In 3:14 we are told that the Son is the origination of the creation of God. This is an important concept. The translators have been troubled by this verse. Some have said that Christ is the originator, not the origination. However, the meaning here is not originator but origination. Christ is the origination of God’s action to create the universe.
The Son is the Root and the Offspring of David (5:5; 22:16). This means that He is both the root and the branch of David. Once again, we see that He is everything. As the root, He is the first, the beginning, and the Alpha, and as the branch, He is the last, the end, and the Omega.
As we have pointed out in a previous message, Christ, the Son, is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (5:5) and the Lamb (5:6; 21:23; 22:1). He is the Lion-Lamb. To the enemy, He is the Lion; to us, the redeemed ones, He is the dear, precious Lamb.
The Son is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (19:16). The King of kings refers to His authority, and the Lord of lords refers to His headship. He is the authority and the head of the whole universe.
The Son is the Word of God (19:13), the expression of God. Because Christ is the Word, He and the Bible are one. Do not read your Bible without reading Him, and do not contact the Bible without contacting Him. As we come to the Bible, we must realize that He Himself is the Word of God.
In 22:16 we see that the Son is the morning star. In Malachi 4:2, He is revealed as the Sun, but here He is revealed as the morning star. His being the Sun is mainly related to the people on earth, but His being the morning star is related to His watchful, waiting believers. To those who watch and wait for His coming back, the Lord will appear as the morning star. Although I desire to see Him as the Sun, I am now waiting to see Him as the morning star. We all love Him in His aspect of being the morning star, and He will appear to us in this way.
In 21:23 Christ is revealed as the lamp who contains God as the light. The light is the very essence of the lamp, and the lamp radiates the light. God is the essence of Christ, and Christ radiates God.
In 21:2 we see that the New Jerusalem is the wife of Christ. This implies that Christ is the Husband who takes God’s redeemed people as His wife.
Finally, Christ is another Angel (7:2; 8:3; 10:1; 18:1) sent by God to carry out God’s commission. In the Old Testament, Christ appeared as the angel of the Lord several times (Exo. 3:2-6; Judg. 6:11-24; Zech. 1:11-12; 2:8-11; 3:1-7), coming to take care of God’s people for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Now in this book He is again the Angel sent by God to carry out God’s purpose.
If we put all twenty-six items together, we have a clear vision of what the Son is. The Father and the Spirit are one with the Son. Without the Son’s being so many items, the Father could not be adequately expressed and the Spirit would not have so much to express.