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In this message we shall cover the matter of Christ’s person in creation.
Christ is the Creator. Since God is the Creator of all things and since Christ is God, He surely is also the Creator of all things. This is clearly revealed in Hebrews 1:10: “You in the beginning, Lord, have founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.” This verse, a quotation from Psalm 102:25, is applied to Christ the Son and indicates that, as God, Christ created heaven and earth. Therefore, Christ is the Creator of the universe.
Christ is not only the Creator but also the Word through whom all things came into being. He is not only the Creator but also the means through which creation came into existence. Speaking of Christ as the Word, John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being which has come into being.” Here we see that creation came into being through the Word, which is Christ. What does it mean that all things came into being through Him and that apart from Him nothing has come into being? It simply means that apart from Him nothing has existence. One day, through the Word as the means, many things came into being.
We may say that, in a sense, the Creator did not need to work in order to make anything, for there was no need for Him to do anything. He simply spoke, and everything had being. According to our concept, creation requires labor. However, in God’s creation there was no labor, only speaking. When God said, “Let there be light,” light came into existence. When He said, “Let there be an expanse,” the expanse came into being. When He said, “Let the dry land appear,” the dry land appeared. Through the all-inclusive Christ as the Word all things came into being.
Do you know what creation is? Creation is the calling of things not being as being through the Word (Rom. 4:17). The Word is both the means and the sphere of creation.
We may not differentiate Christ as the Creator from Christ as the means of creation. Even we may interpret John 1:3 as meaning that the Word is the Creator of all things. However, this verse does not say that the Word was the Creator; instead, this verse says that through the Word all things came into being, indicating that the Word was the means through which the Creator created all things. Christ is both the Creator and the means by which all things were created.
Although as God Christ is the Creator, John 1:3 reveals that as the Word He was the means of creation. According to this verse, all things came into existence through Christ. The King James Version of John 1:3 says, “All things were made by him.” However, this is not an accurate translation. The Greek preposition should be rendered “through” and not “by.” Hence, this verse does not say that all things were created by Christ but that all things came into existence through Christ. This indicates that Christ is the means of creation.
Christ is in fact the Creator of all things. The point we are emphasizing here is that Christ is the Word through whom all things came into being. He is the means of creation.
Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not come into being from things which appear.” We need to consider this verse along with the last part of Hebrews 1:2, which says that through Christ the universe was made. Scientists are trying to learn how the universe was framed. According to the book of Hebrews, the universe was framed through Christ as the Word of God. God spoke, and the universe came into being. Christ as the Word of God to be the means through which God’s creation came into being implies also that, as the means of God’s creation, Christ speaks God, defines God, and explains God.
Colossians 1:15 says that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation. This means that in creation Christ is the first. Christ as God is the Creator. However, as man, sharing the created blood and flesh (Heb. 2:14), He is part of the creation. “Firstborn of all creation” refers to Christ’s preeminence in all creation, since from this verse through verse 18 of Colossians 1 Paul emphasizes the first place of Christ in all things. This verse reveals that Christ is not only the Creator but also the first among all created things, the first among all creatures.
Some insist that Christ is only the Creator, not a creature. But the Bible reveals that Christ is both the Creator and a creature, for He is both God and man. As God Christ is the Creator, but as man He is a creature. How could He have man’s flesh, blood, and bones if He were not a creature? It is heretical to not believe that Christ truly became a man. Our Christ is God, has always been God, and always will be God. But through incarnation He became a man. Otherwise, He could not have shed His blood on the cross for our sins. It is a basic truth that our Christ is both God and man, both the Creator and a creature.
As God Christ is eternal and did not need to be born. But in Colossians 1:15 He is called the Firstborn of all creation. Anything that requires birth must be a creature, a part of creation. If Christ were only God and not man, He could not have been born, for God is infinite and eternal, without beginning or ending. But as a man Christ had to be born. Isaiah 9:6 says, “Unto us a child is born,...and his name shall be called...The mighty God.” As the mighty God Christ is eternal, but as the child He had to be born. Some argue that Christ was born but not created. According to the Bible, birth is the carrying out of creation. To be born is to be created.
Some may wonder how Christ could be the Firstborn of all creation since He was born less than two thousand years ago, not at the very beginning of creation. For this, we need to realize that there is no time element with God. For example, according to our estimate of time, Christ was crucified about two thousand years ago. But Revelation 13:8 says that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. Both are right. However, God’s reckoning is much more important than ours. In the sight of God, Christ was crucified from the foundation of the world. In eternity God foresaw the fall of man. Therefore, also in eternity, He made preparation for the accomplishment of redemption.
We may apply this matter of the different ways of reckoning time to Christ as the Firstborn of all creation. According to our sense of time, Christ was born in Bethlehem approximately two thousand years ago. But in the sight of God, Christ was born before the foundation of the world. If He was slain from the foundation of the world, certainly He must have been born before then. Therefore, according to God’s perspective in eternity, according to God’s viewpoint, Christ has always been the first of all creatures. God foresaw the day that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Because Christ is the first among the creatures, we can say that as the all-inclusive One He is both the Creator and a creature, a part of creation.
Christ is the Creator, the means of creation, and the first among the creatures. However, because Arius in the fourth century used Colossians 1:15 to teach heresy concerning Christ, many theologians want to avoid saying that Christ is the first among all creatures. One writer has said that although Colossians 1:15 indicates that Christ is the first in creation, we should not say this, lest we be condemned by fundamental Christians for following the heretical teachings of Arius.
Arius taught that Christ’s divinity was incomplete and that He came into being through the union of the Logos and the human body. Therefore, according to Arius, Christ cannot compare with God, but is merely the most outstanding, the noblest, and the highest among the creatures. Arius taught that the Word is not God, who is uncreated, but is instead the chief of all creation. He asserted that Christ was created by God before the ages, preceding all created things. This means that there was a time when Christ did not exist. Arius further affirmed that because Christ died without sin, He could be resurrected, ascend to the heavens, and thus become God.
The false doctrine of Arius is contrary to the revelation of the Scriptures. The Bible says clearly that the Word, Christ, was God (John 1:1), yet Arius asserted that the Word is not the self-existent God, and he therefore maintained that Christ’s divinity is imperfect and cannot compare with that of God. This is truly a great heresy. The Bible says that Christ is the very God, who exists from the beginning and who is self-existent and without beginning. However, Arius said that there was a time when Christ did not exist and that He became God only after His resurrection and ascension. This kind of teaching is a great insult to Christ’s divine person, and we utterly repudiate it.
In saying that Christ, the Creator and the means of creation, is the first among the creatures, we are simply following the pure Word of God. Colossians 1:15 indicates clearly that with respect to His humanity Christ was created. The Greek word rendered “Firstborn” is prototokos, composed of two words: proto, which means the first one or the beginning, and tokos, which means born, produced. Hence, prototokos means the first one born, the first one produced in the beginning; it can thus be translated “the firstborn.” That Christ is the Firstborn of all creation means that He is the first, the Chief, of all creation. This does not mean that He is before all creation and is therefore not to be included in creation.
Colossians 1:15-18 says twice that Christ is the Firstborn. Verse 15 says that He is the Firstborn of all creation, and verse 18 says that He is the “Firstborn from among the dead.” As the Firstborn from among the dead Christ is the first among the resurrected, whereas His being the Firstborn of all creation means that He is first among the created. This means that among the created ones and the resurrected ones Christ is the Firstborn and occupies the first place. The central thought here is that Christ has the preeminence in all things. If He were not the Firstborn of all creation and thereby the first among the creatures, He could not have the preeminence in creation.
As God the Creator Christ is without beginning. But as the Firstborn of all creation He does not come into being by Himself; rather, He has a beginning in creation. As to His being the Firstborn of all creation, He has the created human nature. Regarding the created human nature, He, the Firstborn of all creation, surely is not without beginning nor is He self-existing, but instead begins from creation. This means that as the Creator He is the uncreated, self-existing One, but as a creature, even the Firstborn of the created ones, He has a beginning.
Christ is called the Firstborn of all creation because even before creation God ordained that He should become a created man. Concerning this, Brother Watchman Nee says, “In creation, the Son is ‘the Firstborn of all creation.’ He is also the beginning (the First One) of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14). For in His eternal plan, before the foundation of the world, God ordained that the Son should become flesh to accomplish redemption (1 Pet. 1:20). Therefore, in God’s plan the Son is the First One among the creatures” (p. 97, The Present Testimony, No. 34, published in March-April, 1934).
This certainly is not in accordance with Arius’ assertion that Christ was created before the foundation of the world. Such an assertion is without scriptural basis. The Bible reveals that before the foundation of the world, even before anything was created, God had ordained that Christ become a created man in order to accomplish His purpose. Hence, in God’s plan and in His eternal view, Christ is the first One created, the Firstborn of all creation, the Head of all created ones. Therefore, to say that with respect to His humanity Christ is created and is the Firstborn of all creation is altogether in agreement with the scriptural revelation and is founded on scriptural ground.
According to the revelation of the Bible, Christ is both the Creator and a creature, because He is God and also man. He is God who creates, and He is also a man, who is created. As to His being God, He is the uncreated Creator, the great I Am who is without beginning. But as to His being a man, He is created; He is the Firstborn with a beginning.
We need to know these two aspects of Christ. We need to see that He is both God the Creator and also man, a creature. He is the great I Am and also the Firstborn. He is without beginning and also with a beginning. The Bible clearly reveals that Christ is the Creator and that He became a creature, just as He is God and became a man. If we confess only that Christ is the Creator but deny that He is a creature, we are in principle the same as those who deny heretically that Christ came in the flesh (1 John 4:2-3). We should never deny the created aspect of Christ. He is the uncreated God, and He is also a created man. He is the Lord of creation, and He is also a creature, even the Firstborn of all creation.
In Revelation 3:14 we see that Christ is the beginning of the creation. He is the origination of the creation of God. This is an important concept. Some translators have said that Christ is the Originator, not the origination. However, the meaning here is not originator but origination. Christ is the origination of God’s action to create the universe.
We may say that as the beginning of the creation Christ is God’s “prototype.” In manufacturing often a prototype is made, and the mass production follows later. Such a prototype is the beginning of what is to be produced. Christ is the Firstborn of all creation and the beginning of creation. He is the first in creation, and He is the prototype.
Colossians 1:16 says, “In Him were all things created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.” “In Him” means in the power of Christ’s person. All things were created in the power of what Christ is. All creation bears the characteristics of Christ’s intrinsic power. Furthermore, “in Him” implies that Christ is both the sphere and the element of creation. All things were created in Christ as the sphere and the element. “Through Him” indicates that Christ is the active instrument through which the creation of all things was processed. Finally, “unto Him” indicates that Christ is the goal, the consummation, of all creation. All things were created unto Him for His possession. Therefore, the process of creation was carried out in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ.
In his note on Colossians 1:16 in his New Translation, J. N. Darby says that the words “in Him” mean in the power of Christ’s person, and that “He was the one whose intrinsic power characterized the creation.” Commenting on the meaning of the Greek preposition used in the phrase “in Him were all things created,” Darby says that it is “used generally for the character in which a thing is done” (Collected Writings, Vol. 33, p. 87). He also states that the “creation of all things was characterized and wrought by the inherent power which is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and all things subsist together as one ordered and law-governed whole by the same constant and inherent power” (Collected Writings, Vol. 31, p. 188).
Christ is the active instrument through which creation was processed. In this process God’s power is expressed, made manifest. This is revealed clearly in Romans 1:20, a verse which says that the “invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, being apprehended by the things made, are clearly seen, both His eternal power and divinity.” In all created things God’s power is made manifest. Hence, in Darby’s words, creation bears the characteristics of Christ’s intrinsic power.
Christ is related to creation in a subjective way. He did not create the universe merely in an objective way as an objective Creator. He did not, so to speak, stand apart and call everything into being. On the contrary, the process of creation took place in Him, that is, in the power of His person. Christ is the unique power in the universe. His very person is this power. Therefore, creation was processed in Him. This means that He was not merely an objective Creator but also the subjective instrument through which creation was processed. For this reason creation bears the characteristics of Christ’s intrinsic power.
The Bible says that all things came into being through Him, or were created in Him. The words “through Him” and “in Him” are subjective. According to the Greek, we may translate the last prepositional phrase in Colossians 1:16 either “for Him” or “unto Him.” It is better to render the Greek “unto Him.” “For Him” is objective, but “unto Him” is subjective. All things have been created in Christ, through Christ, and, ultimately, unto Christ. These expressions indicate that Christ has a subjective relationship to creation. Creation is not simply for Him; it is also unto Him. This means that it consummates in Him. The three prepositions in, through, and unto are used by the apostle to point out the subjective relationship of Christ to creation. Creation took place in the power of Christ’s person, through Him as the active instrument, and unto Him as its consummation. Such a relationship is subjective. Because of His subjective relationship to creation, Christ expresses God in creation. Creation expresses the characteristics of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15).
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ upholds “all things by the word of His power.” After creating all things, Christ became the Upholder of all things. The earth is suspended in space. There is nothing visible supporting it. After Christ created the earth, He began to uphold it, and He upholds it now by the word of His power.
If you ask scientists what upholds the earth, they will say only that something upholds it. The earth is one of many planets. Astronomers tell us that all the planets move according to their own track. If they were to move out of orbit, there would be a global accident. Who upholds all the planets and the whole universe? Christ upholds all things, and He upholds them very easily. There is no need for Him to do anything — He simply speaks. He upholds all things by the word of His power.
The book of Hebrews emphasizes the word of God. Hebrews 11:3 says that the universe was framed by the word of God. Now we see in 1:3 that the universe is upheld by the word of Christ’s power. The divine word is powerful. Christ is not only the Creator and the means of creation; He is also the Upholder. He created the universe, and now He upholds the universe by His word.
Speaking of Christ, Colossians 1:17 says, “All things subsist together in Him.” “Subsist together in Him” means to exist together by Christ as the holding center, just as the spokes of a wheel are held together by the hub at their center. For creation to subsist in Christ is a further indication that Christ is subjectively related to creation.
It is important to differentiate between the words exist, consist, and subsist. Colossians 1:17 does not say that all things exist in Christ or consist in Him; this verse says that all things subsist in Him. To exist is to be, to consist is to be composed or constituted, and to subsist is to be held together for existence. Imagine a wheel with its rim, spokes, and hub. All the spokes subsist together in the hub. The only way for the spokes to subsist is to be held together at the hub in the center of the wheel. This illustrates Christ’s relationship to creation with respect to the fact that all things subsist in Him.
We have pointed out that all things came into being in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ. Nothing should be regarded as separate from Him. All things were made in the intrinsic power of Christ’s person, through Him as the active instrument, and unto Him as the consummate goal. Furthermore, all things subsist, are held together, in Him as the hub. Because all things were created in Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ and because all things subsist in Christ, God can be expressed in creation through Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.
According to the New Testament, the word “subsist” includes, or implies, three things: to exist, to live, and to live together. All things not only exist in Christ but also live, or continue in existence, in Him. Furthermore, all things live together, or exist together, in Him. The entire universe subsists, exists together, in Christ. He is the center in which all things subsist. All things not only exist in Him; all things also live in Him and live together corporately in Him.
In creation Christ is the Heir of all things. Hebrews 1:2 says that God has appointed Christ the Son Heir of all things. In the past Christ was the Creator, in the present He is the Upholder of all things, and in the future He will be the Heir to inherit all things. The sun, the earth, the solar system, the stars, the galaxies — all are His. All things are for Him, and He will inherit all things. In God’s creation Christ is the Creator, the Upholder, and the Heir. All things are of Him, through Him, and unto Him.
