The MOTD is the message of the day. It's the text which is shown in your [lexicon]Minecraft[/lexicon] server list.
can I use commands since I'm the server owner and public visitors can't use commands like I can access creative while they have to stay in survival and I can use /fly while they can't
This is possible. You either can operate yourself with
and then you'll have all permissions or you can use permission managing plugins like PermissionsEX or bPermissions and assign permissions more specific.
Also I saw that whitelist and ops don't work in 1.7.6 and up is that for everybody or just people besides the server owner so I can be a op but everybody else can't?
I think you don't understand it right. There is a text file where all operators and whitelisted players are stored. These text files can't be edited at the My Server page if your server is on version 1.7.6 or higher. That means that if you're on version 1.7.6 or higher you must edit these text files through the console.