Saturday, August 04, 2018

What Does It Mean That Jesus Is Creator?


John 1:1-14 clearly outlines Jesus’ role as Creator of the physical world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:1-3, John 1:14).
Also inherent in this passage is the fact that Jesus Himself was not created, but rather existed eternally with God the Father (for more information on this vital point, see Was Jesus a Created Being? .) Ephesians 3:9 and Hebrews 1:1-2 affirm that God created the physical world through Jesus Christ, but Colossians 1:16-17 further clarifies that Jesus also created even non-physical things such as positions of authority: ”by Him all things were created … visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
This does not mean that God the Father was not involved with creation, or cannot also rightly be called the Creator. This is seen in the creation of man when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the plural pronouns indicates the involvement of both God the Father and the Word, who was the pre-incarnate Jesus (John 1:14). Hebrews 1:1-2 states that God the Father created the worlds through Jesus, showing that they were, jointly, the Creators. Further evidence for the unified creative role is found in Ecclesiastes 12:1, which says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth…” The underlying Hebrew text is actually plural here and says “Creators,” acknowledging both the Father and Christ.
Therefore, the biblical conclusion is that Jesus Christ was the agent of creation at the will of the Father, and that both the Father and Jesus were involved in the planning and design of the universe. A succinct way to express this properly is to state that God is the Creator, with the term “God” referring collectively to God the Father and Jesus Christ. This linguistic convention is used in Genesis 1:26 and elsewhere throughout the Bible to denote both beings. For a more detailed discussion of the roles of God the Father and Jesus Christ in creation, please see Who Is Our Creator?


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