While not all, most religions teach the universe and all that is in it was created by some kind of divine being. Yet, their teachings on this subject are vastly different. Some religions teach creation is a byproduct of the interaction of various gods usually through sexual activity. Some have the creative work being conducted by lesser beings at the direction of a main or more powerful god. Many will have stories of the creation of the gods themselves. The three main monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) have a single god as the creator, but they are different gods or a misunderstanding of the one true God as in the case of Judaism. For unlike Judaism, Christians worship a triune God.
It is sad there are those who propagate the idea all religions are the same, and we all are basically worshiping the same god. It is a misunderstanding at best, a lie of Satan at worst. It has led many astray. Even sadder are the number of people who accept this on face value when it is far from the truth. A simple review of the various religions practiced in the world will easily show a person these religions are vastly different. The god they worship is different, the number of gods they worship is different, and the character of each god’s nature—even down to the sex of the god—is different. One’s relationship with their god or gods is controlled by varied factors even to the point of whether it is possible to have a relationship with him or her. Salvation—the need for it, the means of obtaining it—is vastly diverse and distinct in each religion.
The nature and the process of creation is different in each. Even between Judaism and Christianity—which use the same creation story—the one doing the creating is critically unique in each faith. This is the point of this post. While not a prophesy, typology or theophany, creation tells us about Jesus in the Old Testament. Creation is a story of Jesus.
There is a reference to Jesus in the very first verse of the Old Testament: “God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). The rest of the first two chapters give us the details of that creative work. In the New Testament we learn more. Colossians 1:16 tells us that it was “by Jesus that all things were created…all things were created through Him and for Him.”
In the Gospel of John, we get even greater clarity on this. In Jn 1:1-3 we learn
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We see that the Word was God and was with God creating everything that was created. John 1:14-18 makes it clear this Word is none other than Jeus Christ. This is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 8:6. It should be noted that in Gen 1:2 even the Holy Spirit is on the scene for creation. We are going to see, especially in our study on the Trinity, that all three persons of the Trinity have an active part to play in everything that one person of the Trinity does from creation to our salvation to Consummation. It is the Trinity that is at work. Each person doing their part in perfect union with each other.
This first look at Jesus in the Old Testament teaches some particularly important things about Jesus. First, the Son was actively involved in what the Father was doing from the beginning. He was not sitting by waiting for the incarnation to start working.
Next, we are just as accountable to Jesus as our Creator as we are to the Father. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, not a secondary member of the Trinity. We will see in our encounters with Jesus in the Old Testament and in our Growing in Knowing series that the attributes we consider belonging to God the Father are Jesus’ attributes also—along with the Holy Spirit—for each are fully God.
It is exciting to see that Jesus, like God the Father and the Holy Spirit, is fully God. He has the incredible power (omnipotence), the amazing knowledge and understanding (omniscience) to be the Creator. Jesus is infinite (eternal and omnipresent): He is outside of created space and time and thus uncreated. He is more than a man who walked this earth 2,000 years ago but the timeless, all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe. Not a separate God from the Father and the Spirit but a co-equal, co-eternal member of the Trinity with them. One being in three distinct persons. One God – Three persons.
Another other point that should not be missed is the third word of Gen 1:3. “Said,” God spoke. The infinite spoke the finite into existence. God is incomprehensible, far beyond our understanding: transcendent (Ps 139:17-18, Isa 6:1, Isa 40, Jer. 10:6) (see The No). How then do we know anything about an incomprehensible, transcendent Being? He spoke. Our God is self-revealing. What we know of Him we know from His work (Rom 1: 19-20) and from His special revelation to us. In Hebrews 1:1–2:
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Jesus goes so far as to say “…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9). A major part of His mission was to reveal God to us. Without that revelation, without God speaking, we would not and could not know Him.
A last point about the Creator—the Trinity—notice that “in the beginning” (Gen 1:1) God was already there. He is not part of creation but outside of all creation including time and space. This is incredibly hard to understand. As a temporal being, I do not grasp the concept of timelessness. Everything I know or do is time oriented. The very beating of my heart tells me time is passing. Yet, God is transcendent of time: outside of time, unaffected by time. God has never gotten one moment older. He just is! I accept this truth but do admit I lack the brain capacity to fully comprehend it.
The same is true of space. It is not as if God filled a pre-existing empty space with the universe of stars, planets, and living beings. There was not even empty space before the beginning: only God, the triune God. This transcendence of God—who is never explained but assumed, described but who’s existence is never justified—is taught in the very first verse of the whole Bible. The first thing God has to say to us is “I exist, and I created everything.”
When we give due thought to OT passages such as Gen 1:1 and the supportive verses in the NT, we find amazing truths not just in the NT but declared in the whole Bible! When you read other passages about creation from Psalms, Job, or Isaiah be sure to see Jesus in these passages. It is true that the original readers didn’t see Him, but we have the full revelation of Jesus and the NT to open up the truths of the WHOLE Bible to us! Don’t miss them!
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg