John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16

(‘All things were made through Him’)

MOST CHRISTIAN-PROFESSING churches that uphold the Christ-is-God doctrine also attribute to Christ the role of Creator or co-Creator. They consider this belief a “necessary truth” to justify their claim that Jesus is the true God. They assert that Christ, as the second person of the Trinity or Godhead, is the creator of all things. To support this claim, they cite John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16 as their “proof text” that Christ is the Creator. However, the question remains: do these passages teach that Jesus Christ created all things? Let us first cite the verses in question and see if their argument can withstand factual biblical scrutiny:

“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.”

(Reference: Col. 1:16 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

(Reference: John 1:3 NJKV, Emphasis Mine)

Nowhere in those verses says “Christ is God” or “Jesus created all things.” What the verse clearly said “For by him all things were created… all things were created by him and for him”(Col. 1:16 NIV) or “All things were made through Him” (John 1:3 NJKV).

It is only the interpretation of those who believe that Jesus is God that this verse teaches “Jesus created all things.” According to their interpretation, the phrase “For by him all things were created” or “all things were created by him” means that “Jesus Christ created all things.” Before we unravel the problematic interpretation of the context “by him,” provided by the NIV translation or any other bible version that uses the same term that may appear contradictory to other passages of the Bible, we must turn to the following principle guidelines of Apostle Paul “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (I Cor. 2:10,13 NKJV) for further clarity or in some cases—correction. We must note that any interpretation given that insists that Christ is the Creator would contradict the teachings of the Bible. The Bible explicitly tells us who is the God who created all things. In Isaiah 45:18, this is what we could read:

“For thus said YHWH, Creator of the heavens, “He is God,” Former of earth, and its Maker, “He established it—He did not create it empty,” For He formed it to be inhabited: “I [am] YHWH, and there is none else…'”

(Reference: Isa. 45:18 Literal Standard Version, Emphasis Mine)

The Bible clearly said that the God who “Created the heavens…who is the “Former of earth, and its Maker,” is “YHWH.” And the Bible also made explicit proclamation who “YHWH” is. In Exodus 3:15 this is what “YHWH” said about Himself:

“And God says again to Moses, “Thus you say to the sons of Israel: YHWH, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this [is] My Name for all time, and this [is] My memorial, to generation [and] generation.”

(Reference: Exodus 3:15 Literal Standard Version, Emphasis Mine)

Therefore, God said to Moses, “Thus you say to the sons of Israel: YHWH, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.” Thus, the God who created the heavens and formed the earth is the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob.” The Bible has explicit declaration that clearly proves the Lord Jesus Christ is NOT the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

This is what the Bible says about Jesus:

“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.”

(Reference: Acts 3:13 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)

It is clear in the Bible that the Lord Jesus is the Servant of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus, those who say that Jesus is the God who created all things contradict the teachings of the Bible that the God who created everything, who made the heavens and the earth, is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Lord Jesus is His Servant.

Therefore, for anyone to say that “Jesus created everything” misinterpreted Colossians 1:16. What was meant by Colossians 1:16 when it said, “For by him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth…”? Let us seek the original Greek Text of Colossians 1:16: from the Manuscripts Nestle-Aland 27th edition:

“ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται·”

(Reference: Nestle-Aland 27th ed, Emphasis Mine)

“hόti en autό ekisthē tá pánta en toίs ouranoίs kaί epί tés gés, tá horatá kasi tá aόrata, eίte thrόnoi eίte kuriόtĉtes eίte archaί eίte exousίai tá pánta di’ autoứ kaί eis autόn éktistai”

(Reference: Greek Transliteration, Emphasis Mine)

Take note, what some English Bible like (NIV and KJV ) translated as “For by him” is “hoti en auto” in the Greek Text. Actually, the literal translation of “hoti en auto” is “For in him.” This is the reason why there are versions of the Bible that translated Colossians 1:16 as “For in him” like the American Standard Version:

“For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him.”

(Reference: Colossians 1:16 ASV, Emphasis Mine)

“For IN him were all things created” is much more appropriate and an accurate rendition of the first part of Colossians 1:16 than “For BY him all things were created.” What does “for in him were all things created” means? The last part of Colossians 1:16 explains this, for it states in the verse, “all things have been created through him, and unto him.” Take note of the difference between NIV and ASV.

(NIV and also KJV ) rendered the last part as “all things were created BY him and for him.” While ASV rendered it as “all things have been created THROUGH him, and unto him.”

This part of Colossians 1:16 is “ta panta di’ autou” in the Greek Text. According to the book “Learn to Read Greek New Testament, p. 116,” when the Greek word “dia” followed by a Greek word in genitive case, although it can be translated as “by,” however, the word “through” is more appropriate and accurate which means “INTERMEDIARY.”

The Greek word “di’ autou,” the word “autou” is in genitive case, and “di'” is a contraction of the Greek word “dia.” Thus, the ASV’s – “all things have been created THROUGH him, and unto him” is more appropriate and accurate rendition than NIV’s – “all things were created BY him and for him” of the Greek’s “ta panta di’ autou.”

Applying the Greek rules, “dia” in “di’ autou” (“through him”) means “INTERMEDIARY.” The word “INTERMEDIARY” means “MEDIATOR” according to (Merriam dictionary, p. 266). Indeed, Christ is the mediator between the one true God and man:

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

(Reference: I Timothy 2:5 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

Even Bible Scholars attest to this. This is what the book Bible Knowledge Commentary states:

“The third characteristic of Christ is that by Him all things were created. In fact, all things were created by Him (‎di’ ‎‎autou‎, instrumental Cause) and for Him (‎eis ‎‎auton‎, final Cause), and in Him (‎en ‎‎auto‎-) they hold together (He is the constituting or conserving Cause). Christ is not only the One through whom all things came to be, but also the One by whom they continue to exist. Two other New Testament verses parallel this description of Christ: ‘Through Him all things were made’ (John 1:3), and Christ the Son is the One ‘through whom [the Father] made the universe’ (Heb 1:2). The Father, then, is the ultimate Source (efficient Cause), and the Son is the mediating Cause of the world.”

This is the reason why “Wuest” rendered Colossians 1:16 as follows:

“Because in Him were created all things in the heavens and upon the earth, the visible things and the invisible ones, whether they are thrones or lordships or principalities or authorities. All things through Him as intermediate agent and with a view to Him stand created.”

(Reference: Col 1:16 Wuest, Emphasis Mine)

Thus, Colossians 1:16 does not teach that Christ created all things, but that all things were made “through Him and for Him as an intermediate agent” or as the mediator between God and man.

So who created everything?

Was it Christ or was it God?

It’s very clear that it was God and NOT Christ! In fact, nowhere in Col 1:16 does it say Jesus created anything!

But why did God create everything? Because according to Col 1:16., all things were created through Christ because all things are — “for Christ.”

But why were all things created for Christ? Apostle Paul will give us the answer to that in Hebrews 1:2-3. Let us once again quote from the Greek Manuscripts:

“ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ,ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι’ οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας· ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς,”

“And now in these final days He has spoken to us through His Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance and through the Son, He (Father) created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God. He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command when he had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of majestic God in heaven.”

(Reference: Greek Manuscript with English Translation, Emphasis Mine)

Take note, in the Greek syntax, ἐποίησεν ( He created ) refers to the Father.

But what further validates this? In the MSG version of the New Testament, it is rendered as, “By his Son, God created the world…” There is a clear indication from the English text a break by comma then indicating who is the creator is after the comma which is “God.” So even the biblical Scholars who translated the ancient text recognized this syntax. For further clarification since Greek to English can be a bit rough, let us read the NIV version of this passage:

“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he [God] appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

(Reference: Heb 1:2-3 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

It’s important to recognize that there are two distinct entities being spoken about in the passage. God, who is the Father, and Christ, who is the one appointed as heir of all things, and Christ sits at the right hand of God. This shows that there are two separate beings: God, who is the Father, and Christ, who is the appointed heir. If Christ were God, he wouldn’t need to inherit or be appointed anything, as everything is already inherent with God. Furthermore, the mention of Christ sitting at the right hand “of” God reinforces the idea of two distinct beings. Therefore, this is a hard position to avoid for many Trinitarians who not only wrestle with the passage but go to great lengths and twist the scriptures with their own private interpretation to make it yield in a way that aligns with their beliefs.

Therefore, it is clear that anyone who insists that Jesus is the Creator and the true God, faces a significant problem. This belief would imply that Christ, who is ‘supposedly God’, was appointed by another God, which is already illogical. It would mean there are two Gods—the YHWH who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jesus, the Servant of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is akin to saying that God is the Servant of Himself, a logical absurdity that cannot be explained.

What further evidence is there that Jesus is not the Creator and that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and is the one and ONLY Creator? Let’s read:

“I am the LORD, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the LORD, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me.”

(Reference: Isa. 44:24 GNT, Emphasis Mine)

Note that God, the Father, is the creator of all things. He further stated that He alone created all things and, “No one helped me.” Hence, it was the Father who created all things, NOT Jesus Christ, unless the proponents of the Jesus-is-God doctrine will stubbornly insist that the God of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ, a notion utterly unsupported by the scriptures of the entire Old Testament, let alone the New Testament.

If we read this from the NIV translation, it further validates this position of God, who alone created all things. Let us read:

“This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself.”

(Reference: Isa. 44:24 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

Take note, “by myself.”

So both translations support that God who is the Father is the ONLY Creator. Thus, to say that Jesus is also the Creator is a direct biblical contradiction of Gods words recorded in the scriptures.

JOHN 1:3

In fact, not only that all things were created through Christ, but without Christ nothing was made that was made. Let us read:

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

(Reference: John 1:3, NKJV, Emphasis Mine)

Thus, all things were made THROUGH Christ and without Christ in the picture, “nothing was made that was made” and the very reason why:

“For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, … God created the whole universe through him and for him.”

(Reference: Col. 1:16 Today’s English Version, Emphasis Mine)

CREATED THROUGH AND FOR CHRIST

Let us expound further as to why all things were created through and for Christ by God.

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, man will be reconciled to God. This is proven in the context of the verse cited above. To further validate this position, let us read:

“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 …”

(Reference: Col. 1:20-22 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

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.”

(Reference: I Timothy 2:5 NIV, Emphasis Mine)

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.

Before God created the world, He had already planned for us to belong or to be in 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.”

(Reference: New International Revised Version, Emphasis Mine)

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, he 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 physical creator of the world and of man. Thus, Christ did not create anything. 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:

“After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father…

And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.”

(Reference: John 17:1,3 ISV, Emphasis Mine)

When asked with the same question that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Christians must speak up and say, “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).

IN CONCLUSION

1

Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3 in no way validates that Christ is the Creator.

2

The Greek word “di’ autou,” the word “autou” is in genitive case, and “di'” is a contraction of the Greek word “dia.” Thus, the ASV’s – “all things have been created THROUGH him, and unto him” is more appropriate and accurate rendition than NIV’s – “all things were created BY him and for him” of the Greek’s “ta panta di’ autou.”

Applying the Greek rules, “dia” in “di’ autou” (“through him”) means “INTERMEDIARY.” The word “INTERMEDIARY” means “MEDIATOR” according to (Merriam dictionary, p. 266). Indeed, Christ is the mediator between the one true God and men (I Tim 2:5 NKJV).

3

It’s important to recognize that there are two distinct entities being spoken about in the passage. God, who is the Father, and Christ, who is the one appointed as heir of all things, and Christ sits at the right hand of God. This shows that there are two separate beings: God, who is the Father, and Christ, who is the appointed heir. If Christ were God, he wouldn’t need to inherit or be appointed anything, as everything is already inherent with God. Furthermore, the mention of Christ sitting at the right hand “of” God reinforces the idea of two distinct beings.

4

Trinitarians are faced with the problematic position that the God who created the heavens and formed the earth is the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob.” The Bible has an explicit declaration that clearly proves the Lord Jesus Christ is NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because Christ is the “Servant of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Thus, to declare that Christ is God is akin to saying that God is the Servant of Himself, a logical absurdity that cannot be explained.

5

Trinitarians have no biblical standing in their twisted translation of these two passages they wrestle with and further prove how illogical and absurd their interpretation is.

WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of Christ and His apostles as they were taught in the first-century Church Of Christ:

The Truth about God and Jesus Christ

SUPPORTERS OF THE BELIEF in the divinity of Christ, also known as the Christ-is-God or the God-man doctrine, assert that God exists as a trinity consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although they are three in nature and considered distinct beings, proponents maintain that they form a single God. The concept of the Trinity lacks explicit biblical endorsement; thus, proponents often argue that it represents a profound mystery beyond human comprehension and should be accepted by faith alone.

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“Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”
(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)

“Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)