Behold Your God: The Only Creator

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

In this part of this short series, we are going to look at the fact that Jesus is the Creator. There is only one Creator. God didn’t choose a human being and endow him with the ability to create. Jesus as God the Son has the power to create because He is God. The role of creating everything was granted to Him within the counsel of the Godhead. Let’s look at the text we’re dealing with before unpacking it more.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV)

I’ve bolded verse 16 because that is what we’re focusing on in this article. Paul is telling us without equivocation that Jesus is the originator of all that has been created. This entire passage of Scripture is so sublime it is difficult not to notice. Paul effortlessly flows from one thought to the next, all having to do with who Jesus is and what that means.

When Paul says “by him all things were created,” he means exactly that. There is nothing that has been created that Jesus did not create. Evolutionists like to say that the story of Creation is somewhat compatible with evolution. They argue that there are people (not them of course!), who believe that God got things going, then stepped back to let it all happen over millions and millions of years. To believe that is to really negate that Jesus created all things. Oh sure, it would have a through line back to the creative moment when out of nothing, life was created and then left to transform. However, this is not what Paul means at all. Paul means that Jesus created all things. Trees, shrubs, flowers, animals, fish, reptiles, birds, mountains, geography itself, the oceans including the waters that fill those oceans, teaming with life – all of it was personally created by Jesus, God the Creator. There is not one thing that has existed in the past or exists today that God did not create in its original form.

Dr. Constable states that Jesus is the architect of the universe. However, let’s ensure that we understand that He did not simply draw up plans, but actively engaged in bringing everything He thought about into creative reality.

Paul’s use of the phrase “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,” is interesting. Back in Paul’s day, Gnosticism was a real problem and it exists today as well. These things rarely go completely out of vogue. They simply transform into something else or people continue to embrace them as they are and have always been. Gnosticism believes that the angels and spirit beings are ranked or have a hierarchy. This could very well be true, but they arrived at that conclusion not through study of Scripture, but study of their own dark arts and mystery religions. Paul may simply be using language that would have been familiar to the Colossian Christians. He could also be referencing something that actually exists; namely the ranking of angels, as there is certainly some intimation in Scripture that at least some of the angelic hosts are ordered.

This is one of the things that is so fascinating about Paul. It is the way he would work to draw from personal experience or the experience of those around him to make the truth of Scripture come alive. Of course, Paul’s point was that whether angels have a hierarchy or not, Jesus is preeminent over all of them. This is very clear from the text. Make no mistake, though Satan wants to be “like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14), he will never succeed though he will certainly give it his very best shot.

It stands to reason that a person who creates something is greater than his/her creation. Would you agree? Without the creative process utilized by that creator, the object of that creation would not exist. It could not have “self-existed” as it needed to be created or made. Therefore, the intellectual capacity of that individual creator far exceeds any intellectual capacity of the thing created.

Of course, many things that are created have no ability to “think,” do they? Still, they “perform” a function often. Since the onset of computers and high tech, we’ve seen the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI continues to advance, it will never have the capacity of a human, healthy brain. AI needs to be programmed with extremely detailed algorithms that help to make that AI appear to “think.” The truth is that all of this needs to be placed into the AI and it will never be better than the person who created and/or programmed it. Even if they come to a point where they appear to “think” on their own, it is based solely on the way it has been programmed. Jesus as Creator, not only created all things, but instilled within those things the ability to live, grow, survive.

Note Paul states that “all things were created through him and for him.” Jesus is the agent through which all things were created. Not only that, but Paul clearly notes that Jesus – God the Son – who made everything, did so for one reason: Himself. Jesus did not make things for us. He did not make the world, the beauty of it, the animals, the birds, other people for us. Certainly, as part of that Creation, we benefit from many of those things, don’t we? However, we need to remember and remind ourselves that Jesus created everything for Himself. He did so for His glory. He made the angels. They were created for Him. He made the planets. He did so for Himself. Everything that is made was made by Jesus for Him.

I wonder what would happen if we began to actively think about this one truth. Would it help us understand that we need to move away from the self-centeredness that often engulfs us? Would it help us to understand that we needed to lift our eyes to the One who created all things instead of wondering what God can do for us?

God has bestowed upon us and within us the ability to worship Him, to adore Him, to actively seek Him as we go through our daily lives. In fact, this is one of the main reasons we were created in the first place. This should make us want to know Him better. But if I look at my life, I find that often, I pray for things that I want, or that I think I need, or something else. How often do I take the time to focus on the fact that not only did Jesus create all things, but that He wants me to focus on the fact that He is Creator God?

I have a strong feeling that when I get to heaven, when I see Him face to face, it will be enough to drink Him in, to be near Him, to fully forget myself as I simply follow, observe, and learn to be more like Him with each passing day of eternity.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective