• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

(ATS) Creation in the book of Revelation

BobRyan

Junior Member
Angels Team
Site Supporter
Nov 21, 2008
53,405
11,941
Georgia
✟1,100,935.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
SDA
Marital Status
Married

The article includes this helpful statement -

Creation in Revelation 3:14
Creation appears for the first time in Revelation in 3:14: “‘To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this. . . ’” (NASB).1

Allusions to creation are found throughout the messages to the seven churches, but here the noun creation (ktisis) is used directly. Ktisis means “creation” but describes also everything that has been created—every creature.

Jesus calls Himself “the beginning (archē) of God’s creation.” The designation archē has multiple meanings—for instance, “beginning” (Luke 1:2), “beginner”/“origin”/ “first cause” (Rev. 21:6), and “ruler”/“authority” (Luke 12:11). To determine the correct meaning in a given case, one must consult the context. The most important shades of meaning are “beginning” and “ruler.” In the Johannine literature, the term appears 21 times and—apart from Revelation 3:14—always has the meaning “beginning.” However, “beginning” can be understood actively or passively, namely “beginner” or “beginning.”

In Revelation 21:6, the term archē is applied to God the Father. God is “‘the beginning and the end.’” This does not mean that God had a beginning but that He is the originator of all things. The same is true for Jesus, who likewise is called “the beginning [archē] and the end” (22:13). Revelation 3:14 should be understood in this very sense: Jesus is the beginner, the originator of God’s creation.​
 
Upvote 0