The Letter To The Church In Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22).
‘And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, ‘These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.'
Jesus is the One who is the ‘yes', the ‘Amen' (‘so be it') to all the promises of God (1 Corinthians 1:20), and especially the promises in Revelation 1:5-7. He is the full provider of the riches in those promises. The Laodiceans were famous for their pride in their wealth but He is telling them that their riches do not compare with what He has to offer. He offers them the true riches, the riches of God.
He is the faithful and true witness ((Revelation 1:5; Revelation 19:11; Revelation 21:5). He has suffered for God and He has suffered to death for them and His words can be relied on (Revelation 21:5). He has proved Himself and His faithfulness by His action in offering Himself for His own (compare Revelation 2:13) with all that results (Revelation 1:6). He wants them to respond in like manner.
He is ‘the beginning of the creation of God'. As its beginning He is its source, the firstborn before the whole of creation (Colossians 1:15). But equally important is the fact that He is also the beginning of the new creation (Revelation 21:1 with Revelation 1:7). In that there is a land of riches beyond anything they have ever dreamed of. Thus all things belong to Him and are in His hands.
The idea of the Amen comes from Isaiah 65:15-19 (literal Hebrew), where it is connected with the new creation. Here God distinguishes between ‘His servants' and the rest of Israel and Judah.
‘He shall call his servants by another name, so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of Amen, and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of Amen, because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hid from my eyes. For behold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered nor come to mind, but be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create, for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying' (Isaiah 65:15-19).
Thus ‘the Amen' has in mind the new creation and the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-2). The God of Amen is the God who says ‘so be it' of the future, He guarantees it and can be relied on to bring it about.
The idea of ‘the Amen' here in Revelation is to be seen as including both the faithful and true witness and the beginning of the creation of God within itself. In Revelation 1:5-6, He is revealed as the faithful witness and firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth, the One who has delivered and exalted His people and John adds ‘Amen', and in Revelation 1:7 He is the king coming in glory to judge the world, and John again adds ‘Amen'. So as the Amen He is the successful carrier out of His purposes. ‘The beginning of the creation of God' has as much in mind the ‘new creation' which results from His coming, as the old creation. The future is safe in His hands for He is the Amen.