For in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones of dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16
While many Christians have no reservation whatsoever thinking about Christ as our Savior, our Redeemer, our Teacher, and even our friend; many overlook (to their own detriment) that He is also our Creator. It should not be lost on us that John, perhaps the closest human friend to our Savior, one described as “the one whom Jesus loved” in John 13:23, 20:2, and 21:20 begins his gospel with the following passage:
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 were created by Him, and apart from Him, not a single thing was created that has been created (1:1-3).
If we are honestly concerned with defining Jesus properly, then we must begin with Jesus the Creator. To overlook His role in the creation of this world would be to sell His purpose short. To point only to the Heavenly Father as our Creator would be to diminish the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. To cast them aside and give them minimal credit (i.e. anything short of full participation) would be equivalent to contradicting Scripture itself and calling God a liar. Let’s take look at the Scriptural evidence of Christ’s role in creation:
In Genesis 1:1, when it says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” the word for God is Elohim, the plural form of God’s name. It is technically the plural form of the word Eloah which means “mighty, powerful One.” It is found in Deuteronomy 32:15; Job 3:4; Psalm 18:32; and Proverbs 30:5 alongside of 40 other passages.
In Genesis 1:26, that thought is expanded when the Lord says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The pronoun US is also used in Genesis 11:7 at the Tower of Babel and Isaiah 6:8 concerning the call of Isaiah which says, “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ “
In John 8:58, Jesus says, “I tell you the solemn truth before Abraham came to be, I AM!” It seems logical to believe that Jesus’ use of “I AM” there should call all students of the Bible back to Exodus 3:14 when Moses was talking to the burning bush. Jesus’ language here echoes the same self-identification God used to the prophet of old. The contrast here is stunning, Jesus says clearly Abraham had a beginning, I do not.
As Jesus is praying in John 17:5, He says, “Father, glorify me at Your side with the glory I had with You before the world began.” This idea of eternal glory can only be something the Creator of our world possesses. No created creature could genuinely be glorified in such a way.
1 Corinthians 8:6 clearly defines Christ’s role when it says, “yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.” Notice that the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit doesn’t distinguish a difference. They are both responsible (with the Holy Spirit) for our existence.
In Ephesians 3:9, the Apostle Paul says he was given the opportunity to “preach the unsearchable riches of Christ” (3:8) which was “kept hidden for ages in God who created all things.” The connection to God the Father who hid the truth of Jesus from us clearly shows a divine plan of execution and creation including the works of Jesus. He was not an afterthought or replacement plan. He is eternal and His works were ordained before the foundation of the world.
Colossians 1:16 says, “for in Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
In Colossians 3:10, we are told to “put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” In 3:11 it says those who do this are no longer defined by worldly definitions but by Christ who is “all and in all.” Clearly, Paul considers Christ to be our creator in this passage.
Hebrews 1:2 says, “in these final days, He (God) has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also created the universe.” Whoever the author of Hebrews was – they wanted it to be clearly understood that Jesus is better in every possible way than Moses and the Old Testament Law. He wasn’t just God’s servant, He was God Himself.
In Revelation, there are several passages that address Jesus as the Creator. 3:14 says, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, has this to say.” Don’t be confused by this passage. That word “beginning” is the Greek word arche which means “that by which anything begins to be, the origin, or active cause.” In 21:6 and 22:13, Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” This is Jesus being as clear as He can be, I am eternal.
Many people (even Christians) falsely believe Jesus to be a created being. I say this emphatically, He is not. While it easy for us when we hear Him say, “My Father,” to think of Him as a child, He is not the offspring of God as we are the offspring of our parents. While on earth, He voluntarily left His heavenly position by “emptying Himself” (Philippians 2:7). That has nothing to do with power, divinity, or even preeminence. It has everything to do with the Will of God. His earthly limitations were never because of His nature, they were the result of a self-imposed submission to the needs and wishes of the Sovereign Will of God.¹
It’s a sad testimony to the teaching of the Church that many people within our congregations reject Jesus as our Creator or simply never consider it to be true. That ignorance has led many to believe He was common, created, or someone like you and I. I truly believe there isn’t a more troubling trend in the Church than those thoughts. Truly, ignorance of God – both of His ways and how we commune with Him – lies at the root of much of the Church’s weakness today.² May we strive to ask the question, who is Jesus? As we begin, the answer to that question is simple. He is our creator.
Notes
¹ Kyle Butt and Eric Lyons, Behold the Lamb, (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, Inc.), 200-201.
² J.I. Packer, Knowing God, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 12.
All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by Permission. All rights reserved.
The Merger 