying Jehovah (Yahweh) at Genesis 17:1. Jesus was, and is, God. The logical train of thought is illustrated by quoting the actual verses.
a) Jesus is the First and the Last: “Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17, 18)
b) The Alpha and the Omega (God) is also the First and the last: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:12, 13)
c) Therefore, Jesus must also be the Alpha and Omega, God.
d) The Alpha and the Omega is the Almighty: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
e) Therefore, not only is Jesus the Alpha and Omega but also the Almighty, all powerful, omnipotent.
This makes perfect sense in light of John 17:10 where Jesus in praying to His Father said, “everything of mine is yours, and everything of yours is mine.” “Everything” is very broad. It includes His disciples, words (truth), the Holy Spirit, and all power and authority as indicated by Christ’s statement at Matthew 28:18, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Christ claimed universal power (NAB notes 28, 19); He is omnipotent, all powerful, and accordingly Almighty and sovereign of which there can only be one in the Universe.
The Jehovah's Witnesses attempt to circumvent this logic by arguing that the mere fact that one title (First and Last) is applied to two separate individuals, Jesus and the Almighty, does not mean those individuals are the same person. By analogy they contend that the expression “apostle” is applied to Jesus and to certain ones of his followers, but that doesn’t prove that they are the same person or of equal rank (Reasoning, 413).
Their analogy, however, is not applicable to this situation. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is always secondary and inferior to God in everything at all times, in heaven and on earth, never first (Should You Believe, Chapter 6). Thus, even by their own admission, there is only one who can be “the First and the Last.”
On the other hand, there have been many apostles, and if there are many such “First and Lasts” they might have a point, but there aren’t, there’s just one. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ analogy just isn’t valid. As there can only be one First and Last, and both Jesus and God are “the First and the Last,” Jesus must be God and Christ rightfully refers to Himself indirectly as the Almighty in the Book of Revelation. You could say it was the culmination of His gradual disclosure.
To put it another way, if there is only one person on planet earth and his title is King and name is Sherman, and if there is a person on earth whose name is Fred who also is called King, then Fred must be Sherman the King in the same sense that Christ must be God because there is only one “First and Last“ of the universe, one King.
Furthermore, both God and Jesus are said to be “coming,” an obvious reference to the much anticipated Second Coming of Christ’s return (Rev 1:7, 8; 22:12, 13).
It is simply not logical that in the Book of Revelation the “First and Last” is a title reserved for the Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, but is also applied to a created angel who became man and reverted back to being an angel, who is always regarded by the Jehovah’s Witnesses as secondary to God in everything, a created being, always inferior. Their theory just doesn’t make sense.
http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index-5.html#23
