Did jesus create the world?
One of the
attributes that distinguishes God most clearly as God is the fact that he alone
is the creator of all things.
God alone created
all things, and God alone was not created.
Yet the Bible
says of Christ:
Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature:
As one man said
of Christ:
'If he's made he's a creature, without more ado,
If not, he's a God, and then we have two!'
There is one
creator and that creator is the one God.
Every other being comes under the category of ‘creature’ or ‘creation’
The harshest
possible condemnation in scripture comes to those idolaters:
Romans 1:25
Who
changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator,
who is blessed for ever. Amen.
According to Ephesians 2.20 the church is
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. So according to them,
who created the world?
Acts 4:24
And
when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and
said, Lord, thou art God,
which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
Acts 14:15
And
saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with
you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto
the living God, which made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Acts 17:24
God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with
hands;
Genesis 1:1
¶In
the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
Exodus 20:11
For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Nehemiah 9:6
Thou, even
thou, art LORD alone;
thou hast made heaven, the heaven of
heavens, with all their host,
the earth, and all things that are
therein, the seas, and all that is therein,
and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
Psalms 24:1
¶The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas,
and established it upon the floods.
According to all
these accounts
the only creator is Yahweh (Or Jehovah) a.k.a. God the Father
What is more,
although the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God had no intermediary or
co-creator alongside him when he created the heavens and the earth:
Isaiah 44:24
Thus
saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb,
I am the LORD that maketh all things;
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone;
that spreadeth abroad the earth by
myself;
Isaiah 45:12
I
have made the earth, and created man upon it:
I, even my hands, have stretched out
the heavens,
and all their host have I commanded.
Isaiah 48:13
Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand hath spanned the heavens:
when
I call unto them, they stand up together.
And yet: Colossians 1.16 Speaking
of the Son (See verse 13 for context)
states the following:
For
by him 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:
Question: How are these apparent contradictions to be
reconciled?
Answer: Examining the translation.
Remember the
previous examples of Bible translators having been prone to reading their own
theological predispositions into their rendering of the text?
(See links: 'The Bible calls the Son, God' and 'Jesus Christ the Lord').
This is another case in point, and it all hinges on the word by which I have underlined in the text
above.
In the first clause of Colossians 1.16 the Greek word which describes the relationship between the
Son of God and the creation (And is translated 'by') is 'En' (Strong's 1722).
The implication
of this rendering is clear- that it was
Jesus who created the things listed. And it is a very comprehensive list
indeed.
This rendering is at odds with the entire
scriptural record.
It directly contradicts all the passages set out above.
It even contradicts Jesus himself who whenever making mention of the creation,
always attributed it solely to God:
Mark 10:6
But
from the beginning of the creation God
made them male and female.
Mark 13:19
For
in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of
the creation which God created unto
this time, neither shall be.
Matthew 11:25
¶At
that time Jesus answered and said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes.
But this is not the only way the word 'en' can be rendered.
It
can also, depending upon context, be translated 'because of'.
As it is in:
¨ Matthew
26:31 ¶Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall
be offended because of me this
night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
shall be scattered abroad.
¨ Matthew
26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though
all men shall be offended because of thee,
yet will I never be offended.
¨ Mark
14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be
offended because of me this night:
for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
It would have
been ridiculous for the translators to have interpreted Jesus as saying that
all the disciples would be offended by
him on the night of his betrayal!
If we take the
sum of scripture as our context, instead of a man-made theological model let's
see how this alternative translation harmonises with the rest of the Bible:
Colossians 1:16
For
because
of him 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…
Can it really be that God's motive and plan for the entire
creation centered around Christ?
Consider the following:
Ephesians 3:10
To
the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11
According to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
According to this
passage of scripture, when God created 'the principalities and powers in
heavenly places', he had one purpose in view. It was to show forth his manifold
wisdom by the church and through Christ.
So as God
subsequently created the heavens and the earth, it was with Jesus in mind.
Not just in mind-
as the very centrepiece and focal point of his plan.
In creating man
and allowing him to be tempted knowing he would fall and be separated from God
he also knew he would one day reveal his purpose and gather all things back
together in Christ.
In allowing Adam
and Eve to sin and so bring the curse of death upon the entire human race, God
knew he would eventually show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness towards us through Jesus Christ.
Romans 11:32
For
God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 ¶O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
The God who made
his boast of Job before the assembled sons of God
knew he would one
day have the ultimate expression of love towards himself made by Christ Jesus:
John 14:31
But that the world may know that I love the Father;
and
as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.
Arise, let us go hence.
In creating trees
and metals, he knew they would one day be used to crucify his beloved Son, but
having counted the cost, he did not swerve from his eternal project.
At such great
expense there would come the ultimate revelation of the greatness of his
forgiveness, mercy and love.
Romans 5:8
But
God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
How else could
such invisible attributes be seen and witnessed by the assembled spiritual nobility?
It was not just
the prophets of the Old Covenant that ached with curiosity and the desire to
see mysterious plan of God revealed:
1
Peter 1:10
¶Of which salvation the
prophets have enquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto
whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister
the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire
to look into.
This plan, which
has taken place in this time,
had in view the age without end to come:
Ephesians 2:7
That
in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The creation of
all things 'because of' Jesus Christ not only harmonises with scripture.
It is both it's
reason and theme!
That all glory should go to God our Creator through Christ
Jesus our Lord.
In view of all this, for Jesus to say:
Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
Is nothing short of an understatement!
He was not only promised, before Abraham to Adam and Eve:
Genesis 3:15
And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
He was slain from the foundation of the world and is the lynchpin
of its creation.
Revelation 13:8
And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world.
The case is exactly the same in the 2 remaining passages which seem
to imply Jesus Christ had a hand in the creation
as well as the second clause of Colossians 1.16:
Colossians 1:16
For
by him 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:
Ephesians 3:9
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:
1 Corinthians 8:6
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.
Hebrews
1:2
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;
In this case, the word rendered 'by' is 'Dia' in the Greek.
Its meaning is also flexible and is interpreted according to
context.
Examples of where 'Dia' is rendered differently are:
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Matthew
27:19
When he was set down on the judgment seat, his
wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I
have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
John
12:11
Because that by
reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
It is here shown to be denotative not just of direct causality in
terms action,
but also causality in terms of motive and reason.
So they are better- that is
to say more scripturally- rendered as saying that either:
1 Jesus was the reason God created ('because of' as explained above)
or
2 The creation was made for Jesus, in the sense that a parent
may prepare a room for a baby in anticipation of its birth
Personally, I like both.
Amazing isn't it?
An
entire theological model which stands in opposition to the unanimous testimony
of Christ, the Apostles and Prophets-
all based upon the questionable rendering of 2 Greek words found in only 3
verses of the New Testament!
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1. Introduction |
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10. Seen! |
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17. Jesus- a
Godsend |
18. 1
Creator |
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20. The
firstborn |
21. The name
of God |
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