The Faithful and True Witness

Jesus makes a bold claim in His message to the church in Laodicea.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God says this..."

                          Rev 3:14 NASB

The recipients of this letter would have no doubt as to His divine being. Jesus is taking Old Testament passages of Scripture that apply to the LORD (YAHWEH) and applying them to Himself, thus declaring that He is indeed God. Let's look at them.

In Isaiah 65:16 we read,

"Because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth; 

And he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth;

Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My sight!"

The word truth can also be translated as "Amen". God is indeed the truth, the Amen. He is absolute truth with no wavering. He is unchanging. Men swore by God because He was God and there was no one higher. God swore by Himself as He is the plumbline, the truth, there is no one higher, it is impossible for Him to lie (see Hebrews 6:13-18).

In John 14:6, Jesus states that He is the way, the truth, and life. By claiming to be the Amen, the embodiment of truth, Jesus equates Himself with God, asserting His deity.

In Jeremiah 42:5 the people come to Jeremiah for a word of direction from the LORD. They swear by the LORD to be obedient to whatever He says.

Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us."

 Tragically the people did not obey, and ultimately faced God's judgement. Jesus is stating that He is that true and faithful witness. He is that one by which men swear an oath. There is no one higher, no one unchanging, no other standard of truth than what is embodied in God Himself. Jesus is not using poetic language to begin His letter to the Laodicean church. His words are calculated; He is intentionally making a bold declaration. 

Finally, Jesus, as God created the heavens and the earth. 

"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;

I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. 

Surely my hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens;

When I call to them, they stand together."

               Isaiah 48:12-13 NASB

We understand that God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). But how many of us realize that Jesus was there active in creation? John 1:1-3 states,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

As we read in Revelation 3:14, Jesus is the beginning or origin of creation. He was not created first, but as we see in John 1, He existed with God, and as God. This puts to rest the erroneous speculation of Jehovah's witnesses and others who believe likewise.

God, in the above passage in Isaiah declares that He is the first and last. Jesus as well claims to be the first and last (see Rev 1:17, 2:8, 22:13). So we see by looking at these passages that Jesus is indeed God, He leaves no doubt of His divine nature by His statements found within the letters to the seven churches.