Q: Did Jesus say that he is "the beginning of the creation by God" or "the ruler of God's creation"?
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A: According to the New World Translation, Jesus said: “And to the angel of the congregation in Laodicea write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God.”—Revelation 3:14
 

Other Bible translations are divided on this point. Those who identify Jesus with God himself, and claim that he has always existed, object to how the New World Translation renders this scripture, for it indicates that Jesus says that he had a beginning and was created, in fact, that he is the very beginning of God’s creation, making him unique among all other spirit creatures. Yet, there are notable translations that agree with the New World Translation’s way of rendering this verse. For example, the English Standard Version (ESV) reads: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.” The New American Standard Bible (NASB) says: “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this…” And even the easy to read paraphrased The Message (MSG) Bible, says that Jesus is “the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God's creation.”

On the other hand, some Bible versions translate Jesus’ words at Revelation 3:14 to mean that he is simply the ruler of God’s creation. For example, the New Century Version (NCV) says Jesus is “the ruler of all God has made”; and the New International Version (NIV) calls Jesus “the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.”

Which translation, of Jesus’ words about himself, accurately reflects what he meant? Did he say that he is the beginning of God’s creation, the very first of everything that God created; or was he saying that he has always existed and as such he is the ruler of everything that he, as God, has made? Jesus would certainly know the truth about himself!

Here is how Revelation 3:14 reads in the Greek (Westcott-Hort New Testament): 

και τω αγγέλω της εν Λαοδικία εκκλησίας γράψον Τάδε λέγει ο Αμήν, ο μάρτυς ο πιστός και ο αληθινός, η αρχή της κτίσεως του θεου

It becomes quickly apparent to anyone who knows even basic Greek that the designations by which Jesus is identified all have the masculine definite article “o” (the), such as ο Αμήν (the Amen); ο μάρτυς ο πιστός (the witness the faithful). Yet “the beginning” (η αρχή) is in the feminine, therefore referring to the beginning (in time), and not as a title. If Jesus meant to say that he is “the ruler” of God’s creation, he would have called himself ο αρχων, as he does in Revelation 1:5 (“the ruler” of kings on earth; ESV). Jesus called Satan the ruler of this world (ο αρχων του κοσμου τουτου). There is an obvious difference between η αρχή and ο αρχων. The two words are not interchangeable.

Further clarifying what Jesus meant when he said that he is the beginning of God’s creation, and not simply the ruler, is what the apostle Paul explains about him in his letter to the Colossians:
   “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. —Colossians 1:15-18; English Standard Version.

Here is the scripture in Greek:
   ος εστιν εικων του θεου του αορατου πρωτοτοκος πασης κτισεως οτι εν αυτω εκτισθη τα παντα εν τοις ουρανοις και επι της γης τα ορατα και τα αορατα ειτε θρονοι ειτε κυριοτητες ειτε αρχαι ειτε εξουσιαι τα παντα δι αυτου και εις αυτον εκτισται και αυτος εστιν προ παντων και τα παντα εν αυτω συνεστηκεν και αυτος εστιν η κεφαλη του σωματος της εκκλησιας ος εστιν η αρχη πρωτοτοκος εκ των νεκρων ινα γενηται εν πασιν αυτος πρωτευων —Westcott-Hort New Testament.

Jesus called himself God’s “only begotten Son,” because he is the only one directly created by God himself. Everyone and everything else, whether in heaven or on earth, as Paul explains, was created by means of the Son. It was to his only begotten Son that God spoke when he said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26; John 3:16, NASB)

Translating Revelation 3:14 to read Jesus as saying that he is “the ruler of God’s creation,” rather than “the beginning of the creation by God,” is an attempt to distort the truth of Jesus' words about himself, namely, that he is the only begotten Son of God, and not God himself! (Matt. 16:16,17)

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