Is Jesus the first creative work of God according to Revelation 3:14?

Question

The Book of Revelation narrates of a story where an angel is ordered to write down the words of Jesus and Jesus here is referred to us the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

Revelation 3:14

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

What exactly is the meaning of beginning of God's creation?

Was Jesus the first act of creation?

Does it mean that God decided to have a Son first before he created any other thing? And is that why Jesus is said to have been begotten?

Answer 1

Translation: Source of God's Creation

The word arche in Greek also refers to primacy and origin, source when used as a substantive rather than a point of reference in time like "In the beginning". So, don't get stuck with just one translation, which might be confusing.

Thayer's lexicon on arche:

3. that by which anything begins to be, the origin, active cause (a sense in which the philosopher Anaximander, 8th century B. C., is said to have been the first to use the word; cf. Simplicius, on Aristotle, phys. f. 9, p. 326, Brandis edition and 32, p. 334, Brandis edition (cf. Teichmüller, Stud. zur Gesch. d. Begriffe, pp. 48ff 560ff)): ἡ ἀρχή τῆς κτίσεως, of Christ as the divine λόγος, Rev 3:14 (cf. Düsterdieck at the passage; Clement of Alexandria, protrept. 1, p. 6, Potter edition (p. 30 edition Sylb.) ὁ λόγος ἀρχή θεία τῶν πάντων; in Evang. Nicod. c. 23 (p. 308, Tischendorf edition, p. 736, Thilo edition) the devil is called ἡ ἀρχή τοῦ θανάτου καί ῥίζα τῆς ἁμαρτίας).

NABRE Rev 3:14

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: “‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God’s creation, says this:

note: Source of God’s creation: literally, “the beginning of God’s creation,” a concept found also in Jn 1:3; Col 1:16–17; Hb 1:2; cf. Prv 8:22–31; Wis 9:1–2.

The firstborn (prototokos) of all creation, Col 1:15, also refers to his primacy over all creation, rather than any contingent quality as if he was created or begotten like an animal. He was neither created not begotten, he is eternal God.

Ignatius wrote in A.D. 110 that Jesus was gennetos kai agennetos meaning “begotten and not begotten.” (Revised Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon p. 156) Ignatius meant that in reference to the incarnation Jesus was “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4) or “begotten” but in reference to his eternal status he was “not begotten.” It is clear that Ignatius believed according to the Gospels that Christ was begotten only in his flesh, in the incarnation, he was not-begotten in his deity.