In chapter 1 of Revelation, John uses many descriptive terms to describe his vision of Christ. Those same terms, using almost identical terminology, are used by Christ himself in the letters dictated to the seven churches. These terms are compared side-by-side in the following table. Credit goes to the late William Hendriksen, who used the same chart (but different Bible translation) in his book, More Than Conquerors.

Description of Christ
in Revelation Chapter 1		 Description of Christ
in Revelation Chapters 2 & 3
And in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man … In His right hand He held seven stars (Revelation 1:13,16) The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (Revelation 2:1)
… I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore (Revelation 1:17,18) … The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life (Revelation 2:8)
And out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16) The One who has the sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 2:12)
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze (Revelation 1:14,15) … who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze (Revelation 2:18)
… and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne … In His right hand He held seven stars (Revelation 1:4,16) He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars (Revelation 3:1)
… the faithful witness … I have the keys of death and of Hades (Revelation 1:5,18) … He … who is true, who has the key of David (Revelation 3:7)
… Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5) … The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God (Revelation 3:14)
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Translation: NASB

The very last comparison, Revelation 1:5 and Revelation 3:14, is the one I want to concentrate on in this article. William Hendriksen recognized that “the firstborn of the dead” and “the beginning of the creation of God” were synonymous attributes applied to Jesus Christ. Further confirmation of this can be found in Colossians 1:18.

  • Colossians 1:18 NASB
    (18) He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

As the firstborn of the dead, Jesus is the beginning of God’s new creation.

In the beginning of God’s first creation, the creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), God created light by His spoken word, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Then a bit later, in Genesis 1:14-18, God created lights in the heavens to give light upon the earth and to separate the light from the darkness.

In the second, or new, creation, God’s word is also instrumental. Let’s jump over to John chapter 1 to see how this works. John 1:3 says that all things came into being through God’s word, just as in the Genesis creation. In His word is life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4). The Light shines in the darkness, just as it did in the first creation (John 1:5). But this time, the Light that God creates to give light to the world, to enlighten every man (John 1:9) is a man, the man Christ Jesus, who brings God’s Word of Life to the world. God’s word becomes flesh, the True Light (John 1:9). Not the physical light of the Genesis creation, but the true light of the new creation. A spiritual light of life. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

The larger concept here is expressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:46 when he is talking about resurrection:

  • 1 Corinthians 15:46 NASB
    (46) However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

The natural is first. The natural was the first creation, the Genesis creation of the physical heavens and earth. Then comes the spiritual. The second creation is the spiritual creation. This is the creation of which Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn of all creation.

This is not a complex concept, but it is a big and important one to understand. There are two creations of God described in the Bible and many people confuse verses in the New Testament that speak strictly of the new creation, as speaking of the original Genesis creation. Those with Arian and Trinitarian beliefs interpret Jesus being “the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14) as meaning he pre-existed his earthly birth to Mary (though they give different meaning to the Greek word arche). However, this “beginning” refers to the new creation, which began with the firstborn from the dead, Jesus the Christ.