Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Feb. 25, 2026
Update	: Feb. 25, 2026
Parts	: 04

Synopsis:



Continuing our discuss from part one, but what about Arius' claims that Jesus is not coeternal with God the Father, not consubstantial with God the Father, and that He was actually created by God the Father? Is there any element of truth to these particular beliefs, or are they really heresies as the Trinitarians have so vocally insisted for the past sixteen hundred plus years? My dear friends, I'm going to be very up front and honest with you by informing you that this is NOT an easy subject to address. Furthermore, just by examining the different Scriptures which the Lord has brought to my mind as I have contemplated this issue, I realize that this subject can be downright complex, even confusing and rather difficult to understand, particularly if one is young in our Christian faith, and does not yet possess a strong grasp of the Scriptures.

Honestly speaking, I can completely relate to why those men of the past had difficulty coming to a common understanding regarding this issue. In other words, one person reads the associated Bible verses and understands them one way, and yet another individual reads the very same Bible verses and he understands them in a very different way. All that to say this: Don't be the least bit surprised if you understand the following verses in a manner that is very different from the way in which I currently understand them. Please note that I did not obtain these verses from anywhere else. In fact, as some of my longtime readers will know, I don't even like to study the works of other men of God, simply because I don't want to be influenced by their way of thinking. I prefer to rely solely on the leading of God's Holy Spirit, exactly as Jesus said in the following Bible verses:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


So, from this point and forward, as I did in part one, I'll be sharing certain Bible verses with you which I believe the Lord brought to my memory, as I sat here at my desk typing away, and thinking about the aforementioned questions. As I mentioned in part one, all I can do is point you to various Scriptures and let you decide for yourself. After all, as I have taught for many years now, God's holy Word is our one and only authority when it comes to establishing Christian doctrine, right? Thus, we must always and only look to the Scriptures for the proper answers to our questions. Having said that, the first verse which comes to my mind is the following one which is found in the Book of Revelation. In it, please notice that it is Jesus himself who is doing the speaking. Take careful note of the final seven words in this verse, which I have placed in uppercase letters:

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD;"


As you can plainly see, without any need for interpretation whatsoever, Jesus clearly states that He is "the beginning of the creation of God". Those are His words and not mine. Now, at first glance, it certainly appears that the Lord is saying that He was the very first thing that God the Father created, which would seem to be in agreement with Arianism. In fact, this is one of the verses which the Arians use to try to prove that Jesus was created by God the Father, and as such, He is not co-eternal. That is to say, that hHe did not exist from the very beginning like God the Father.

However, before we decide to fully embrace that particular understanding, we would be wise to continue digging deeper into the Scriptures, in order to make certain that this is the proper understanding. In other words, perhaps Jesus is really saying something else, but we simply are unable to grasp it by reading that one verse alone. Of course, upon reading Revelation 3:14, I was also reminded of the very first two well-known verses which are found at the very beginning of the Gospel of John, which are the following:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."


Please note that in both of the previous verses, the word "beginning" is translated from the Koine Greek "arche". Now according to Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, the primary meaning of "arche" is beginning or origin. However, the word does have other meanings as well, which are as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

‭ἀρχή‭ arche 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

----- End Quote -----

Now, I warned you earlier that understanding this stuff can be very tricky and very confusing business. Well, with these additional definitions, perhaps you are beginning to see why I said this. So let's break down the previous definitions and try to understand them, and see how they each relate to the Scriptures. First of all, definition #2 says "the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series". From one perspective, this would seem to agree with the idea of Jesus Christ seeming to be the very first thing that God the Father created, and then other things were created after Jesus had been created.

However, hold on, my friends. Please look at the two words which come right after those phrases in definition #2: "the leader". In other words, in case you don't quite get it, it could be that when Jesus says in the Book of Revelation that He is "the beginning of the creation of God", He may not be saying that He is the first thing that God created -- which seems to be how Arians interpret the verse -- but rather He is saying that He is the LEADER of the creation of God. He is above everything and everybody else that God created. In other words, Jesus is at the head of the line. Jesus is at the BEGINNING of the line. Aha!

In fact, this understanding is in perfect agreement with the fifth definition of "arche" which plainly states "the first place, principality, rule, magistracy". Thus we see that the word also refers to the degree of one's importance and their political position. Of course, in this particular case, we are referring to God's heavenly government. As we learned in part one, Jesus in fact sits right next to His Father in the Heavenly Courts. He sits at the right hand of His Father. As we also saw in part one, we are told that every knee shall bow to Jesus. So, truly, Jesus is the leader, or the "arche", right below His Father, insofar as the Heavenly Hierarchy is concerned.

Now, if we have any doubts about "arche" meaning the first in line and the leader in a series of things, right below definition #5 it also says "of angels and demons". Aha! Well look at that! Does that remind you of any particular Bible verses? How about the following ones:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."


"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."


In case you are wondering, in the original Koine Greek, the word for "archangel" is "archaggelos", and it means "chief of the Angels", which is exactly what Michael is. He is the leader of the Angels, just as Jesus is the leader of all of creation who sits right next to His Father. In fact, as you may recall, and as I also explain in other articles such as "When Was Satan Cast Out of Heaven?", the important job of casting Satan and his followers out of Heaven was given to none other than Michael -- the chief of the Angels -- as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."


"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season . . . And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."


"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"


"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."


"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."


"Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."


"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."


So as I hope you are starting to see, while at first glance it seemed like Revelation 3:14 might be saying that Jesus was the first thing that God the Father created, as we have continued to delve deeper into the Scriptures, an entirely different understanding is beginning to develop. But guess what? We still aren't done yet. The previous definitions of the Koine Greek word "arche" offer us another possibility as well. Please notice that definition #3 also states "that by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause."

Now isn't that interesting as well! So based on those words, when Jesus says in Revelation 3:14 that He is "the beginning of the creation of God", aside from the fact that He is above all of the rest of creation insofar as spiritual hierarchy is concerned, He's ALSO the active cause behind creation itself. In other words, as I have explained in other BBB articles, it was Jesus, along side His Father, who started the process of creation itself. In short, my friends, we can look at the phrase in the following manner:

"beginning of the creation of God" = "active cause behind the creation of God"

In fact, if we add in the previous definition I shared with you, we can also say that Jesus is the LEADER of the creation of God, because He led the way. The power to create was given directly to him by His Father. Earlier, I shared with you the first two verses which are found in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Let me share those two verses with you again, followed by verse three, and all of these thoughts will more than likely click together for you quite easily:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."


As I have done in a few other articles, let's examine verses one and two first. As I have explained before, my personal understanding may possibly be a little different from how other Christians understand those verses. How is it that the Word -- obviously meaning Jesus -- could be "with God", and yet at the same time John writes that the Word "was God"? A regular person might think to themself "How can a person be with someone, while at the same time be that same someone?" In my view, it is really easy to understand, if we take the time to consider what a few other verses say. To begin with, in the pages of the New Testament of the King James Bible, we discover the word "Godhead" three times, as we see here:

"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and mans device."


"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"


"For in him [meaning in Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."


"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."


While some people might be led to think that "Godhead" is referring to the "head God" -- meaning God the Father -- I hold the view that it is meant to be understood in a plural sense, as the Apostle John seems to indicate in the previous verse where he clearly mentions THREE in Heaven. So in other words, while we learned in part one that God the Father is above all -- including above Jesus who is His own Son -- at the same time, I believe that God also shares His power and authority with others who form a part of what the previous verses refer to as the Godhead. This divine body consists of at least three entities, or however you wish to refer to them. Furthermore, the fact that Jesus himself is a part of the Godhead would explain why in some instances, He is given the title of "God" in the Scriptures. Together, these three form the one God of which the Bible repeatedly speaks, with God the Father being head of it all, as we examined earlier.

As we have already discussed, Jesus himself in fact serves as co-regent and sits on the right hand of the Father. John appears to include the Holy Ghost as a part of the Godhead as well. Is it possible that there are also others who may be a part of this ruling divine body or Godhead? Maybe. For example, what about the twenty-four elders who are clearly mentioned in the Book of Revelation? Of course, I obviously really don't know with certainty. But regardless of who is included in the Godhead, as I just said, we know that God the Father has the final word in all matters, because there can only be one chief at a time. Christ is over the Church, and God the Father is over Christ.

Keeping the previous thoughts in mind, let us return to the opening verses of the Gospel of John. In those verses, the Apostle John is obviously referring back to Genesis chapter one. I believe and I am convinced that when John says "with God", he is stating that Jesus was with God the Father in the beginning when the process of creation first began. I also suspect that when John writes that the Word "was God", he wants us to understand that when we read the word "God" at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we should realize that it is actually referring to God the Father AND Jesus being there TOGETHER, as in the Godhead I previously told you about.

As you may possibly already know, there are a few other Bible verses which clearly prove Jesus' direct involvement with the creation process, which I will discuss momentarily, after we discuss a few other things first. To reiterate, in my view, the idea of Jesus being with God the Father in the beginning seems to be rather clear just by what John wrote. It becomes even more evident by the phrases "Let us make", "our image" and "our likeness" which we find in these two Bible verses:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."


A minute ago, we discussed the possibility of the Godhead being plural in nature. Well, what some Christians may not understand is that in the Book of Genesis, the English word "God" is translated from the Hebrew word "elohyim", which is pronounced el-o-heem. This ancient Hebrew word has a variety of meanings. Elohyim can signify rulers, judges, divine ones, angels or gods. But what you must realize is that this is the PLURAL form of the Hebrew word "El", or "Eloah" in the Hebrew feminine singular form. This idea dovetails with everything I just told you regarding the plurality of the Godhead, and it confirms that God the Father was NOT working alone at the beginning of creation.

At the very least, I am absolutely certain that Jesus was not only with God the Father in the beginning -- as the Apostle John wrote -- but Jesus is also the one who directly created everything under his Father's watchful eye. In other words, all things come from God the Father, but He gave Jesus the power to actually create them. I mentioned earlier that there are a few Bible verses which confirm this doctrine. Here they are. Please notice an important difference here when Paul is discussing how everything was created. When referring to God the Father, Paul writes "of whom". However, when Paul refers to Jesus, he writes "by whom". It is a subtle difference, but the difference indicates to me that Paul seems to be stating that Jesus created all things with the Father's full divine permission and authority:

"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we by him."


"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, WHO CREATED ALL THINGS BY JESUS CHRIST:"


"For by him [by Jesus] WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, and for him: And he is before all things, and BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST."


"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, BY WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE WORLDS;"


What I also find interesting about all of this is the fact that everything that God the Father does, He does in order to fulfill His own pleasure. In short, just as He was very pleased with Jesus while Jesus was on the Earth -- This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased -- I believe that it also pleased God the Father to give Jesus the power and the authority to create everything in the Book of Genesis. Consider the following group of Bible verses which prove this particular point:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"


"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."


"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will . . . Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:"


"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."


"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."


Returning to our previous discussion regarding "elohyim", I should warn you that to even associate the plural meaning of the word with the one true God of Israel, and even worse, to suggest that this plural meaning indicates MULTIPLE creators -- as even the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon obviously reveals -- does NOT sit very well with certain people. Most certainly not with Orthodox Jews who will incessantly insist "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." Similar to the Muslims -- unbelieving Jews just cannot stomach the thought that God has a Son, and that his Son is the actual Creator of everything that is. It does not matter that even the Old Testament clearly reveals to us the existence of the Son of God in verses such as the following:

"He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."


"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."


What I find interesting is the fact that this image of the Son -- Jesus -- approaching the Ancient of Days -- God the Father -- is quite similar to what we read in the Book of Revelation where the Lamb approaches the Throne of God. In fact, Revelation 5 appears to be the precise fulfillment of what is written in the previous verses in Daniel 7. If you doubt my word, consider for yourself:

"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."


The same image of Jesus receiving his kingdom that we see in Daniel 7 and Revelation 5 is likewise revealed in Daniel 2 as well where Jesus is represented by a stone. Consider this set of Bible verses:

"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth . . . And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."


Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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