Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words, calling Himself the beginning of the creation of God. We know that the Lord was not created; He is eternal (John 1:1-2; 17:5,24; Hebrews 7:3). So in what way is He the beginning of the creation of God? First of all, we must understand that He is not speaking of the creation of the earth as related in the first chapter of Genesis. The creation He is speaking of is the creation of a people that shall worship Him. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Psalm 102:18.
Who are these people that God will create? They are the many-membered Body of Christ, the Church. And the Lord, being made flesh, is the Firstborn of that creation. And He is the Head of the Body, the Church: who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead. Colossians 1:18. He is “the Firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). The creation of God is the Body of Christ with the Lord Jesus as the Head. In that sense, He is the beginning of the creation of God.
Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith
the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
21:6 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the
first and the last.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning and the ending of the creation of God. His ministry, during the days of His flesh, began the creation process of the Body of Christ, and when it is completed it will be a manifestation of Him. He is not only the beginning, but He is also the final result. He is the first and the last. Just as the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily (Colossians 2:9), so shall the Church be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
The greater works are not greater miracles. The greater works are the completion of the creation of God. It is an end-time work that will be accomplished by those who believe on Him; that is, those who become co-creators with Him. It is still the Lord doing the work, only He is doing it through those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), rather than accomplishing it by Himself. That is why He said, “Because I go unto My Father.” The Father is Spirit (John 4:24), so He goes to Spirit. As an individual Jesus began the creation of God, but as Spirit, working through His chosen ones, He will complete the creation of God. That is the greater works.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The term “good works” refers to the ministry that completes the creation of God. The “we are his workmanship” are the ministries doing those “good works.” They are the apostolic company of Ephesians 4:11. It is their responsibility and privilege to minister unto the Body of Christ until it becomes the fullness of Christ. And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13.
John 15:1-5 I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away:
and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth
more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken
unto you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide
in Me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth
in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can
do nothing.
In these verses the Lord Jesus uses figurative language to show that it is His divine nature coming forth in the Body of Christ that makes it the creation of God. The sap is the life force of the vine. It flows into the branches, and the fruit produced thereby is the outward manifestation of the life within the vine. So it is with the Body of Christ. By the members of the Body of Christ abiding in the Lord and He in them, His life permeates through them creating a many-membered Christ. Thus, He is the beginning and the end of the creation of God; He is the first and the last.
Copyright © 2003 by Henry DuBose