Who Created?

 

          Gen.1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." God created all things.  He is the One that exists without a beginning – "In the beginning God".  This is what the Scriptures give us without explanation regarding God’s existence.  The Christian accepts, by faith, that God is the preexistent Creator.  Hebrews 11:3 states “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” [Who is this God who created? The Hebrew word used here in Genesis 1 is Elohim, which is the plural form of El, but it is usually translated in the singular. Some scholars have held that the plural represents an intensified form for the supreme God……. Still others hold that the plural form refers to the triune God of Genesis 1:1–3, who works through Word and Spirit in the creation of the world. In any event, Elohim conveys the idea that the one Supreme Being, who is the only true God, is in some sense plural.][1] Additionally, the Old Testament foretold of a Messiah who would come and be called "Mighty God." For Isaiah states "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given ... And His name will be called ... Mighty God" (Isa 9:6) and "the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isa 7:14). Immanuel literally means "God with us".

            The prophesied "God with us" in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New Testament with the revelation of who Jesus is: "'And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.' So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt 1:21-23). Therefore, Jesus was no mere man, but in fact God. The Divine nature of Jesus is shown by Paul in Titus 2:13 - "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Additionally, Jesus stated of himself "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30) and after Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas declared to Him "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

            The concept of the One true God being triune in nature (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) may be hard to understand, yet the Bible affirms this throughout. Therefore, Jesus is rightly understood as the Creator Himself, and thus the reason for the name of our ministry, "Jesus Created Ministries." The following is by no means a complete explanation of the Trinity.  However, the following does show from the Scriptures that the work of creation is attributed to all three Persons of the Trinity.

God the Father Created

Isaiah 64:8 – “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand”[2]

1 Cor. 8:6 – “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live”

There are also many other verses that do not explicitly state the Father, but in their context point to the Father as Creator.  For example, Is. 44:24; 45:12; Ps. 33:6.

God the Son Created

John 1:1-3 – ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’ These first verses of John’s gospel start out as the parallel to the first verse of the Old Testament.  It is a direct reference to Jesus as God and Creator of all things.  John continues “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10) and "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).

Col. 1:15-17 states ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.’ These verses show Jesus as the creator of the invisible, such as angels, as well as the visible creation.  Jesus is the only physical representation of God we will ever see.  Yet He is all we need to see since He is the visible image of the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9 “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form.”). 

In view of the many cults (like Jehovah’s Witnesses) who deny the deity of Christ, it is worth discussing the phrase “the firstborn over all creation” since this is sometimes used to state that Christ was created.  However, ["the Gr. word for “firstborn” can refer to one who was born first chronologically, but most often refers to pre-eminence in position, or rank (see note on Heb. 1:6; cf. Rom. 8:29). In both Greek and Jewish culture, the firstborn was the ranking son who had received the right of inheritance from his father, whether he was born first or not. It is used of Israel who, not being the first nation, was however the preeminent nation (cf. Ex. 4:22; Jer. 31:9). Firstborn in this context clearly means highest in rank, not first created (cf. Ps. 89:27; Rev. 1:5)…..Thus Jesus is the firstborn in the sense that He has the preeminence (v. 18) and possesses the right of inheritance “over all creation” (cf. Heb. 1:2; Rev. 5:1–7, 13). He existed before the creation and is exalted in rank above it."][3]

Heb. 1:1-3 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ²has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person;”

God the Spirit Created

In Gen. 1:2 we see the Spirit of God involved in the work of creation “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”.

Job 26:13 “By His Spirit He adorned the heavens”

Psalm 104:30 “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;”

                        Putting the Scriptural references above together with Genesis 1:26, the Godhead is in view.  Gen. 1:26&27 states “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him;” There is nothing else but the Trinity that can be in view (not even angels) by the "Us" reference; verse 26 states "Us" and yet verse 27 states that we were made "in the image of God".  God was declaring His plural nature in the very first chapter of the Holy Scriptures passed down through the ages.

 

 

Illustration: All three persons of the Trinity were involved in the creation.

 

            Who Created?  God created!  God the Father created through God the Son by God the Holy Spirit. “This is not to be taken to mean that different parts of creation are attributed to different persons within the Trinity, but rather that the whole is the work of the triune God.”[4]

            Just as we see all three persons of the Trinity involved in the creation of man, all three are likewise involved in the salvation of man (see Ephesians, chapter 1).  All three persons of the Trinity are also involved in prayer.  We pray to God the Father, in the name of God the Son, in the power of God the Holy Spirit. 

            Although the word "Trinity" is not directly mentioned in the Scriptures, the Bible throughout affirms the triune nature of God. We hope and pray you know this God personally.