Introduction
In “Who Is the Creator of the Universe and Everything That Is?” I will explore the different views on creation and the role of God and Jesus in this process. The Bible presents us with statements that seem to indicate that both God and Jesus are responsible for creation, but are these statements referring to the same person? In this study, I will analyze biblical passages such as Genesis 1:1, Colossians 1:16, and John 1:3 to understand how the creative work unfolded and what the true relationship is between the Father, the Son, and creation.
He Who Created All Things
The Bible declares that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We believe that God is the creator of everything. On the other hand, we find some passages in the Bible that say that Jesus was the one who created all things, such as the text of the apostle Paul to the Colossians:
Colossians 1:16 – “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.“
The apostle Paul explains that in Christ “he created all things“, and that “he created everything by him and for him“. It was not only this world of ours that Jesus created, but everything that exists in the universe, everything “that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers“. Human beings, plants, animals, stars, planets, the sky, angels, seraphim and cherubim! Jesus created everything.
Who Was the Creator?
Who is the Creator of the Universe? Concerning the Creator, the disciples of the early church said in Acts 4:24:
Acts 4:24 – “And when they heard this, they lifted up their voices with one accord to God, and said, Lord, thou art the God which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is“
The text is clear in stating that God was the one who “You made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them“, as well as the text we read from Genesis 1:1, where it said that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth“. Based on such comparisons, many people come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Sovereign God of the universe, because if Jesus was the one who created all things, as Paul mentioned, then the conclusion they reach is that Jesus is this God! But as we will see in this study, this interpretation is wrong. We can only reach such a conclusion by comparing texts out of context and disregarding the content of other verses. Let us look, for example, at the continuation of the text of Acts 4:24:
Acts 4:27 – “For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together“
Notice that even though the disciples raised their voices to God and said that He “You are the God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them“, they made a clear distinction between God and the person of Jesus! This shows that the creator God in the minds of the disciples is another person besides the person of Jesus Christ. With this, we can identify that the comparison of Colossians 1:16 with Acts 4:24 does not refer to the same person. Both are talking about different people. Do you see?!
An Intermediary in Creation
Everything Created Through Jesus Christ
But there is still a question: after all, who created all things? Who is the Creator of the Universe? God or Jesus? The answer to this question can be found in the following texts by Paul:
Ephesians 3:9 – “And to make known to all what is the fellowship of the mystery which for ages hath been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.” (ACF)
In the Almeida Corrigida e Fiel translation of the Bible, the text of Ephesians 3:9 says that “God“, “everything created through Jesus Christ“. Here, Paul mentions that it was God who created all things, but His creative work was done through the person of Jesus Christ.
By He Who Also Made the World
The text to the Hebrews also brings this concept:
Hebrews 1:1-2 – “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.“
Not only does Paul explain that God created all things through Jesus, but so does the apostle John in his gospel:
John 1:1-3 (NIV) – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.“
Jesus was the intermediary between God and creation. Without Jesus, “nothing that was done was done“! He was the agent of creation, the means by which God the Father created all things!
The Principle of God’s Creation
Jesus also mentions this idea in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 3:14 – “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God“
Christ identifies himself in the letter to the Laodiceans as being the one who is “the beginning of God’s creation“. The Greek word used for “principle” is “arche“, and brings the idea of ”agent” and “originator“. In fact, as we have seen in other biblical passages, Christ was the originator of all of God’s creation.
Now It’s Easy to Understand: Let’s Make Man…
When we understand the role and participation of the Father and the Son in the process of creation, it becomes clear how we understand the text of Genesis 1:26, which uses the verb in the plural for the creation of the human being:
Genesis 1:26 – “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.“
According to the text above, God had said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness“. Who is the Creator of the Universe? To whom did God speak such words? Who was it that participated in the entire process of creation together with God? Who was (and is) the only being in the universe to whom God could have addressed such words, sharing the same? “image” and the same “similarity” of the Father? It is evident that the only answer to these questions is Jesus, for “he created everything by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16)!
Jesus Was Always the Go-Between
The idea of Christ being God’s intermediary is not only present in creation, but in many other things throughout the Bible. For example:
- By whom will God judge the world?
- Through whom will the judgment be executed?
- Through whom did the delivery of the law occur?
- Through whom is grace granted?
- Through whom does the shepherding of the sheep take place?
- Through whom will we receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
- Through whom did God save us?
Ultimately, the Father applies all these concepts, but Jesus, his Son, carries them out. It was no different with the work of creation!
An Example to Help Us Understand Better
To better understand the process of creation, I like to use construction projects as an example. When we come across a building under construction, we find a plaque informing us who the engineer is for that project. His name and registration number are on that plaque. He is the person responsible for the engineering and creation of that building. He was the one who planned how everything should be. He created maps, strategies, assembled his team, and with that, carried out the work. But in reality, it was not this engineer who built the building! He was not the one who got his hands dirty during the construction. He planned everything, but it was the foremen who created it.
His entire team had been working hard on this construction. They all had a hand in this construction. But who was responsible for it? Whose name appeared on the plaque in front of the building? It was the engineer ‘s name, not the builders’.
The same thing happens with creation in the Bible. God the Father was the one who planned the construction of everything. He is the engineer in creation. But the one who carried out the creative work was His Son Jesus. God, who created everything “through Jesus Christ“ (Ephesians 3:9), “by the one who also made the world” (Hebrews 1:2), “All things were made through him” (John 1:3). For this reason, both God the Father and Jesus are considered to be “creator” in the Scriptures.
Jesus is the Intermediary, and God is the Originating Source
But it is important to keep this concept in mind and to know how to distinguish the actions of each one, otherwise we will fall into the errors of interpretation that many make, as we saw at the beginning of this study. Concluding that Jesus is the God of the Bible because of his creative work is a mistake! Who is the Creator of the Universe? The God of the Bible is the one who is above Jesus, who, through Jesus, carried out the creation! The Father granted the Son the power to create all things, but this does not make him the God of the universe! The Son was the intermediary, and not the original source of creation, because the origin of this is his Father. Let us read the text of Revelation 4:11:
Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.“
The beings who stand before the throne of the universe proclaim to the Father that He “created all things” and that He created all things “by your will“. The Son carried out the will of the Father. The Father spoke and His Son carried out the creation. Thus the work of creation took place! Regarding the text we read, one more observation is in order.
Some, in the isolated reading of this text, conclude that the person who is seated on this throne is Jesus, precisely because these beings proclaim that this person was the one who “you created all things“. But this is another reading error, because the continuation of chapter 5 of the Apocalypse will make it very clear that this is the person of the Father, and that Jesus approaches Him to receive the book sealed with the seven seals.
But what about the Holy Spirit?
Some may be wondering, ‘Didn’t the Holy Spirit also participate in creation?’ Who is the Creator of the Universe? To this question, the answer is “of course!“. But obviously, this answer differs from the point of view presented by many, especially those who follow the Trinitarian line, which defends the existence of three persons within the divinity, because in this line of interpretation, the person of the Holy Spirit would also have participated in creation as a personal agent. However, this way of understanding ends up contradicting everything we have seen up to this point.
As we have seen, the Bible is emphatic in stating that the Father created all things through His Son Jesus Christ. In this case, Christ created everything! Therefore, no one else created anything, including the “Holy Spirit” as the “third person of the Trinity“, as those who follow this doctrine defend.
Genesis 1:2 – “Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.“
God’s Holy Spirit was present in creation from the beginning, but realize that it was the “Spirit of God“, as the text of Genesis describes above. It was none other than God Himself! When speaking of the Father, the psalmist presents God sending His Spirit as the creative and regenerative power of our earth:
Psalms 104:30 – “You send out your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.“
The Spirit of God created the heavens as a source of power and action, as Job said: “By his Spirit he adorned the heavens(Job 26:13). God created all creation by His power. The Father planned everything that would be created, and Jesus carried out the work of creation. In order to create all things, Jesus took possession of the Spirit of His Father, and through that power He accomplished the creation of all things except the human being himself, whom He created with His own hands (Genesis 2:7).
Conclusion: Who is the Creator of the Universe?
We conclude, therefore, that our wonderful God, the Father, created all things through His beloved only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Our existence, and all other things, exist thanks to Jesus. He is also our creator, for He was the one who carried out His Father’s work of creation. However, we must be careful not to fall into the error of comparing biblical passages that speak of God as the creator with those of Jesus, reaching the conclusion that Jesus is this God, for as Jesus instructed us, only His Father is the “creator.“one true God” (John 17:3).
May God bless us!
