The Nugget:
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
My Comment:
Revelation 3:14 is often misunderstood and misapplied. I have seen it misinterpreted by Jehovah Witnesses in person and in their literature. Today I saw it misapplied and misinterpreted by a very skilled and knowledgeable Muslim poster for whom I have great respect. Let me share his challenge and my answer.
The Muslim Challenge:
Jesus was in the womb of his mother for nine months therefore he was a creation of God.
Jesus assured that in the Bible and said
[KJV][Jn.3.6][That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.]
This is also what Jesus said about God
[KJV][Jn.4.24][God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.]
Jesus stated that the spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones.
[KJV][Lk.24.39][Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.]
Jesus according to the Bible is a creation of God.
[KJV][Col.1.15][Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:]
[KJV][Rv.3.14][And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;]
I just hope Christians will study their Bible to make sure that what they believe is the truth.
This is what Christians are going to say on judgement day!
[KJV][Mt.7.21][Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.]
[KJV][Mt.7.22][Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?]
This is what Jesus is going to answer you on that day!
[KJV][Mt.7.23][And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]
My Response:
Your understanding of these verses may fall short of what they actually say.
Jesus was surely born in the form of a man, a human being. That is what has been labeled in Christian and Bible doctrine the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Thus the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ has a genuine human nature.
An accurate understanding of Bible doctrine includes the understanding that Jesus Christ also possessed a divine nature. He always possessed His divine nature, and so pre-existed in eternity past as a divine being, true deity, that is, as God. Read John 1:1 with John 1:14 with understanding and you will begin to see the truth of this assertion.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
That Jesus had a pre-existence is asserted by John the Baptist, as recorded in the very next verse, John 1:15, where John the Baptist asserted “for he was before me.” Yet we know from the historical record that John the Baptist was born about six months before Jesus was born.
Jesus Himself asserted His pre-existence quite plainly in John 17:5.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus indeed said that a spirit does not have flesh and bones:
Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Jesus said this because the disciples were frightened, supposing they had seen a disembodied spirit.
Luk 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Luk 24:37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Of course, spirits are invisible, so Jesus emphatically corrects their misconception by affirming that what they now saw was indeed Himself, now bodily resurrected from the dead. He showed them His hands and His feet and ate food before them.
Colossians 1:15 is misinterpreted when it is taken to mean that “firstborn” has any reference to a birth or origin. It rather has to do with office or position. And that Jesus is the firstborn of every creature does not make Him a creation, for in context we read in Colossians 1:16 that “by him were all things created” and in the very next verse, Colossians 1:17, we read “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Revelation 3:14, where we read “the beginning of the creation of God,” this is better read and understood to mean “the beginner” or the source or the origin of the creation of God. It hardly means that Jesus was created, for to make such an assertion would contradict all the other things said of Jesus in the book of Revelation, not to mention the rest of the Bible.
Some of us have studied the Bible most carefully, and we do not fall into the mistaken interpretations you have suggested.
Those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are believing in Him for salvation have no fear of meeting Jesus Christ on Judgment Day. He will never say to them “I never knew you.” Jesus will say “I never knew you” only to those who were caught up in false belief, those who depended upon their good works to be saved, those who followed false world religions, and those who refused to “repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Jesus Himself guaranteed the destiny of true believers in Him:
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
