This installment of the popular series of articles written by Wayne Jackson is copied here from the Christian Courier of September 1989. The paper was published by the Church of Christ in Stockton, California and was edited by Jackson.
In Revelation 3:4, Jesus Christ is called, "the beginning of the creation with God." The Jehovah's Witnesses employ this passage as a proof-text that Christ is not an eternal Being. They contend that He was created by the Father, hence, was the "beginning" of Jehovah's creation. This is a totally false view. The Greek term arche (beginning) may denote either the beginning of something or it may mean the active cause, that by which something begins to be. The context, either immediate or remote, must determine the word's definition in a given setting. That the latter meaning must be attached to the term in connection with Christ is demonstrated by the following.
a. The Bible makes it quite clear that the second Person of the Godhead (Christ) possesses eternal existence. His goings forth are from times everlasting (Micah 5:2). The Word always was - so the verbal form (imperfect tense) suggests in John 1:1.
b. Since Christ was the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), if He Himself was a crated object, the obvious conclusion must be, He created Himself! That is an absurdity.
c. In Revelation 21:6, Jesus is denominated as, "the beginning and the end." If "beginning" suggests His origin, the "end" must imply His termination. Can the "Witnesses" live with that conclusion? Enter these references in the margin of your Bible in conjunction with Revelation 3:14.
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