IT IS COMMON knowledge in religious parlance that one of the essential characteristics of being God is being the Creator of all things. No less than the Bible itself proves that Jesus Christ created the world and we can read that in Colossians 1:16. So how can you reconcile your teaching that Christ is not God and the fact that He created all things?
Answer: Colossians 1 :16 states, thus:
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." (New King James Versiom)
Perhaps, what makes you think that the verse teaches that "Christ created the world" is the part which states "by Him all things were created." Notice nevertheless that just before that statement, the Bible states, "He (Christ) is the firstborn over all creation" (Col. 1:15, Ibid.)—which clearly indicates that Christ is one of those which were created and therefore not Himself the Creator.
The Bible unequivocally informs us who the one and only Creator is. Isaiah 44:24 records thus:
"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself". (Ibid.)
The "Lord" and "Redeemer" who made everything "all alone" and "by Himself was further identified by the prophet Isaiah:
"Doubtless You are our Father ...You, 0 Lord^ are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name" (Isa. 63:16, Ibid.)
Hence, as the prophet Malachi rhetorically asks, "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10, Ibid.) Clearly therefore, the one God who "created the world" as taught by the Bible is not Christ, but His Father who is the only true God (John 17:1, 3).
So, why then does Colossians 1:16 state that by Him (Christ) all things were created"? That very verse itself provides the answer—the last part of it explains, "All things were created through Him (Christ)." Remember that one of the meanings of the term "by" is the word "through," and thus the two are synonyms (Microsoft Encarta 2006 Dictionary Tools). But then again, in what sense "were all things created through Christ"? The explanation is again found in that very same verse which continues, "AI! things were created through Him and for Him." That all things were created for Jesus is further explained by Apostle Raul who himself wrote Colossians 1:16. He pronounced:
"God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head. All things are done according to God's plan and decision . . . . . based on what he had decided from the very beginning" (Eph. 1:9-l 1, Today's English Version)
Notice that "from the very beginning" it had been the "secret plan" of Cod that when the time is right "He will "bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earthy with Christ as head." It is in this sense thus that God created everything for Jesus.
It is clear therefore that all things, were created "by Christ" not in the sense that He is Himself the Creator, but in the sense that all were created by the Father through and for Him (Christ). Hence, in other translations of the Bible such as the Today's English Version , Colossians 1:16 is rendered in this manner:
"For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth. . . ., God created the whole universe through him and for him." (emphasis ours)
Answer: Colossians 1 :16 states, thus:
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." (New King James Versiom)
Perhaps, what makes you think that the verse teaches that "Christ created the world" is the part which states "by Him all things were created." Notice nevertheless that just before that statement, the Bible states, "He (Christ) is the firstborn over all creation" (Col. 1:15, Ibid.)—which clearly indicates that Christ is one of those which were created and therefore not Himself the Creator.
The Bible unequivocally informs us who the one and only Creator is. Isaiah 44:24 records thus:
"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself". (Ibid.)
The "Lord" and "Redeemer" who made everything "all alone" and "by Himself was further identified by the prophet Isaiah:
"Doubtless You are our Father ...You, 0 Lord^ are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name" (Isa. 63:16, Ibid.)
Hence, as the prophet Malachi rhetorically asks, "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10, Ibid.) Clearly therefore, the one God who "created the world" as taught by the Bible is not Christ, but His Father who is the only true God (John 17:1, 3).
So, why then does Colossians 1:16 state that by Him (Christ) all things were created"? That very verse itself provides the answer—the last part of it explains, "All things were created through Him (Christ)." Remember that one of the meanings of the term "by" is the word "through," and thus the two are synonyms (Microsoft Encarta 2006 Dictionary Tools). But then again, in what sense "were all things created through Christ"? The explanation is again found in that very same verse which continues, "AI! things were created through Him and for Him." That all things were created for Jesus is further explained by Apostle Raul who himself wrote Colossians 1:16. He pronounced:
"God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head. All things are done according to God's plan and decision . . . . . based on what he had decided from the very beginning" (Eph. 1:9-l 1, Today's English Version)
Notice that "from the very beginning" it had been the "secret plan" of Cod that when the time is right "He will "bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earthy with Christ as head." It is in this sense thus that God created everything for Jesus.
It is clear therefore that all things, were created "by Christ" not in the sense that He is Himself the Creator, but in the sense that all were created by the Father through and for Him (Christ). Hence, in other translations of the Bible such as the Today's English Version , Colossians 1:16 is rendered in this manner:
"For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth. . . ., God created the whole universe through him and for him." (emphasis ours)
source: GOD'S MESSAGE, July 2008, p.4
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