Jesus Is Our Creator
Notes
Transcript
As we get ready for the celebration of Jesus’ birth we’ve been looking at what John’s gospel says about who Jesus is. He starts by calling Jesus the Word who was with God, and in fact is God. This shows us that in Jesus we see both what God is like and what God wants of us.
Because He is God, He shares in all the work of the Father. John next speaks of Jesus’ role in creation:
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Through Him
Through Him
God the Father is the actor in creation – from whom. He determined to bring creation into existence, planned it all.
God the Son is the agent in creation – through whom. Jesus actually brought the plans into existence.
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
What incredible power Jesus must have. He could multiply bread and fish because He made them; He could turn water into wine because they were created by Him in the first place; He could still the wind and the waves because they owed their being to Him; He could bring sight to the blind, heal the leper, and raise the dead because He is the one who formed the human body.
Creation is not the result of random events, not simply a process of evolution. Creation is the product of a master Creator. Working together, God the Father and Jesus the Son brought it all into existence out of nothing.
There’s a story going around about a man who got in an argument with God and said, “Look, you’re not the only creator. I can create now.” He’s a scientist, knows all about DNA and cloning. “I can make a man.” God says, “Well, let’s see you do it.” So the man says, “Well, I’m going to take these elements out of this dirt.” God says, “Whoa, hold on there. Get your own dirt.”
All things
All things
Everything that exists does so because God created it.
Each individual part of creation, every detail from the small sub-atomic particle to the vastness of the cosmos.
There are about 100 billion stars in the average galaxy, and there are at least one hundred million galaxies in known space.
This means that there are probably something like 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in space (ten octillion).
Not only the physical world but the spiritual as well – the angels, principalities and powers in the heavenly realm.
Everything that is owes its existence to Jesus
Insists that there is nothing that was made apart from Jesus,
Once again John affirms that Jesus was in existence before time began, before creation came into being.
We owe our existence to Jesus
In Genesis, when God says, “Let us make man in our image”, was it not Jesus that God the Father was speaking with?
As our Creator He cares about us
As our Creator He understands us, He knows what we need, He knows how to care for us.
It was said of Charles Steinmetz, the mechanical genius and friend of Henry Ford, that he could build a motor in his mind, and if it broke down he could fix it in his mind. So when he designed it and actually built it, it ran with precision.
One day the assembly line in the Ford plant broke down. None of Ford’s men could fix it, so they called in Steinmetz. He tinkered for a few minutes, threw the switch, and it started running again.
A few days later Ford received a bill from Steinmetz for $10,000. Ford wrote back, “Charlie, don’t you think your bill is a little high for just a little tinkering!” Steinmetz sent back a revised bill: “Tinkering—$10. Knowing where to tinker—$9,990.”
Insisting that everything was created by God also serves to set creation apart from God. It is distinct from God. We must be careful not to deify nature, as some religions do. Think of “Mother Earth” as one example.
For Him
For Him
Paul says the same as John about Jesus’ role in creation and takes it even a step further:
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Not only was the universe brought into existence by Him but for Him as well. He is the reason it exists – to show His glory, to demonstrate his rule. The goal of creation finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
This is why we see Jesus as the One who began the new creation by His sacrifice on the cross and will bring it to completion at His second coming.
When we look at a nativity scene and see the tiny baby in the manger, let us not forget that it is the Creator laying there. When we sing about the little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay may we remember that He is also the mighty Lord of the universe.
Let’s be sure to keep Him the focus of our celebrations this year, giving Him all the honor and glory He deserves. As Paul said:
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.