God created the heavens and the earth for His will to be accomplished and His purpose to be fulfilled. How did God create the universe? Christ as the Word was the Creator, and He spoke things into being.
We human beings can only make things out of something else, but God can call things not being as being. Christ is not only the Creator, but Christ is also the means through which the universe was created. As seen in John 1:3, everything that has come into being has come into being through Him.
On the one hand, Christ created all things by speaking the Word, and on the other hand, Christ is the means through which the universe came into being. Christ is the Creator of the universe; Christ is the means of the creation; Christ is the sphere in which all things were created.
This is very mysterious. It is truly mind-blowing. How can this be? With us it is impossible, but we believe what the Bible says concerning the creation! With God it is possible! All the creation was created in the power of Christ’s person, and it is characterized by His intrinsic power. Wow!
Christ is Both the Creator and the Means of His Creation
John 1:3 says, All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being. This “Him” here is Christ as the Word of God (John 1:1).
On the one hand, Christ as God is the Creator, and He created all things in the universe. On the other hand, Christ is God’s anointed and appointed One to carry out God’s commission, and He was the means through which creation was accomplished. This is strengthened by Col. 1:16 where we see that the process of creation was carried out in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ.
Christ as the Word is the Creator and He is also the means by which the creation came into being (see Heb. 1:2; 11:3; Psa. 33:6, 9). Since creation was God’s work, and since Christ is God (Heb. 1:10; Psa. 102:25), Christ is the creator of all things and He is also the means through which all things came into being.
If you look at the creation today you see the resemblance of Christ because creation was created in the person of Christ! But we need to see beyond the grandness and awesomeness of the creation and realize that creation was created in Christ, and Christ is the Firstborn of all creation!
Nothing came into being except that which came into being through Him. This means that apart from Christ, nothing has existence. Apart from Christ there is nothing. In our Christian life today, apart from Christ and being one with Christ we are nothing.
All Things Came Into Being Through Christ as the Word
Genesis 1 is not a record of how God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible doesn’t tell us how did God create all things. But what we know is that all things came into being through Christ as the Word of God. We as human beings need to put in quite a lot of labor to make something or build something, but God simply spoke things into being.
Once there was nothing, and then God spoke, and things came into being. God didn’t “work hard” to bring the creation into being; He simply spoke! God called things not being as being, and He spoke things into being. Only God can do this. When He speaks, things come into being.
To our limited human mind and natural understanding it is impossible to apprehend how can someone make something out of nothing or call things from nothing…but God can create through His word. Christ as the Word of God is the sphere and the means through which all things were created.
J.N.Darby wrote a note on Col. 1:16 saying that the fact that all things are created in Him (not by Him merely, but IN HIM) means that they were created in the power of Christ’s person. Christ is the One whose intrinsic power characterizes the creation, because creation was not created by Him in an objective way, but IN HIM! All creation is characterized by Christ’s intrinsic power because the universe came into being through Christ as the Word!
This is what we believe as Christians. The Bible says it is so, and we believe this. Do you want to argue and rationalize and understand? When will you realize that our limited human mind cannot understand even things related to our human life, physical body, and our human situations, much less the way God created the universe!?!
Our human word is here today and gone tomorrow, but God’s word is true, just, everlasting, life-giving, light-imparting, and ever-remaining! It’s not about understanding how the universe came about, but knowing that all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ!
Praise You, Lord, for being the Word of God! You created all things, and the universe was created in You. Wow, Lord, You are both the Creator of the universe and the means through which the universe was created! When we look at the vast creation, we can’t help it but say, How Amazing, Great, Wonderful, Divine, Excellent, and Wise You are! We believe into You! You give us being. Without You we are nothing. Apart from You we have no existence. Lord, we love You as the Word of God, the Creator of the universe and the means through which the universe was created!
References and Further Reading
- Inspiration: bro. Andrew Yu’s sharing in the message and portions in, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msgs. 14 and 25), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization Study of Genesis (1), week / msg 2, Creation in Christ for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose.
- Hymns on this topic:
# My Father God, when on Thy vast creation, / The wonders of the heav’n and earth, I gaze, / Things great and small, beyond enumeration, / Which manifest Thy pow’r in untold ways; / Then all my being sings in praise to Thee, / How marvellous! How great Thou art!
# God has made all things, / Made them perfectly— / What a wonderful Creator / In His work we see!
# O glorious Christ, the one Creator, / The source unique whence everything has sprung; / He over all is Head and Master; / Of all creation, He’s the firstborn One. / By His command all things upholding, / In Him together all subsists; / God fore-ordained that all creation / Be unto Him as His inheritance.
