Page 26 - 03 The Seven Churches Continued

DANIEL AND THE REVELATION-Uriah Smith

~The Response of History to the Revelation~

Chapter 3 – The Seven Churches (continued)
anterior to that of any other created being or

thing, next to the self-existent and eternal God.

But the language does not necessarily imply

that he was created; for the words, “the

beginning of the creation,” may simply signify

that the work of creation, strictly speaking,

was begun by him. “Without him was not

anything made.” Others, however, and more

properly we think, take the word ἀρχὴ to

mean the “agent” or “efficient cause,” which is

one of the definitions of the word,

understanding that Christ is the agent through

whom God has created all things, but that he

himself came into existence in a different

manner, as he is called “the only begotten” of

the Father. It would seem utterly

inappropriate to apply this expression to any

being created in the ordinary sense of that

term. For “beginning,” read “beginner.”