The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

with a price; be ye not the servants of men: if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant
of Christ." As one has truthfully said: "Christ needs to be in His true place--a thing which
so marks Philadelphia, but from which Laodicea excludes Him as does Thyatira. Bring
Christ in, and the ministers are His servants. Bring Christ in, and the people are His
people. His service, on the part of all alike, is true and equal freedom at once to all."
We now consider the particular, the special marks pointed out by the Savior which
distinguish the Laodicean message from all the others and describe so vividly the
condition of Protestant Christianity, both clergy and laity today.
"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation
of God."--Verse 14.
The word Amen means true, certain, faithful. Our Lord announcing Himself as the Amen,
seems to signify that He was the One who was true, and whose word could be depended
upon. The thought seems to be that although both the clergy and the Church of the
Laodiceans had proved themselves so untrue, so unworthy of representing Him, He was
the same, and His words both of promise and of threat would be carried out. The
expression, "the faithful and true witness," is evidently designed to give emphasis to that
which is implied in the word Amen. The significance also seems to be that He is a witness
for God and can approve of nothing which the God of truth would not approve.
The name or title, "the beginning of the creation of God," is a very important one as
bearing on the rank or dignity of the Savior. It has been variously interpreted. Some have
applied it in the sense that He is the author of all things. Mr. Barnes is authority for saying
that the word translated "beginning" is not in accordance with the thought of authorship,
but that it has reference, rather, to the commencement of a thing, denoting properly either
primacy in rank or primacy in time. This author applies it to primacy in rank, and his
words to this effect are:
"He is 'the beginning of the creation of God,' in the sense that He is the head or prince of
the creation; that is, that He presides over it so far as the purposes of redemption are to be
accomplished, and so far as necessary for those purposes. This is (a) in accordance with the
meaning of the word, Luke 12:11 [where the word beginning is translated magistrates]; 20:20
[where the word is translated power], et al ut supra, and (b) in accordance with the uniform
statements respecting the Redeemer, that 'all power is given unto Him in heaven and in
earth' (Matt. 28:18); that God has 'given Him power over all flesh' (John 17:2); that all
things are 'put under His feet' (Heb. 2:8; 1 Cor. 15:27); that He is exalted over all things
(Eph. 1:20-22). Having this rank, it was proper that He should speak with authority to the
[messenger, pastor and] Church at Laodicea."
Other writers apply the expression to the New Creation, as beginning with Christ Jesus,
the Head of the Church, when He was raised from the dead, the Son of God with power.
The interpretation, however, which seems the most reasonable, and harmonizes all the
Scriptures referring to Christ's dignity and honor, is that He was the only begotten Son, the
first and only direct creation of God the Father: "Note also that our Lord (referring to His