Alpha and Omega

The McLean family had settled on a pleasant estate in Prince William County , Virginia .  Mr. McLean, a successful grocer from Alexandria , Virginia , had retired and purchased the lovely plantation, to which he made numerous improvements.

On July 18, 1861, at noon, a Union shell dropped into a chimney of the McLean house, fell into the kitchen fireplace, and immediately exploded in a kettle of stew. The action in which this shot was fired threw Gen. Daniel Tyler's Federal division against Gen. James Longstreet's Confederates--a skirmish known to Confederates as the Battle of Bull Run, as opposed to the larger engagement of July 21 (which they called the Battle of Manassas, but which the Federals called Bull Run).

McLean had had enough of war, and when the armies had gone, he bought a farm in isolated southern Virginia , its red brick house fronting a street in the village of Appomattox , near the Court House.  However, the war caught up with Wilmer McLean about noon of Sunday, April 9, 1865. He was walking in the village street, probably alarmed at the number of Confederate troops lying near his home, now that the early-morning fire had ceased.

A young officer in a worn gray uniform hailed him, asking for a place where General Lee might meet with General Grant.  McLean showed the officer -- Col. Charles Marshall -- an unoccupied brick building in the center of the village. Lee's aide looked into its unfurnished interior and declined it: "Isn't there some other place?" he asked.  McLean took him to his own home just west of the courthouse. Marshall followed McLean into the parlor and approved.

By 4:00 P.M. it was all over. Generals Lee and Grant rode away from Wilmer McLean’s home after signing the agreement ending the United States Civil War. Wilmer McLean could say that the Civil War began in his kitchen and ended in his parlor.  His perspective was UNIQUE.  He had witnessed firsthand the BEGINNING and the END.

The Son of God, JESUS CHRIST,  also shares a UNIQUE perspective.  He has witnessed the Beginning and the End: all things, past, present and future. Those who LISTEN and OBEY His Word are blessed by wisdom from One whose perspective is unlike any other in the Universe.

Jesus, who knows the beginning and the end, also knows that our greatest problem is SIN that brings DEATH (James 1:13-15).  However, Jesus paid the price for our sin so that we might have life eternal.  Jesus said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the FIRST and the LAST.  Blessed are those who DO His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:13-14).

Jesus gives life to those who believe in Him (Acts 16:30-31), repent of sin (Acts 17:30-31),  confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), are baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and then live faithfully to Him (Revelation 21:6-7).

Listen to Someone who knows – the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End – and OBEY His will.

God bless you!

Terry Livingston / David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

With Acknowledgements to: Trivia-Library Home » Civil War History: The Landlord that Hosted the Start and End

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