Apologetics · FaithLogic
Jesus Is the Creator of Everything — Every NT Author Agrees
In the Old Testament, creation is YHWH's act — and Isaiah 44:24 puts it sharply: "I am YHWH, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens… Who was with me?" (Second-Temple Judaism did personify God's Wisdom as present at creation — Proverbs 8; Wisdom of Solomon 9 — but as God's own attribute, never as a second maker.) The New Testament goes further: every major author independently says the Son is the one through whom everything was made, and places him on the Creator's side of the Creator/creation line. Below: the four texts, the standard "he was only a subordinate instrument" objection, and how the fathers answered it.
The Four NT Creation Texts — Four Independent Authors
Colossians 1:15–17 — Paul: All Things Created Through and FOR Jesus
τὰ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται — "all things through him and for him were created"
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." — Colossians 1:15–17
Five staggering claims in three verses:
1. He is the image (eikon) of the invisible God — the exact visible representation of the invisible Father. Not a shadow, not a representative — the exact image. Hebrews 1:3 uses "exact imprint (charakter) of his nature."
2. All things were created through him — the entire universe, all dimensions of reality, all spiritual and physical realms. "All things" (ta panta) appears three times in these three verses — emphatic totality.
3. All things were created FOR him — not just through him as an agent, but FOR him as the goal and purpose. The universe exists for Jesus. Only God can be the purpose of creation.
4. He is before all things — pre-existent to all creation. Confirms John 1:1 — "in the beginning was the Word."
5. In him all things hold together (synestēken) — he sustains and maintains the existence of everything right now. Remove him and everything ceases. This is the divine act of sustaining creation — attributed in the OT exclusively to YHWH (Nehemiah 9:6 — "you preserve them all").
The "firstborn of all creation" challenge:
Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses use "firstborn of all creation" to argue Jesus was the first created being. This misreads the Greek. Prōtotokos (firstborn) in the OT never means "first one born into a category" — it means "heir, supreme authority over the category." Psalm 89:27 — God says of David: "I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth." David was not the first king born — he is called firstborn to indicate his supremacy. Colossians 1:15 means Jesus is the supreme heir over all creation — confirmed by verse 16: "for BY him all things were created." The creator cannot be the first created being. The grammar itself refutes the Arian reading.
Five staggering claims in three verses:
1. He is the image (eikon) of the invisible God — the exact visible representation of the invisible Father. Not a shadow, not a representative — the exact image. Hebrews 1:3 uses "exact imprint (charakter) of his nature."
2. All things were created through him — the entire universe, all dimensions of reality, all spiritual and physical realms. "All things" (ta panta) appears three times in these three verses — emphatic totality.
3. All things were created FOR him — not just through him as an agent, but FOR him as the goal and purpose. The universe exists for Jesus. Only God can be the purpose of creation.
4. He is before all things — pre-existent to all creation. Confirms John 1:1 — "in the beginning was the Word."
5. In him all things hold together (synestēken) — he sustains and maintains the existence of everything right now. Remove him and everything ceases. This is the divine act of sustaining creation — attributed in the OT exclusively to YHWH (Nehemiah 9:6 — "you preserve them all").
The "firstborn of all creation" challenge:
Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses use "firstborn of all creation" to argue Jesus was the first created being. This misreads the Greek. Prōtotokos (firstborn) in the OT never means "first one born into a category" — it means "heir, supreme authority over the category." Psalm 89:27 — God says of David: "I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth." David was not the first king born — he is called firstborn to indicate his supremacy. Colossians 1:15 means Jesus is the supreme heir over all creation — confirmed by verse 16: "for BY him all things were created." The creator cannot be the first created being. The grammar itself refutes the Arian reading.
John 1:3 — Nothing Was Made Without Him
πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν — "all things through him came into being, and apart from him came into being not even one thing"
"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." — John 1:3
John structures this with deliberate redundancy to close every possible loophole:
— Positive: "All things were made through him" — universally inclusive
— Negative: "without him was not any thing made that was made" — explicitly excludes any exception
The logical implication for the X→Z argument:
John 1:3 creates two and only two categories: (A) everything that was made, and (B) the Word through whom everything was made. The Word is explicitly placed outside category A — "without him nothing was made that was MADE." The Word is uncreated. Only God is uncreated. Therefore the Word is God. This is not theology — it is John's own grammar eliminating every alternative.
John structures this with deliberate redundancy to close every possible loophole:
— Positive: "All things were made through him" — universally inclusive
— Negative: "without him was not any thing made that was made" — explicitly excludes any exception
The logical implication for the X→Z argument:
John 1:3 creates two and only two categories: (A) everything that was made, and (B) the Word through whom everything was made. The Word is explicitly placed outside category A — "without him nothing was made that was MADE." The Word is uncreated. Only God is uncreated. Therefore the Word is God. This is not theology — it is John's own grammar eliminating every alternative.
Hebrews 1:2 — The Son Is the One Through Whom God Created All Things
δι' οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας — "through whom he also made the ages/worlds"
"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 (tous aionas — the ages/worlds)." — Hebrews 1:2
Hebrews opens by establishing Jesus as both the agent of creation ("through whom he created") and the heir of creation ("appointed the heir of all things"). The Father creates through the Son. This is the same distinction Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 8:6 — "from whom are all things" (Father) and "through whom are all things" (Son). The author of Hebrews then immediately quotes Psalm 102 — a psalm addressed to YHWH as creator — and applies it to the Son in verse 10: "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands." The Father addresses the Son as the YHWH who created the heavens and earth.
Hebrews opens by establishing Jesus as both the agent of creation ("through whom he created") and the heir of creation ("appointed the heir of all things"). The Father creates through the Son. This is the same distinction Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 8:6 — "from whom are all things" (Father) and "through whom are all things" (Son). The author of Hebrews then immediately quotes Psalm 102 — a psalm addressed to YHWH as creator — and applies it to the Son in verse 10: "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands." The Father addresses the Son as the YHWH who created the heavens and earth.
1 Corinthians 8:6 — Paul Rewrites the Shema to Include Jesus as Creator
εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα... καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα — "one God the Father, from whom all things... and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things"
"Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." — 1 Corinthians 8:6
This is Paul rewriting Deuteronomy 6:4 — the Shema:
Deuteronomy 6:4 — "Hear O Israel, YHWH our God, YHWH is one (echad)."
Paul takes the Shema — the most sacred monotheistic declaration in Judaism — and places Jesus inside it. The Father is the one God. Jesus is the one Lord through whom all things exist. The Shema's "one Lord" is now Jesus.
The creation language is divided precisely:
— Father: ex hou (from whom) — the ultimate source of all things
— Jesus: di hou (through whom) — the agent through whom all things were made
This matches exactly the OT pattern where YHWH creates through his Word (Psalm 33:6 — "By the word of YHWH the heavens were made"). The Word/Son is the agent through whom the Father creates. Paul is not lowering Jesus below the Father — he is identifying Jesus as the divine Word/agent inside the Shema itself.
This is Paul rewriting Deuteronomy 6:4 — the Shema:
Deuteronomy 6:4 — "Hear O Israel, YHWH our God, YHWH is one (echad)."
Paul takes the Shema — the most sacred monotheistic declaration in Judaism — and places Jesus inside it. The Father is the one God. Jesus is the one Lord through whom all things exist. The Shema's "one Lord" is now Jesus.
The creation language is divided precisely:
— Father: ex hou (from whom) — the ultimate source of all things
— Jesus: di hou (through whom) — the agent through whom all things were made
This matches exactly the OT pattern where YHWH creates through his Word (Psalm 33:6 — "By the word of YHWH the heavens were made"). The Word/Son is the agent through whom the Father creates. Paul is not lowering Jesus below the Father — he is identifying Jesus as the divine Word/agent inside the Shema itself.
OBJECTIONColossians 1:15 says Jesus is "firstborn of all creation" — this means he was created first before everything else.▼
ANALYSIS
Why "Firstborn" Does Not Mean "First Created"
The Hebrew and Greek usage of firstborn: Prōtotokos in the OT consistently means "heir, one with supreme authority over a group" — not necessarily the chronologically first born. Psalm 89:27 — God says of David: "I will make him the firstborn (prōtotokon in LXX), the highest of the kings of the earth." David was not the first king born in history. He is called firstborn to indicate his supreme authority over kings. The same usage applies in Colossians 1:15 — Jesus is the supreme heir over all creation.
The verse itself refutes the "first created" reading: Colossians 1:16 — "for BY him all things were created." If Jesus were the first created being, the verse would say "along with him all other things were created" or "after him all things were created." Instead it says all things were created BY him. The creator cannot be a creature. The "firstborn" must refer to his position as supreme heir — not his sequence as the first created.
Hebrews 1:6 uses the same word: "When he brings the firstborn (prōtotokon) into the world, he says, 'Let all God's angels worship him.'" If firstborn means "first created" here, it would mean: when God brought the first created being into the world, he told all angels to worship that created being — which is idolatry in OT terms. The only coherent reading is that firstborn means "supreme heir" — the one who inherits the world and receives the worship of angels.
The objection: "through him" (di' autou) makes him a tool, not the Creator
The Unitarian reading: 1 Corinthians 8:6 and John 1:3 say things were made through (dia) the Son, while they are from (ek) the Father. So the Father is the real Creator and the Son is the instrument he used — like a craftsman and his chisel.
Response 1 — no Old Testament text has YHWH create through a separate being. Isaiah 44:24: "I, YHWH… who alone stretched out the heavens… Who was with me?" The answer expected is "no one." When YHWH creates "by his word" (Psalm 33:6), the word is not another being alongside him — it is his own speech. If the Son is the "through whom" of creation and there was no one with YHWH, the Son is not outside the being of YHWH.
Response 2 — the preposition does not carry that weight. Basil of Caesarea devoted a treatise section to this (On the Holy Spirit 8): "through whom" distinguishes the persons of the Godhead in the one work of creation; it does not rank them or reduce the Son to a passive tool. Scripture itself is fluid with the prepositions — Romans 11:36 says "from him and through him and to him are all things" of God without remainder.
Response 3 — the surrounding clauses exclude the instrument reading. The Son is not only "through whom all things were made" but is "before all things" (Colossians 1:17), the one "in whom all things hold together" (present tense), and — in Hebrews 1:10, on the Father's own lips — the "Lord" who "laid the foundation of the earth." A chisel does not hold the house together after it is built, and the carpenter does not address the chisel as "Lord" and Creator.
Response 1 — no Old Testament text has YHWH create through a separate being. Isaiah 44:24: "I, YHWH… who alone stretched out the heavens… Who was with me?" The answer expected is "no one." When YHWH creates "by his word" (Psalm 33:6), the word is not another being alongside him — it is his own speech. If the Son is the "through whom" of creation and there was no one with YHWH, the Son is not outside the being of YHWH.
Response 2 — the preposition does not carry that weight. Basil of Caesarea devoted a treatise section to this (On the Holy Spirit 8): "through whom" distinguishes the persons of the Godhead in the one work of creation; it does not rank them or reduce the Son to a passive tool. Scripture itself is fluid with the prepositions — Romans 11:36 says "from him and through him and to him are all things" of God without remainder.
Response 3 — the surrounding clauses exclude the instrument reading. The Son is not only "through whom all things were made" but is "before all things" (Colossians 1:17), the one "in whom all things hold together" (present tense), and — in Hebrews 1:10, on the Father's own lips — the "Lord" who "laid the foundation of the earth." A chisel does not hold the house together after it is built, and the carpenter does not address the chisel as "Lord" and Creator.
How the church read it
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2.2.4 and 4.20.1. "It was not angels… nor any power far removed from the Father of all… that made the world, but the Word of the Lord… For God did not stand in need of these, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom He made all things freely." Irenaeus’ point: the Son is God’s own "hand," not an outside contractor.
Athanasius, Against the Arians 2.24–25, 2.31. The Son is not "an instrument" that God takes up to make the world — "not as though God needed a servant" — but creates because he is "the Father’s own Word and Wisdom," of one nature with him. "It belongs to the Godhead alone to create; and this the Son does, therefore the Son is God."
Chrysostom, Homilies on John 5 (on John 1:3): "‘Without Him was not anything made that was made.’ See how he stops the mouths of the heretics: if all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing, then He Himself is not among the things that were made."
Athanasius, Against the Arians 2.24–25, 2.31. The Son is not "an instrument" that God takes up to make the world — "not as though God needed a servant" — but creates because he is "the Father’s own Word and Wisdom," of one nature with him. "It belongs to the Godhead alone to create; and this the Son does, therefore the Son is God."
Chrysostom, Homilies on John 5 (on John 1:3): "‘Without Him was not anything made that was made.’ See how he stops the mouths of the heretics: if all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing, then He Himself is not among the things that were made."
💡 Jesus as Creator — Complete Argument"John 1:3: 'All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made' — two categories: everything created, and the Word who created everything. The Word is outside the created category — therefore uncreated — therefore God. Colossians 1:16–17: all things created through him, for him, and in him all things hold together — agent, goal, and sustainer of all creation simultaneously. Hebrews 1:10: the Father addresses the Son as the YHWH of Psalm 102 who 'laid the foundation of the earth.' 1 Corinthians 8:6: Paul rewrites the Shema to place Jesus inside it as the Lord through whom all things exist. Four independent NT authors — John, Paul (twice), Hebrews — all say the same thing: Jesus created everything. In the OT, creation belongs exclusively to YHWH. In the NT, creation belongs to Jesus. Therefore Jesus is YHWH."
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