"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…" (NWT)
The Watchtower Society argues that the word “‘Beginning’ [Greek, arkhe] cannot rightly be interpreted to mean that Jesus was the ‘beginner’ of God’s creation. In his Bible writings, John uses various forms of the Greek word arkhe’ more than 20 times, and these always have the common meaning of ‘beginning.’ Yes, Jesus was created by God as the beginning of God’s invisible creations.” ⎯Should You Believe in the Trinity?, p. 14
ἀρχή,n {ar-khay'}: 1) beginning, origin 2) the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader 3) that by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause 4) the extremity of a thing 4a) of the corners of a sail 5) the first place, principality, rule, magistracy 5a) of angels and demons
Trinitarians believe arkhe is properly interpreted as “source” or “active cause,” that the Word is the source of all creation.
Here, the Jehovah's Witnesses’ interpretation relies to a great extent on the fact that “Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon lists “beginning” as its first meaning of arkhe (Oxford, 1968, p. 252) (Reasoning, 409). Be that as it may, whereas “arkhe” can mean “a beginning” it also can mean “source” (NAB) or “active cause” (Strong and Vine’s, 43). This harmonizes with John 1:3, that all things were created by Christ (“and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being” (Green’s Literal Translation). As he could not have created Himself, and existed before He would have been created, He must be the source by and through which all things were created as the eternal Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
Because the Word was before all things (Colossians 1:17) and he created all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), it excludes His being created. He is the source of all creation, the active force.
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Jehovah’s Witnesses will interpret this statement to mean that Jesus was the first thing that God created. This again is a clear example of the Witnesses misunderstanding the meaning of Bible words. They look at the word “beginning” in that verse, and assume that it means the first part of something or the start of something, As for example, if I say to you, “I am going to Los Angeles at the beginning of next week,” you will automatically assume that I am going at the first part of the week. But the beginning in the Bible has another meaning as well. It means the source or the origin of something. So, in Revelation 3:14, Jesus is the source of God’s creation.
The Apostle John, when using the Greek word for “beginning” (arché), always uses it in the same way in the book of Revelation. For example, as a cross reference you can use Revelation 21:5–7, which, according to the NWT reads:
“And the One seated on the throne said, ‘Look! I am making all things new.’ Also, he says: ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’ And he said to me: ‘They have come to pass! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free. Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son...’”
When you read that passage with a Witness, ask him, “Who is the Alpha and the Omega?” He will reply, “Jehovah God Almighty.” Now point out that Jehovah tells us He is the beginning. In what sense is Jehovah or Almighty God the “beginning” of anything? Is He the first part of His own creation? Obviously not, but He is the origin, or source, of His creation.
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At Revelation 21:6 and 22:13, John quotes God Almighty as stating that He is “the beginning and the end.” Why is Jehovah God called the “beginning”? Is this passage teaching that Jehovah God had a “beginning”? Obviously, Not! So, what is He the “beginning” of? It is obvious that He is the “beginning” of the created universe. Thus, if Jehovah God is called the “beginning” of the created universe and He is not regarded as being part of what He began, why can’t Jesus be called the “beginning” of creation and He is not regarded as being part of the creation which He began?
If the Greek word “arche” is used in Scripture to indicate Almighty God’s power and authority as the originator and “beginner” of creation, is it plausible to argue that arche cannot be applied to Christ to indicate His power and authority as the “beginner” of creation? Obviously, Not! Contrary to the Society’s claims, the Greek word arche (αρχη) is used to denote not only someone who is an originator, but also someone who is a ruler or magistrate. In fact, it is from this Greek word that our English words “architect” and “archbishop” are derived. 15 Notice how arche is translated in the following passages found in the King James Version of the Bible:
• LUKE 12:11: “And when they bring you…unto magistrates, and powers....”
• LUKE 20:20: “...deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.”
• 1 CORINTHIANS 15:24: “...put down all rule and all authority and power.”
• COLOSSIANS 2:10: “…the head of all principality and power.…”
As far as arche being used to signify the originator of something, notice how archegos (αρχηγος), a derivative of arche, is translated in the following passages found in the New American Standard Bible:
• ACTS 3:15: “but put to death the Prince of life.…”
• HEBREWS 2:10: “...to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
• HEBREWS 12:2: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith....”
As is evident by the way arche is translated in these passages, the Watchtower Society’s assertion that arche cannot be applied to Christ as the “‘beginner’ of God’s creation” is entirely without merit. At Revelation 3:14, Scripture is actually teaching that Jesus Christ is the Architect and Ruler of creation, for all creation began with Christ.
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In Revelation 3:14 the Son of God is called,
a. not the Passive Beginning of Creation, but the Active, in comparison with Revelation 1:8; 21:6. Indeed, Christ is not able to be called the Passive Beginning of Creation, nor the first Creature; for either according to the human Nature He ought thus to be called, or according to the divine. But such He is not able to be called according to the human Nature; He is not the first Creature in this manner, but at length in the fullness of time He was made of a woman, Galatians 4:4: still less according to the divine Nature; for thus He is very God. But according to the same Nature not without contradiction and the greatest absurdity is Jesus able at the same time to be called God and Creature, since God and Creature are immediately and contradictorily opposed. According to the divine Nature was the Son of God before the beginning of the Creation, and that, not by Creation, but by divine Generation, Colossians 1:17; Proverbs 8:24-26. But He is the Active Beginning or the Efficient Cause of Creation, just as κτίσις also denotes Creation elsewhere, Mark 10:6; 2 Peter 3:4. And thus ἀρχὴ/beginning in Greek here shall come to the same sense as רֵאשִׁית in Hebrew, Proverbs 8:22; it is also able best to be taken in this sense: let ARISTOTLE’S Metaphysics, book V, chapter I, be brought for comparison, in which he relates that all Causes are also ἀρχὰς:
πάντα γὰρ τὰ αἴτια ἀρχαί. πασῶν μὲν οὖν κοινὸν τῶν ἀρχῶν τὸ πρῶτον εἶναι ὅθεν ἢ ἔστιν ἢ γίγνεται ἢ γιγνώσκεται: τούτων δὲ αἱ μὲν ἐνυπάρχουσαί εἰσιν αἱ δὲ ἐκτός
for all causes are principles. Therefore, it is common to all principles to be the first thing from which a thing either is, comes to be, or is known.
Or,
b. The beginning of the creation of God, will indicate the Prince, Lord of every creature; as ἀρχὴ/beginning is also found elsewhere in the place of ἄρχων/ruler, Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:16: and κτίσις signifies Creature, no less than Creation, Mark 16:15; Romans 8:19-22; Hebrews 4:13.
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If you want to understand what "arkhe" meant for John there, it wouldn't hurt to check how it was used in the given cultural-linguistical context, instead of focusing what impression the English word "beginning" makes on you. 'Arche' is a word with quite a wide range of meanings, and nuances, which in the Greek language meant the principle from which creation starts, the universe pours out, and this concept was used up by John there. And rightly so, He is indeed the THE "arche" of the creation, since "through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3). By the way, the Holy Scriptures also call the Father "arche", so...
Arkhé: beginning, primal principle, archetypal form, primal matter. The common prime cause of all that exists. The Greek thinkers sought that "something" from which the cosmos, the harmonious and regularly operating universe, emerged. This "something" was called 'arkhe' in Greek. They aimed to understand the principles upon which its operation, as a unified foundational principle, could be based, and the common prime cause of all that exists. This prime cause, primal principle, primal matter is the 'arkhé', which on one hand serves as the foundation for the multitude of things as a unified primal matter, and on the other hand, is the initiating cause for observable changes. The term "principle" is often used for arkhé as the prime cause. Here, the expression signifies the foundation and cause of existence and becoming.What the Bible does is to mark and identify this "arkhé" that the Greek thinkers were looking for, as Christ.
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Some JW apologists regard Revelation 3:14 as an allusion to Proverbs 8:22 which is possible, tho less certain than the case of the title "First and Last"; a much closer intertext may well be Job 40:19 LXX or Colossians 1:15 which share more features in common with 3:14. But the actual exegesis of what is meant in Revelation 3:14 is going to depend more on its specific syntax, semantics, and local context than the meaning imported from the intertext. These factors could well show that arkhé in the later text is used in way divergent from its use in Proverbs 8:22 LXX. Although a propartial sense (i.e. Jesus being "the first part of God's creation") is possible, there is semantic evidence that it is less likely than the governmental sense (i.e. Jesus being "the authority over God's creation)....according to Michael Svigel (Bibliotheca Sacra, 2004), the propartial sense is much less common in the LXX and NT than the governmental nuance and it is not used to refer to people whereas the governmental nuance is the second most common and is frequently applied to people (the most common nuance, the protemporal, is inappropriate because it would make Jesus himself the "first point in time" or "first phase" of an event, as in 2 Peter 3:4 ap arkhés ktiseós "since the beginning of creation"). It is not necessarily the case that the author would have used arkhón if he wished to indicate a governmental sense, for arkhé is very commonly used with this nuance, occurring in 88 out of 305 instances of arkhé, or almost a third of the time. See, for instance, Genesis 1:16 LXX, Exodus 6:25 LXX, Nehemiah 9:17 LXX, Job 40:19 LXX, Isaiah 9:5-6 LXX, Hosea 1:11 LXX, Micah 3:1 LXX, Daniel 11:41 LXX, Luke 12:11, 20:20, 1 Corinthians 15:24, Titus 3:1, Martyrdom of Polycarp 10:2, etc. The sense of "source" is imho least likely because God is already mentioned as the source (theou as a genitive of origin).
Ultimately the phrasing is ambiguous, as it is in the thematically and syntactically parallel Job 40:19 LXX. There Behemoth is arkhé plasmatos kuriou "[the] beginning of the fashioned-things of the Lord," and this could either be a propartial "first member of the fashioned things" or a governmental "ruler over the fashioned things". One plausible explanation is that the ambiguity in Revelation 3:14 is intentional, as a double entendre...e.g. governmental in the sense of "ruler" over creation and propartial as the "first member" of the new creation via the resurrection. The reference to Jesus as "the faithful and true witness" (ho martus ho pistos) in 3:14 is a link backward to 1:5 where Jesus is described as "the faithful and true witness, the firstborn (prótotokos) from the dead, the ruler (arkhón) of the kings of the earth", where a governmental relationship is paramount (cf. the genitive of subordination) and where the cognate arkhé occurs. The polysemy of prótotokos is also latent, where "firstborn" can either refer to the first of a group (in this case, the "first" of the general resurrection; cf. Jesus as the "first fruits" in 1 Corinthians 15:20) or a governmental sense as it is in the intertext in Psalm 89:27 and in Hebrews 1 where the "firstborn" (v. 6) is "appointed the heir of all things" (v. 2).
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The passage does not specifically claim to say that Christ would be the "ruler of God's creation" (arkhón), nor that Christ is God's "first creation" (protoktisma), the "first fruit of God's creation" (aparkhe), or the "beginner of God's creation" (arkhegos). While it does not specifically say that Christ would be the "ruler of God's creation" (arkhón), but arkhé and arkhón are synonymous words, there are many examples for that meaning in the New Testament (see Luke 12:11, 20:20; Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12 , Colossians 1:16, 2:15; Titus 3:1, Titus 3:1), so it's also a possible understanding.
According to the WTS, God's Son, the Archangel Michael, was the first created being. By retaining the possessive structure, it enables its publications to use its own definition ("the first creation") for validation. The faithful translation of the Bible verse leaves open what Paul claims about Christ (Creator or part of creation?). Its interpretation depends on the wider biblical contexts.
The message of the text, its message is, how does Christ identify himself? First of all, an accurate translation of the texts related to the topic (Jn 1:3, Col 1:15-17) is crucial. Secondly, the Bible's testimony about the Creator must be taken into account: there is only one Creator, God Himself (Gen 2:4-7, Acts 14:15), and God created everything with His own hand (Neh 9:6, Isa 44:24, 45:12, 48:13, Ps 95:5-6) and by His word (Ps 33:6, Jn 1:3). Thus, creation is solely and directly the work of God.
You can translate it as "beginning" to English, but you still can't make the mistake of thinking in English rather than considering the contemporary Greek connotation. You you can translate this as "beginning", but cannot understand it as "beginner", but in the sense that the whole creation originates from it. Thus source, primordial pincple, active cause. God called 'arche' in Revelation 21:6 and 22:13.
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Notice the text does not say Christ was created. The Greek word translated as "source" or "origin" is arche. It connotes "the eternal source of all that is."
In Revelation 21:6 Jehovah is called the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end . . . I shall be His God and He shall be My Son." But Jesus is called the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" in Revelation 22:13. Ask the Witness how Jesus and Jehovah can both be the "Alpha and the Omega." Also ask if this means that Jehovah God had a "beginning," because arche is used to describe Him? Here arche means "the source of all being." Jesus is the source of the creation of God because he is the creator of all things. John 1:1-3 says Jesus (the Word) created "all things . . . and without Him was made nothing that was made."
If Christ was created, He would have had to have created Himself, which is impossible.
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In the Foreword of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation (1969, 10), it is stated, "To each major word we have assigned one meaning." If we trace the Greek word for beginning, arche (Strong's word #746), we find that in Revelation 1:8 and 21:6 God the Father ("Jehovah") calls Himself the "beginning [arche] and the end." So if Jesus is a created being because of arche, Jehovah must be, too, since the description (arche) is applied to both, in the exact same fashion (they both also call themselves the similar titles, Alpha and Omega and first and last -- see also Is 44:6, Rev 1:17-18, 2:8). All three descriptions are obviously (typically Hebraic) synonyms meaning eternal. They are all applied to both the Father and the Son:
- REVELATION 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning [arche] and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (God the Father)
- REVELATION 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning [arche] and the end . . . (God the Father)
- REVELATION 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning [arche] and the end, the first and the last. (identified as Jesus in 22:16)
The Greek scholars are unanimous in their interpretation of arche and this verse.
Abbot Smith's Manual Greek Lexicon (p. 62) defines the word as, "uncreated principle, the active cause of creation, Rev. 3:14." Joseph Thayer, in his Greek-English Lexicon of the NT (p. 77) gives as its meaning, "origin, active cause," as does Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words (under, "Beginning"), Liddell and Scott (p. 121), and Bauer, Arndt, & Gingrich (pp. 111-112). A.T. Robertson states:
Not the first of creatures as the Arians held . . . but the originating source of creation.
(Word Pictures in the NT, Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1932, vol. 6 of 6, 321)
We even get our word, architect from arche, which makes its meaning clear. At least 20 English translations use an unambiguous terminology which brings out the specific meaning of Rev 3:14:
- Williams, Beck, Goodspeed, Moffatt, NRSV: origin of God's creation
- Knox: the source from which God's creation began
- NAB, REB, CEV: the source of God's creation
- Wuest: the originating source of the creation of God
- Living Bible: the primeval source of God's creation
- Jerusalem: the ultimate source of God's creation
- NEB: the prime source of all God's creation
- Barclay: the moving cause of God's creation
- Amplified: the Origin and Beginning and Author of God's creation
- TEV: The origin of all that God has created
- NIV: the ruler of God's creation
- Weymouth: the Beginning and Lord of God's creation
- Jay Green Interlinear: the Head of the creation of God
- Basic English: the head of God's new order
- MLB (in notes): he was the source of creation
Jesus, here as in other passages, is revealed as Creator in Scripture, not as a creature. See, e.g.:
- JOHN 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
- JOHN 1:10 . . . the world was made by him, . . .
(we've already seen Col 1:16 and Heb 1:10)
Kittel writes about the use of arche as applied to Jesus (and translated as "beginning") elsewhere:
1 John has the phrases "that which was from the beginning" (1:1) and "he who was from the beginning" (2:13-14) for the Logos who has become perceptible to the disciples but is eternally preexistent, since it is God himself who here gives himself to us.
"In the beginning" in Jn. 1:1 says this specifically of the Logos; the Logos is before all time, so that no temporal statements can be made about him. Eternal preexistence is plainly implied.
(TDNT, one-volume edition, 81)
Therefore, we can only conclude that your abominable exegesis of arche has been shown to be absolutely false and untrue to Scripture, once all the relevant data has been considered.
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The beginning: Greek. arché, from which the English word architect (= builder) is derived. According to Greek language scholars, its literal meaning is: origin, causal force, source, uncreated principle. Therefore, Jesus is the architect, or the Creator of the Universe, as made clear in Colossians 1:16-17. He was in the beginning (arché) with the Father (John 1:2; Hebrews 1:10). He created every being and existed before any being, so He Himself could not have been a creature. In Revelation 1:8 (often rendered as the Alpha) and 21:6 (cf. Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12), arché is applied to the Almighty Lord (the Father), so it can't possibly mean a created being, as sects under Arian influence claim. Similar terminology (first and last, Alpha and Omega) also refers to Jesus: Revelation 1:17-18; 2:8; 3:14, and 22:13.16. Therefore, both the Father and the Son are: God. The Scripture teaches the Trinity: one God eternally exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The "beginning of God's creation" does not mean he is a creature. For in Him all things were created, without Him nothing was made, and He was in the beginning, not created in the beginning.
God did not literally give birth to the Son, but begot Him. (Being in the likeness of His essence, He is God Himself, to be honored just like the Father.) According to this verse, there is a beginning of creation.
Revelation 3:14 does not prove Jesus' creatureliness. The "beginning of God's creation" (arkhé) can mean that, but it can also signify its fundamental principle or dominion. "Arkhe" denotes dominion, realm, rule, and fundamental principle. Several dictionaries allows this latter interpretation for Revelation 3:14, and though not in John, the "dominion" meaning is found in several places in the New Testament. Dominion (arkhé) is often used to denote powers (e.g., Ephesians 1:21, Colossians 2:10), as well as the starting point in time. Neither usage implies that what is referred to as the beginning is part of what it begins. And from other sources, we know the exact opposite: in Him, everything was created, without Him nothing was made, etc.
Revelation 3:14 does not claim Jesus is a creature: the phrase "beginning of God's creation" is not unequivocal by itself, but Colossians 1:15-17 clearly and unambiguously states that Jesus was born before all creatures, all was created in Him, etc. Thus, He's not a creature. (The New World Translation * inserts the word "other" in this place arbitrarily.) The beginning of creation can be not only the first created but also by whom the whole creation began.
The Greek term "arkhé" used here, when applied to a person, denotes a leader, prince, or king, thus more accurately: "Prince of God's creation".
The word translated here as "beginning" (arkhé) has several meanings: (1) temporal primacy, i.e., "beginning," see Jn 1:1, 1Jn 2:13; (2) origin, i.e., "source" (in the New Testament this is the only possible meaning here); (3) hierarchical precedence, i.e., "superiority" or "authority," see Lk 2:20, 12:11, Rom 8:38, Col 2:15, Tit 3:1; this latter meaning is synonymous with arkhón, which means "rulership." Purely from a logical standpoint, the expression "the beginning of God's creation" can mean that (1) he signifies the commencement of God's creative process, thus he is the first creation, (2) he is the initiator, source of God's creative process, i.e., through whom God began the creation, (3) he is hierarchically first over the created world, superiority or authority.
If someone says "the beginning of God's creation" (η αρχη της κτισεως του θεου), it doesn't necessarily imply a creature, especially since it doesn't denote a temporal beginning - if you look at the context, it is about Jesus' office, dignity, not his age. Thus, it's the creation that has a beginning, not the Son.
It rather says that the Son is the origin, cause, source, wellspring, uncreated principle, or beginning of creation because everything was made through the Son, and without him, nothing was made that was made; and everything was created in him, through him, and for him. He precedes everything, and everything holds together in him.
*Note that the Bible never uses the term "came into being" or "was created" regarding the Son, for if he were a creature, it should say, "he was before all else." However, the Son was already in the beginning (Jn 1:1), he is (Jn 8:58) in divine eternity...
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)
Furthermore, understanding the verse and the word "beginning" (αρχη) is made clearer when juxtaposed with, for example, how Col 1:18 speaks of Jesus: "He is the beginning..."
Also:
"I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 22:12-13)
The same "beginning" (αρχη) word is used in the Bible referring to the Father in Revelation 21:6, thus αρχη obviously doesn't denote a creature.
It's worth noting that just like the concept of Logos, arkhé also has its precursor in Greek philosophy.
Ancient Greek philosophers called the prime cause or the fundamental principle of everything arkhé. It’s the principle from which the cosmos originates.
The philosophical concept of arkhé is addressed in several consistent attempts in Milesian natural philosophy. The early Greek thinkers from Thales to Anaximenes attribute the same characteristics to arkhé: the origin of everything, first cause, end of all things (they perish in and through it); it is uniform, its essence remains unchanged while its manifestations vary, its motion comes from itself (i.e., self-moving).
Of course, Greek philosophers disagreed about what exactly arkhé was (some believed it was specific substances, for Pythagoras it was numbers, etc.), as they didn't receive revelations. Still, the elaboration of the arkhé concept greatly helped in conveying the message of the New Testament.
The New Testament writers adopted these Greek concepts and infused them with new meaning: according to Christian teachings, the arkhé or beginning of the created world is the Godhead, of which the Son is also a part.
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Revelation 3:14 calls Christ "the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and the beginning of the creation of God." The use of the word beginning as a description of Christ is said by JWs to indicate that he was created. If one considers the range of possible meanings of the Greek word arche translated "beginning," it must be admitted that the word might bear this meaning. However, that is not the only or even a likely meaning.
The main argument presented by the JW booklet for taking “beginning of the creation" in the sense of “first creation" is that John (the author of the Book of Revelation) always uses arche "with the common meaning of ‘beginning’” (p. 14). However, if by "beginning" one understands "first thing," this is not so. In fact, it has this meaning only once in John’s writings (John 2:11). Elsewhere in John’s Gospel and Epistles it always refers to a beginning point in time (John 1:1, 2: 6:64; 8:25, 44; 15:27; 16:4; 1 John 1:1: 2:7, 13, 14, 24; 3:8, 11:2 John 5, 6), not the first thing in a series. In the Book of Revelation, in fact, arché is used only three other times, and always of God as “the beginning and the end” (Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). Yet Witnesses will rightly deny that God is a first thing in a series of other things.
Thus it is at least possible, if not probable, that Revela tion 3:14 does not use “ beginning" in the sense of "first thing." We must therefore consider two alternate inter pretations, both of which are consistent with the Trinity.
First, it might be that in Revelation 3:14 arche means "ruler" or "first over" creation. The argument for this view is a simple one. It would appear that wherever else in the New Testament the word arche is used of a person, it nearly always refers to a ruler of some sort. (The only exceptions are the three uses in Revelation of the expression "the beginning and the end" for God.) In particular, the plural form archal frequently occurs in the New Testament and is usually translated "principalities" or the like (Luke 12:11; Rom. 8:38; Eph. 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:16: 2:15: Titus 3:1). Twice it is used in the singular to mean "rule" or "domain" (Luke 20:20: Jude 6). Three times it occurs in the expres sion "all rule" or "every ruler” (1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; Col. 2:10).
Moreover, in Colossians 1:18, the only other place in the New Testament where Christ is called arche, where it is usually translated "beginning," the meaning "ruler" is practically certain. This is because the plural archal occurs three times in that context (1:16, 2:10.15) with the meaning "rulers," and since Colossians 1:18 ("the arche, the first born from the dead") is clearly parallel to Revelation 1:5 ("the firstborn from the dead, and the arche|ruler) of the kings of the earth").
This line of reasoning has much merit, and it is possible that "ruler" is the correct meaning of arche in Revelation 3:14. However, it is not certain, as it is also possible that arche means "source" or “first cause."
The Greek word arche could, in first-century Greek, bear the meaning of "first cause" or "origin" or "source," when used in relation to the universe or creation. Although this usage does not appear to be clearly found elsewhere in the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation arche appears to be used with this meaning in all three of the other occur rences of the word in that book. In these three verses. God is called "the beginning and the end” (1:8: 21:6: 22:13). The best interpretation of this expression would seem to be that God is the beginner and the consummator of creation—that he is its first cause and its final goal. It is therefore reason able to think that the same usage is found in 3:14.
In response to this line of reasoning, it may be replied that the fact that Jesus is not here called “the end” as well as "the beginning" suggests that the word is being used with a different nuance. This observation does not disprove the "first cause" interpretation, but it does indicate that such is not the only possible interpretation.
In short, arche in Revelation 3:14 could mean either "ruler" or "first cause." The meaning of "first thing cre ated" is the least likely interpretation, if context and the use of arche in the New Testament with reference to persons are taken into consideration. Certainly Revelation 3:14 can not be used to prove that Christ is created.