What does Revelation 3:14 mean by “the Beginning of the creation of God?”
Many try to use this text to prove that Christ is a created being—the first being ever created by God the Father. But this is simply not true. Let’s take a close look at the text:
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.’” Revelation 3:14
Many times, in Scripture, Christ is referred to as “the Beginning” (Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). This means He is the Beginning, and not that He was created in the beginning.
Speaking of Christ, John said:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him…. And the Word became 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.” John 1:1–3, 10, 14
This passage reminds us that Christ was not the first created being, but that He was the Creator. This is confirmed many times in Scripture:
“And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 3:9
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.” Hebrews 1:1–2
Therefore, Revelation 3:14 is not saying that Christ is a created being, but that He is the Creator, and was there in the beginning, when all things were created.