Despite the massive popularity of the Bible, many are uncertain about who created the universe. The idea that Jesus was active as agent in the Genesis creation is popular, but is it based on the Bible?
The following information is provided by the text of Scripture:
Acts 4:24 (The first believers): “With one mind they lifted their voice to God and said: ‘Sovereign Lord, You made the heaven and the earth, the sea and everything in them. You spoke through the holy spirit by the mouth of your servant, our father David.’”
Acts 7:50 (Stephen): “The Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool…Has not My hand made all these things?’”
Acts 14:15 (Paul and Barnabas): “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these useless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”
Acts 17:24-26 (Paul): “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else…From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
Rev. 4:11 (24 elders): “Worthy are You, O Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because You created everything and through Your will they existed and came into being.”
Rev. 10:6 (an angel): “And he swore by Him who lives forever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, the sea and all that is in it.”
Rev. 14:7 (an angel): “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”
Mark 10:6 (Jesus): “At the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.”
Matt. 19:4 (Jesus): “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female…Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Rom. 11:35-36: “Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.”
Heb. 2:10: “God…, for whom and through whom everything exists.”
Heb. 3:4: “God is the builder of everything.”
Heb. 4:3-4: “His work has been finished since the creation of the world…And on the seventh day God rested from all His work.”
Heb. 11:3: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.”
1 Cor. 8:6: “There is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live.”
Col. 1:16: “For in him [Christ] [not “by” him as mistranslated in some versions] all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created through [not “by” him as mistranslated in some versions] him and for him.”
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The creator is God, the Father. He made everything. He made man and woman. He rested at creation. Jesus came into being when Mary conceived supernaturally. The miraculous conception makes him the Son of God in a special sense (Luke 1:35).
Jesus Christ was the reason for all creation, the occasion for creation, since as the firstborn he is to possess all authority over the universe under God. But God, the Father, the One God (1 Corinthians 8:6) is the creator of all things:
Isa. 44:24: “I am the Lord (Yahweh) who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the earth by Myself.”
Why, then, did Yahweh/Jehovah say, “Let us make man in our image”? He may have been addressing His attendant council as in 1 Kings 22:19-20: “The Lord and all the host of heaven standing by Him.” Since angels appear to be made in the image of God, Genesis 1:26 may include them. However, God was alone responsible for the Genesis creation as Isaiah 44:24 and the New Testament texts cited above show.
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Note: No argument can be built for plurality in the Godhead from the plural ending on Elohim (God). Moses, who is a single person, is called Elohim (Exod. 7:1). The Messiah is called Elohim (Ps. 45:6, Heb. 1:8). Note that the Greek version of the Old Testament and the New Testament always render the word God by “theos” which is a singular, not plural, word. In Judges 8:33; 16:23-24, a single idol is called Elohim. In 1 Kings 11:33 Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, are all designated Elohim, though each was a single person. Furthermore, Abraham is addressed as Lord, where a plural form, Adonim, is used (Gen. 24:9-10). Potiphar is called the Adonim (“masters”) of Joseph (Gen. 39:2, 3, 7, 8, 19, 20) and the “lords” of Joseph in verse 16 and 40:7. Joseph is called the man who is the “lords” (Adonim) of the land (Gen. 42:30) and the “lords” of the country in verse 33. Other examples of a plural ending with singular meaning may be found in Num. 25:1-5, Deut. 4:7, 1 Sam. 4:5-8, 1 Kings 11:5, 2 Kings 1:2, 19:37.
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Preceding articles:
The very very beginning 1 Creating Gods
The very very beginning 2 The Word and words
Genesis – Story of creation 1 Genesis 1:1-25 Creation of thing
Genesis 1:26 God said “Let us make”
Next chapters:
Readings from Scriptures: Story of creation 2 Genesis 1:26-31 Creation of man
Readings from Scriptures: Genesis – Story of creation 3 Genesis 2:1-15 Story of Adam and Eve
Readings from Scriptures: Genesis – Story of creation 4 Genesis 2:16-25 Warning for Adam and Eve
The very very beginning 3 Messiah’s total point of origination
Readings from Scriptures: Genesis – Story of creation 4 Genesis 3:1-13 The fall
Readings from Scriptures: Genesis – Story of creation 4 Genesis 3:14-24 consequneces of the fall and solution
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Additional reading:
- Jesus begotten Son of God #14 Beloved Preminent Son and Mediator originating in Mary
- Nazarene Commentary Luke 2:1-7 – A Firstborn’s Birth In Bethlehem
- Entrance of a king to question our position #2 Who do we want to see and to be
- How do trinitarians equate divine nature
- Some one or something to fear #7 Not afraid for Gods Name
- Names, Titles, and Characters of Jesus Christ
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Related articles
- From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus – The friendship of God (lionessblog.com)
the Lord told his disciples: You did not choose me but I chose you. He meant that his disciples did not glorify him by following him, but in following the Son of God they were glorified by him. - From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus – The friendship of God (fifthmariandogma.wordpress.com)
I wish that where I am they also may be, that they may see my glory - The Distinguished Family of God (vanguardngr.com)
God is not a Father through creation. He created so many things to which he is not a Father. He created the heavens and the earth, but he is not the Father of the heavens and the earth. Nevertheless, Paul and other New Testament writers refer to God as the Father of mercies (2 Corinthians 1:3); the Father of glory (Ephesians 1:17); and the Father of lights. (James 1:17). This dilutes Jesus’ unique message about the fatherhood of God.Hebrews says God is not the Father of angels: “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you?’” (Hebrews 1:5). However, the same Hebrews contradicts itself by saying God is the father of angels: “We have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrews 12:9).But, according to Jesus, God’s sons are exclusively men and women of faith who do God’s will: “Then one said to him, ‘Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with you.’ But he answered and said to the one who told him, ‘Who is my mother and who are my brothers?’ And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’” (Matthew 12:47-50). - Feb. 3. John Introduces Jesus to the World (fellowshiproom.org)
Various Scriptures proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. John was sent to prepare the way for Jesus and at this point in his ministry, he pronounced that Jesus was, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He further stated, “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” - Mark 1:40-42 – A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” (church4u2.wordpress.com)
One of the proclamations that God made when he revealed himself to Moses was, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” - God’s Voice Or Mine? Knowing the difference, part 3 (faithsighanddiy.com)
The healthy Christian is not necessarily the extrovert, ebullient Christian, but the Christian who has a sense of God’s presence stamped deep on his soul, who trembles at God’s word, who lets it dwell in him richly by constant meditation upon it, and who tests and reforms his life daily in response to it. - This is why prominent atheists should not critique religion (rongarret.info)
How can anyone not know that Christian theology holds that Jesus was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, that the Old and New Testaments form a seamless whole, that Jesus and Yahweh are the same deity? There are all kinds of reasons one might be a Christian without being a YEC, but the idea that Christianity has nothing to do with the Old Testament is not one of them. - The City of God, Again (supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com)
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For the glory of God’s justice, and as a warning to a wicked world, before the history of the ruin of the old world, we have a full account of its degeneracy, its apostasy from God and rebellion against him. The destroying of it was an act, not of an absolute sovereignty, but of necessary justice, for the maintaining of the honor of God’s government.
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whole Bible about the God we worship, Jesus Christ. Seeing all the names, titles and other attributes with which he is labeled in both the Old and New Testaments and contemplating those titles and their meaning to me personally is a wonderful way to worship Him. Worshiping Him is what we are made for. Worshiping Him is what those who know Him will do for all eternity. These Name, Titles and Attributes allow practice in this life.
Messiah For All 