Christ Our Creator (Day 65)

^{11-12 min. read / Click below to listen to Alicia read this post.}

“He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
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.
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And He is the head of the Body, the church;
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV84)

Back to Basics

The Unposted Life blog is back for 2022! We’re jumping right in where we left off in Colossians 1.

Our last post [Day 64] dealt with the idea of Jesus as the Firstborn. Today we’re looking at Christ our Creator.

“For by Him [Jesus Christ] 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.”
Colossians 1:16

God is the Creator of all things.

“In the beginning, God created…” (Genesis 1:1).

God is Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you,” (John 14:26).
“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:7-8).

Jesus Christ is God the Son; therefore, by Jesus all things were created.

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John [the baptizer] in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a Voice came from heaven: ‘You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased,'” (Mark 1:9-11).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made,” (John 1:1-3).

“For by Him [, Christ, the Son,] 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,” (Col. 1:16).

Many did not, and do not, recognize Christ for Who He is.

“He [, Jesus Christ, the Word,] was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”
John 1:10 (NIV84)

Why and how would the world not recognize their own Creator?

Romans 1 provides us with some insight here.

#1. Humans suppress the truth (by their wickedness).

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse,” (Romans 1:18-20).

#2. Mankind knew God but did not glorify Him and did not thank Him. This yielded futile thoughts and darkened foolish hearts.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles,” (Romans 1:21-23).

#3. God gave mankind over in the sinful desires of their hearts.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another,” (Romans 1:24).

#4. Mankind made an exchange: the truth of God for a lie; they exchanged worship of the Creator for worship of His creation.

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts…” (Romans 1:25,26).

#5. God gave mankind over to a depraved mind since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God.

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them,” (Romans 1:28-32).

The Verdict

“This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Jesus (John 3:19-21)

When you do evil things, you love darkness. You avoid light, because light exposes the truth about you: you are guilty of doing evil.

No Excuse = No Hope?

If people have no excuse, suppress the truth by their wickedness, and prefer darkness to light because of their evil deeds, then what hope is there?

There is “hope held out in the gospel” (Col. 1:23).

“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous shall live by faith.'”
Romans 1:17

“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20b

We still have a choice! Thanks to Jesus, we can place our faith in Him and choose to live by the truth.

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
John 3:21 (NIV84)

Instead of suppressing the truth, we can ask Jesus to shine His light in our hearts and lives and show us the truth about our sinful selves and His identity as our Creator and our Savior.

“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant?
Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”
Isaiah 50:10

3 Common Sense Ways to Know There is a Creator

If you’re like me and grew up in the church, you may not have thought much about common sense reasons outside of the Bible by which we can all know God exists. The following three arguments for a Creator can be apprehended by anyone anywhere in the world, no matter their education, location, or social status, just by observing the world around them, the people around them, and themselves.

Cosmological argument:

The universe had a beginning.
Anything that had a beginning must have been caused by something else.
Therefore, the universe was caused by something else, which we call God.
(from Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side by Natasha Crain, p.17)

Design argument:
“A designer… must exist because the universe and living things show evidence of design by an intelligent agent.”
(Crain, p.19)

Moral argument:
“The moral argument states that (1) objective moral standards exist outside of personal opinion, and (2) the best explanation for the existence of those standards is the existence of a moral law giver (such as God).”
(Crain, p.20)

Pray to See the Truth

We can pray that we and our neighbors would see clearly what He has made plain: We have a Creator, He is the One and Only God, and He is the God of the Bible. We have sinned against Him and deserve His wrath, “but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” (Rom. 5:8).

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…’
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Rom. 10:9-13,17 (NIV84)

Jesus is our Creator, and our Savior, and our Lord.