When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi … Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” –Mathew 16:13-16
TRUE BELIEVERS OF JESUS since the first century have shared with Apostle Peter his affirmation of faith. Church history witnesses to the fact that many of them, particularly the early Christians, suffered intense persecutions and even death for upholding the conviction that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Sadly, nowadays there seems to be a collaborative effort on the part of skeptics to portray a radically different Jesus.
With the persistent attempts to modify the Bible’s portrayal of Jesus, is not surprising that many Christian-professing seek to preserve the real portrait of Jesus by placing emphasis on His unique attributes. Unfortunately, they went beyond the teachings of the Bible to the point of attributing to Jesus qualities that were not attributed to Him by His apostles and the early Christians. In effect, they failed in their attempt to preserve the real portrait of Jesus in the Holy Scriptures.
Jesus the Creator?
Majority of Christian-professing churches attribute to Christ either the role of Creator or co-Creator. They consider this belief as a “necessary truth” to justify their claim that Jesus is the true God. They present verses from the Bible as their bases. One of these verses comes from the Gospel according to Apostle John:
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 13:1:3, New King James Version)
Since Christ is the subject of this verse, proponents of the Christ-is-God doctrine claim that this is, beyond reasonable doubt, a direct reference to Christ’s role as the creator of the world. Hence, they believe that our Lord Jesus Christ has prior existence. They cite the very account of the creation of man to support their belief:
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’ …” (Gen. 1:26, Ibid.)
Through the pronouns “us” and “our” refer to any number more than one, yet proponents of the Trinity doctrine are quick to limit “us” and “our” to three–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. According to them, the doctrine defines the role of Jesus as co-creator with the Father.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual
The Bible is not composed of a single verse. So one must not immediately accept a belief no matter how popular it may seem just because someone cited a verse from the Bible to support it. Instead, they should follow the sound advice f Apostle Paul to compare spiritual things with spiritual (I Cor. 2:13).
The doctrine about Jesus’ alleged role as co-creator with the Father should be examined in the light of this biblical principle set forth by Apostle Paul. Noteworthy is the fact that the writers of the Bible never coined the word “co-creator.” The Bible does not support the belief that God had a co-creator. In Isaiah 44:24, God declares:
“… I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself” (NKJV, emphasis ours)
The God who spoke in Genesis 1:26 is the same God speaking in this verse. The prefix “co-” from the term “co-creator” is defined as “together” or “associate” as opposed to the term “alone” which means “unaccompanied” or “unaided.” Moreover, the expressions used in Isaiah 44:24 were “all alone” and “by Myself,” which leave no room for the belief that God had a co-creator.
There is only one Creator
The early chosen people of God learned from Him that He alone created the world–that He alone created the world–that He is without a co-creator. The profession of faith of God’s early nation was as follows:
“You alone are the LORD, Creator of the heavens and all the stars, Creator of the earth and those who live on it, Creator of the ocean and all its creatures. You are the source of life …” (Neh. 9:6, Contemporary English Version)
The essential truth is further proven by the actual account of the creation of man as recorded in Genesis 1:26-27:
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness’ … So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (NKJV)
God created man in His (singular) own image. In the image of God, He (singular) created them. The actual account of man’s creation attests to the fact that God did not have a co-creator. He created man all by Himself. Why then did God say, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness?”
If God the Father was not talking to the “other persons of the Trinity,” to whom was He talking then? A plain comparison with the terms used in the same book of Genesis guides us to the fact that God was talking to the cherubim or angels in heaven:
“Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us’… and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden. …” (Gen. 3:22, 24, Ibid.)
This is not the only instance in which God used the pronoun “us” to refer to Him and His angels. In Isaiah 6:8, 1-2, we find God asking in the presence of seraphim or angels, “Who will go for us?”
It is indeed to the angels that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according rot Our likeness” since they were already in existence before the creation of the world and of man. It does not mean, however, that they are God’s co-creators, for God, being Almighty, does not need one. Hence, the belief that Christ is God’s co-creator is bereft of biblical foundation.
Even the very belief that Christ pre-existed runs counter to the teachings of the Bible. Apostle Paul provides us a definite stand as to the beginning of Jesus’ existence:
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” (Gal. 4:4, NKJV)
The beginning of Jesus’ existence was when He was born of a woman or Mary (Matt. 1:18, 20). The fact that Jesus was conceived and born is a strong proof against the belief that Christ is a creator. It proves that Christ is a part of God’s creation. In fact, Apostle Paul refers to Jesus as the “first-born of all creation” (Col. 1:145, New American Standard Bible). The expression “firstborn of all creation” does not imply pre-existence especially when it is compared to Apostle Peter’s teaching:
“He (Christ) indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” (I Pet. 1:20, NKJV)
In other words, even before the world was created, there was already God’s plan that He eventually promised through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:2-3).
Created through and for Christ
Other people ask, “If Christ did not have a prior existence and He did not create us, why then did Apostle John say that ‘All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made?'” In Colossians 1:16, Apostle Paul writes:
“For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, … God created the whole universe through him and for him.” (Today’s English Version)
God created the whole universe through Christ and for Christ. The clear distinction between God the creator and Christ through whom God created the whole universe can be seen here. God created the whole universe through Christ in the sense that through Christ in the sense that through Christ, man will be reconciled to God. This is proven in the context of the verse cited above:
“And through him to reconcile to Himself all things … by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation …” (Col. 1:20-22, New International Version)
It is through Christ, through His blood, that all who were once enemies of God will be reconciled to Him. Furthermore, God appointed Christ to be the mediator between God and men as proven in I Timothy 2:5:
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)
Notice the distinction between God and Christ, between the One to whom Christ will mediate men and Christ who is the one Mediator between God and men. Moreover, Apostle Paul teaches that the one mediator to God is the Man (not God) Christ Jesus.
God created the whole universe for Christ in order that man will be holy and without blame as taught by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:4, 7:
“God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes … We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Through his blood our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God’s grace is so rich.” (New International Revised Version)
God chose us to belong to Christ “to be holy and without blame.” Though man sinned and was condemned to suffer the eternal punishment (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 20:14), nevertheless, eh can be counted holy and without blame through the blood of Christ. Only through the blood of Christ shall man’s sins be forgiven (Heb. 9:14).
God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that man would eventually sin and fall short of His glory (Rom. 3:23). It would have then become meaningless for God to create man only to punish him in the end, knowing that man would fall to sin. So before creating man, He had already foreordained a Redeemer and a Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that despite man’s sins, he may still have the chance to receive the grace of salvation
Without Christ and without the shedding of His blood, there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Without forgiveness, there is no salvation (John 8:24). Without any hope for salvation, man will only end up in destruction. In other words, without Him who will both redeem man from his sins and mediate him to God, the creation of man would only be rendered useless. And if the creation of man would only be rendered useless, the world that God created for man would also be rendered useless. Thus, “Without Him [Christ] nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:3, therefore, is about the redemptive and mediative roles that Christ fulfilled as foreordained by God even before the creation of the world. It teaches neither that Christ is the true God, nor that Christ is the creator of the world and of man. In truth, the belief that Christ is the true God and creator is diametrically opposed to the fundamental teaching of the Bible. In His intercessory prayer, the Lord Jesus said to the Father:
“And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:3, TEV)
When asked with the same question that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” To him they proclaimed:
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. You are the greatest of all those sent by God. You are our Lord, Savior and only Mediator to the Father” (Acts 2:36; Acts 5:31; I Tim. 2:5).
By FRANKLIN T. BUNAG
Source: God’s Message Magazine