Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Creator of this universe. Wow, that’s some statement! But a true one! You see, there are some things we need to recognise about creation. One is that no human was there to observe it. Our knowledge of the beginning of the universe has to come from revelation from Someone who was there and not from much later human investigation. The latter can only deal with what already exists rather than with how it came to exist.  Theories about creation will be precisely that, theories.  But Someone was there when it all began. He is the only eye-witness. He has revealed what happened. He says in His revelation that He created the world. The opening verse of His revelation (the Bible) reads, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.   Genesis 1:1.

 Jesus the Creator. God’s revelation goes on in the New Testament to show that God’s agent in creation was His Son Jesus. We get some indication of that in the way Jesus spoke of Himself during His ministry. For example consider some of His sayings. There is that strange phrase in John 8:58 where Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The “I am” is significant. That is the name that God gave to Moses to describe Himself, Exodus 3:14  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Many see that Jesus was applying the name of God to Himself to indicate not only that He existed before Abraham was born, but also that He was equal with God. That’s how His hearers heard Him and they tried to kill Him as a result.

Another statement of Jesus in His prayer to His Father in John 17:5 adds weight to this interpretation, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Here there can be no ambiguity about Jesus’ words. He was directly claiming to have existed with the Father before creation and to have shared His glory. In addition there are the other “I am’s” of Jesus in which He uses terms of Himself which apply to God Himself, such as “light and life.”

What the New Testament writers thought about Jesus and Creation.

The apostle John. His gospel begins in the same way as Genesis 1:1. However John uses the term “the Word” to describe Jesus as we see in John 1:1,2, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. This Word was the Creator, as the next verse states, 1:3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. Later in verse 10 John describes Jesus as the Creator, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” In case the identity of “the Word” was unclear John describes Him as Jesus in verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. So as far as the apostle John was concerned, Jesus of Nazareth was the creator of everything.

 The apostle Paul. He too clearly recognised Jesus as the Creator. In 1 Corinthians 8:6 he linked together God the Father and Jesus the Son in the act of creation, 1 Cor 8:6  yet for us there is 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 exist. Jesus, Creator of all things. In another passage he described Jesus as being the image of God and the creator of all things visible and invisible. He also added to that by stating that Jesus is the Sustainer of this whole universe, Colossians 1:15. 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. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. St Paul then clearly recognised Jesus of Nazareth as being the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe.

 The writer to the Hebrews. The writer not only indicated that Jesus was the Creator of the universe but also added the truth that He sustained the universe He created, Heb 1:1-3. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  Again the references are unmistakeable references to Jesus of Nazareth.

 What does it mean for us that Jesus is Creator?

We are dependent on Him for our existence. It shows that He can’t be ignored by any human ever born in this universe. Our existence as humans was dependent on Him as Creator of all. Our ongoing existence is dependent on Him for He controls the whole universe. Our future existence is dependent on Him for He holds the future (and our future) in His hands. Our eternal existence is dependent on Him as we will see later, for He ultimately is the judge and our eternal destiny rests in His hands.

We need to become dependent on Him. This is the only way we can receive what He has planned for us in His purposes for the world. It means making Him the Lord and Master of our lives as we will see in Part 3 of our series.  In serving Him as our Creator we are enabled to fulfil our God-given purpose on earth, Ephesians 2:10  For we are His creation–created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. Otherwise our lives will lack purpose and meaning and be of no eternal significance.

 We need to become a willing part of His “new creation”. Paul describes all those who put their trust in Jesus as Saviour and Lord as being “in Christ” and part of a “new creation”, 2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. How does that take place? Paul tells us in 2 Cor 5:15,  (Jesus) died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Life is mean to be lived for the sake of the One who died for us, namely Jesus our Creator, Saviour, and Lord. But more about that in Parts 2 and 3.

Blog No.101.  Jim Holbeck. Posted On Wednesday 12^th December 2012