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Is Jesus Christ THE actual Creator of the entire universe, or the secondary, by whom one greater, God the Father, created?
There are some who use Scriptures like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, to assume that God the Father is the “source” of Creation, and that He Created through the Lord Jesus Christ. The verses read;
John 1:3, “All things were made through him”
Hebrews 1:1-2, “God...by his Son...through whom also he made the worlds”
The King James Version, and some others, read “by”.
It is the word “through”, that is used to “prove” that Jesus Christ is not the actual Creator, which is God the Father, Who Creates through Jesus Christ. This is because of the meaning of the Greek preposition, “dia” is defined by some here, as having the meaning of “through”.
Dr George Winer, “In Jo. i.3, 15, the per of mediate agency is justified by the doctrine of the Logos, comp. Origen in loc.” (A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek, p. 474). Dr Winer was a Unitarian, so we can expect this from him.
But, we also have the Evangelical Greek Grammar by H E Dana and J R Mantey, "Although dia is occasionally used to express agency, it does not approximate to the full strength of hupo. This distinction throws light on Jesus' relation to the creation, implying that Jesus was not the absolute, independent creator, but rather the intermediate agent in creation. see Jn.1:3; Heb.1:2" ( A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p.102)
Dr George E Ladd, in his, A Theology of the New Testament, says: "John asserts that the Logos was the agent of creation. He is not the ultimate source of creation, but the agent through whom God, the ultimate source, created the world. This same theology is expressed in Paul's words: that all things come from (ek) God through (dia) Christ (I Cor.8:6; see also Col.1:16)" (p.242. 1977 edition).
Why I say that this is no more than an assumption, is because these “authorities” have simply given the usual meaning of the preposition “dia”. However, as we shall see, that the “usual” meaning is not the only one, nor always the right one.
Take Hebrews 2:10, where we read,
“For it became Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings”
This is speaking of God the Father, where the words, “through whom are all things”, are used for Him. This, in the Greek is the preposition “dia”, and is also in the genitive case, like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2. Hebrews 2:10 is also speaking of the Creation of the entire universe, and here, like in John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, the Greek preposition “dia”, is used in exactly the same way. Are we to understand from Hebrews 2:10, that someone else was Creating through God the Father, Who is here the intermediate agent in creation, as the Greek scholars say of Jesus Christ?
Romans 11:36 is another verse that speaks of Creation by God the father:
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen”
Here, like Hebrews 2:10, we have the Greek preposition “dia”, also in the genitive case, like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, which has been translated “through”. Which brings us to the same question, is God the Father, the intermediate agent in creation, through Whom the universe is created? If, in these two cases, Hebrews 2:10 and Romans 11:36, the Greek preposition “dia”, does not have the meaning of intermediate agent, then why is this meaning forced in places like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, when used for Jesus Christ? There are some who, because of their theological bias, that somehow God the Father is the “source” of all things, that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, though seen also as “God”, are not fully “equal” with the Father, even in the Godhead!
We need to look more closely at this Greek preposition “dia”, and its uses, to get a better understanding. The Greek scholar, Dr A.T. Robertson, says this;
"The word dia often conceals its root meaning. That is ‘two,’ ‘twain,’ ‘in two.’ This original conception appears clearly in some compound words." A. T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament, ch. iv, p.29; also, C.F.D. Moule; An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, p.54; H E Dana and J R Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p.101)
The ancient Greek poet, Homer, used this preposition, with the meaning, "Through, by means of, by virtue of, by the help or working of" (Richard John Cunliffe; A Lexicon of Homeric Dialect, p.91). "By the help or working of", where two or more can do something, by equal participation, where there is no need to distinguish between the work done. And, “Mutual operation: with one another” (Henry Smith [G Crusius]; A Complete Greek and English Lexicon for the Poems of Homer, page, 106. 1871 ed)
It is very clear, that there is not a hard-fast “rule” in Greek grammar, that says the preposition “dia”, in the genitive case, is always to have the meaning of “through, intermediate”.
There is a very interesting example of this preposition “dia”, in the genitive case, used for God the Father and Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:9 reads, “God is faithful, through (dia) whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”. Of which Dr Samuel Green tells us, “The Father is represented as acting on behalf of his Son, to bring Christians into fellowship with Him” (Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament, page 246). Here we have the Father as the intermediate agent, Who is acting for the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not in any way show any “subordination”, but rather “co-operation”, between God the Father, and God the Son, and also shows their coequality as Persons in the Godhead.
Galatians 1:1, is another interesting verse for the use of the preposition “dia”, in the genitive case. "Paul, an apostle not from men nor through man, but through (dia) Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead". The Greek for the latter part is, "alla dia Iêsou Christou kai theou patros". Notice that Jesus Christ is here mentioned first, and then the Father. Paul here uses the one Greek preposition, “dia”, to govern the whole clause. Some would have expected Paul to have written, “of (ek) God the Father, and through (dia) Jesus Christ. But this is not the case here. Paul is here saying, that his Apostleship has, not the calling of mere men, but by the Highest Authority, that of BOTH the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father. The use of the Greek preposition, “dia”, as given by Homer, “Mutual operation: with one another”, is perfectly suited here. The verse, then, has the meaning, “...jointly through Jesus Christ and God the Father...”.
It is very clear, that the use of this Greek preposition, “dia”, is not restrictive in its use and meaning, and can and has been used for the purpose of “togetherness”, as its original meaning was. There is no reason, both theologically, and in accordance with Greek grammar, why this same use of the preposition, cannot be used in John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2. The Bible is also very clear, that God the Father is not the sole Creator, nor the principal Creator, but is the joint Creator, together with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
John 1:1, 3, can read, “God...Created all things with Him (The Word)”
Hebrew 1-2, “God...with Whom He also made the worlds”
This is perfectly consistent with the Greek grammar, and the teachings of the Bible, more of which we shall see.
In Colossians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says this about Jesus Christ, and Creation:
"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him" (16).
The words, “by Him”, do not represent the Greek. Here the preposition is, “en” (in, within). In Homer it is used for, “the power is in you”, thus showing that “The Creation”, has its “source” in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 17:28, this same preposition used for God, where we read, that, "in (en ) Him we live and move and have our being". That is, our very existence depends on God. John in his Gospel says the same of Jesus, “in (en ) Him was life” (1:4), that is, the “source” of all life, is from the Lord Jesus Christ!
Paul also says in this passage in Colossians, “All things were created through Him (dia, same used in Romans 11:36 for Creation by God) and for (eis) Him". The preposition, dia, is here used as the intermediate and sustaining agent; and eis, the ultimate goal for Creation. There can be no doubt that this passage in Colossians, tells us, that, not only is Jesus Christ THE Creator of the entire universe, “all things” (ta panta), but, that the Jesus also sustains Creation, but that all of it depends on Him! As Paul goes on to say in verse 18, “That in all things He might have the preeminence”. That is, to hold the Highest place in all of Creation.
In Revelation 3:14 John says of Jesus Christ:
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”
hê archê tês ktiseôs tou theo, Not as some, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have corrupted this to read, “the Beginning of the creation by God”, so as to show that Jesus is the first to have been created by God, according to their demonic heresy! The Greek does not allow for this reading. The Greek lexicon by Drs W Arndt and F Gingrich, have listed the use of archê, here under, “the first cause” (p. 111), which is the “Ultimate Creator”. However, they also go on to say, “but the mng. Beginning = first created is linguistically poss.” (p.112). This remark is unhelpful as it is not contextually and Biblically possible. It would have required John to have written, “hupo tou theo (by God)”, which is what the JW's say in their version. In and of itself, the Greek archê, can be used as the “first in a series”, but here this meaning is not a possibility. The meaning here is as it is found in Greek usage, “origin, first cause”, so used from Homer onwards. Even the Unitarian Greek scholar, Dr Joseph Thayer, says of archê, used in Revelation 3:14, “that by which anything begins to be, the origin, active cause”. Which makes Jesus Christ, not the first among the created things of the universe, but The Actual Creator! Jesus Christ says of Himself, that He is “The beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13), of which Dr Thayer says, “(he) arche kai (to) telos, of God, who by his perpetuity survives all things, i.e. eternal, Rev.i.8; xxi.6; xxii.13" (p.620). Here even a Unitarian, who denies that Jesus Christ is God, admits, that the language of the Bible says that Jesus Christ IS ETERNAL, that is uncreated, as it does for God in Revelation 1:8!
Next, we have the very important passage from Hebrews chapter 1, where God the Father is addressing Jesus Christ, in a series of statements. In verses 10-12, we read:
“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail"
And, in the Greek is “kai”, which is “moreover, furthermore”, following on from what the Father has been saying, of and to Jesus Christ, from verse 5 onwards. These words used by the Father in verse 10-12, to the Lord Jesus Christ, are from the Old Testament Book of Psalm, 102:25-27, where we read:
“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end”
The passage in Hebrews is closer to the Hebrew text that the Greek Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, than the traditional Masoretic Text, with slight variations. In the MT, these words belong to elohim (verse 24), and this is applied to Jesus by the Father, Who addresses Him as “Lord” (Yahweh). In the Psalms passage we have the Creation of the entire universe, as THE act of elohim, as we read in Genesis 1:1. But, elohim, is a plural word, so in Hebrews, we have The First Person in the Trinity, address The Second Person, and declare, that what is true of elohim Creating the universe, is also true of Jesus Christ, as THE Creator. The words of the Father, and the application of them to Jesus Christ, cannot be in any way weakened, so as to take them as meaning that Jesus is merely the “instrument”, through Whom the Father Created. The Father Himself destroys this heresy!
There are some who use Scriptures like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, to assume that God the Father is the “source” of Creation, and that He Created through the Lord Jesus Christ. The verses read;
John 1:3, “All things were made through him”
Hebrews 1:1-2, “God...by his Son...through whom also he made the worlds”
The King James Version, and some others, read “by”.
It is the word “through”, that is used to “prove” that Jesus Christ is not the actual Creator, which is God the Father, Who Creates through Jesus Christ. This is because of the meaning of the Greek preposition, “dia” is defined by some here, as having the meaning of “through”.
Dr George Winer, “In Jo. i.3, 15, the per of mediate agency is justified by the doctrine of the Logos, comp. Origen in loc.” (A Treatise on the Grammar of New Testament Greek, p. 474). Dr Winer was a Unitarian, so we can expect this from him.
But, we also have the Evangelical Greek Grammar by H E Dana and J R Mantey, "Although dia is occasionally used to express agency, it does not approximate to the full strength of hupo. This distinction throws light on Jesus' relation to the creation, implying that Jesus was not the absolute, independent creator, but rather the intermediate agent in creation. see Jn.1:3; Heb.1:2" ( A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p.102)
Dr George E Ladd, in his, A Theology of the New Testament, says: "John asserts that the Logos was the agent of creation. He is not the ultimate source of creation, but the agent through whom God, the ultimate source, created the world. This same theology is expressed in Paul's words: that all things come from (ek) God through (dia) Christ (I Cor.8:6; see also Col.1:16)" (p.242. 1977 edition).
Why I say that this is no more than an assumption, is because these “authorities” have simply given the usual meaning of the preposition “dia”. However, as we shall see, that the “usual” meaning is not the only one, nor always the right one.
Take Hebrews 2:10, where we read,
“For it became Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings”
This is speaking of God the Father, where the words, “through whom are all things”, are used for Him. This, in the Greek is the preposition “dia”, and is also in the genitive case, like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2. Hebrews 2:10 is also speaking of the Creation of the entire universe, and here, like in John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, the Greek preposition “dia”, is used in exactly the same way. Are we to understand from Hebrews 2:10, that someone else was Creating through God the Father, Who is here the intermediate agent in creation, as the Greek scholars say of Jesus Christ?
Romans 11:36 is another verse that speaks of Creation by God the father:
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen”
Here, like Hebrews 2:10, we have the Greek preposition “dia”, also in the genitive case, like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, which has been translated “through”. Which brings us to the same question, is God the Father, the intermediate agent in creation, through Whom the universe is created? If, in these two cases, Hebrews 2:10 and Romans 11:36, the Greek preposition “dia”, does not have the meaning of intermediate agent, then why is this meaning forced in places like John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2, when used for Jesus Christ? There are some who, because of their theological bias, that somehow God the Father is the “source” of all things, that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, though seen also as “God”, are not fully “equal” with the Father, even in the Godhead!
We need to look more closely at this Greek preposition “dia”, and its uses, to get a better understanding. The Greek scholar, Dr A.T. Robertson, says this;
"The word dia often conceals its root meaning. That is ‘two,’ ‘twain,’ ‘in two.’ This original conception appears clearly in some compound words." A. T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament, ch. iv, p.29; also, C.F.D. Moule; An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, p.54; H E Dana and J R Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p.101)
The ancient Greek poet, Homer, used this preposition, with the meaning, "Through, by means of, by virtue of, by the help or working of" (Richard John Cunliffe; A Lexicon of Homeric Dialect, p.91). "By the help or working of", where two or more can do something, by equal participation, where there is no need to distinguish between the work done. And, “Mutual operation: with one another” (Henry Smith [G Crusius]; A Complete Greek and English Lexicon for the Poems of Homer, page, 106. 1871 ed)
It is very clear, that there is not a hard-fast “rule” in Greek grammar, that says the preposition “dia”, in the genitive case, is always to have the meaning of “through, intermediate”.
There is a very interesting example of this preposition “dia”, in the genitive case, used for God the Father and Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:9 reads, “God is faithful, through (dia) whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”. Of which Dr Samuel Green tells us, “The Father is represented as acting on behalf of his Son, to bring Christians into fellowship with Him” (Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament, page 246). Here we have the Father as the intermediate agent, Who is acting for the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not in any way show any “subordination”, but rather “co-operation”, between God the Father, and God the Son, and also shows their coequality as Persons in the Godhead.
Galatians 1:1, is another interesting verse for the use of the preposition “dia”, in the genitive case. "Paul, an apostle not from men nor through man, but through (dia) Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead". The Greek for the latter part is, "alla dia Iêsou Christou kai theou patros". Notice that Jesus Christ is here mentioned first, and then the Father. Paul here uses the one Greek preposition, “dia”, to govern the whole clause. Some would have expected Paul to have written, “of (ek) God the Father, and through (dia) Jesus Christ. But this is not the case here. Paul is here saying, that his Apostleship has, not the calling of mere men, but by the Highest Authority, that of BOTH the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father. The use of the Greek preposition, “dia”, as given by Homer, “Mutual operation: with one another”, is perfectly suited here. The verse, then, has the meaning, “...jointly through Jesus Christ and God the Father...”.
It is very clear, that the use of this Greek preposition, “dia”, is not restrictive in its use and meaning, and can and has been used for the purpose of “togetherness”, as its original meaning was. There is no reason, both theologically, and in accordance with Greek grammar, why this same use of the preposition, cannot be used in John 1:3, and Hebrews 1:2. The Bible is also very clear, that God the Father is not the sole Creator, nor the principal Creator, but is the joint Creator, together with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
John 1:1, 3, can read, “God...Created all things with Him (The Word)”
Hebrew 1-2, “God...with Whom He also made the worlds”
This is perfectly consistent with the Greek grammar, and the teachings of the Bible, more of which we shall see.
In Colossians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says this about Jesus Christ, and Creation:
"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him" (16).
The words, “by Him”, do not represent the Greek. Here the preposition is, “en” (in, within). In Homer it is used for, “the power is in you”, thus showing that “The Creation”, has its “source” in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 17:28, this same preposition used for God, where we read, that, "in (en ) Him we live and move and have our being". That is, our very existence depends on God. John in his Gospel says the same of Jesus, “in (en ) Him was life” (1:4), that is, the “source” of all life, is from the Lord Jesus Christ!
Paul also says in this passage in Colossians, “All things were created through Him (dia, same used in Romans 11:36 for Creation by God) and for (eis) Him". The preposition, dia, is here used as the intermediate and sustaining agent; and eis, the ultimate goal for Creation. There can be no doubt that this passage in Colossians, tells us, that, not only is Jesus Christ THE Creator of the entire universe, “all things” (ta panta), but, that the Jesus also sustains Creation, but that all of it depends on Him! As Paul goes on to say in verse 18, “That in all things He might have the preeminence”. That is, to hold the Highest place in all of Creation.
In Revelation 3:14 John says of Jesus Christ:
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”
hê archê tês ktiseôs tou theo, Not as some, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have corrupted this to read, “the Beginning of the creation by God”, so as to show that Jesus is the first to have been created by God, according to their demonic heresy! The Greek does not allow for this reading. The Greek lexicon by Drs W Arndt and F Gingrich, have listed the use of archê, here under, “the first cause” (p. 111), which is the “Ultimate Creator”. However, they also go on to say, “but the mng. Beginning = first created is linguistically poss.” (p.112). This remark is unhelpful as it is not contextually and Biblically possible. It would have required John to have written, “hupo tou theo (by God)”, which is what the JW's say in their version. In and of itself, the Greek archê, can be used as the “first in a series”, but here this meaning is not a possibility. The meaning here is as it is found in Greek usage, “origin, first cause”, so used from Homer onwards. Even the Unitarian Greek scholar, Dr Joseph Thayer, says of archê, used in Revelation 3:14, “that by which anything begins to be, the origin, active cause”. Which makes Jesus Christ, not the first among the created things of the universe, but The Actual Creator! Jesus Christ says of Himself, that He is “The beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13), of which Dr Thayer says, “(he) arche kai (to) telos, of God, who by his perpetuity survives all things, i.e. eternal, Rev.i.8; xxi.6; xxii.13" (p.620). Here even a Unitarian, who denies that Jesus Christ is God, admits, that the language of the Bible says that Jesus Christ IS ETERNAL, that is uncreated, as it does for God in Revelation 1:8!
Next, we have the very important passage from Hebrews chapter 1, where God the Father is addressing Jesus Christ, in a series of statements. In verses 10-12, we read:
“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail"
And, in the Greek is “kai”, which is “moreover, furthermore”, following on from what the Father has been saying, of and to Jesus Christ, from verse 5 onwards. These words used by the Father in verse 10-12, to the Lord Jesus Christ, are from the Old Testament Book of Psalm, 102:25-27, where we read:
“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end”
The passage in Hebrews is closer to the Hebrew text that the Greek Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, than the traditional Masoretic Text, with slight variations. In the MT, these words belong to elohim (verse 24), and this is applied to Jesus by the Father, Who addresses Him as “Lord” (Yahweh). In the Psalms passage we have the Creation of the entire universe, as THE act of elohim, as we read in Genesis 1:1. But, elohim, is a plural word, so in Hebrews, we have The First Person in the Trinity, address The Second Person, and declare, that what is true of elohim Creating the universe, is also true of Jesus Christ, as THE Creator. The words of the Father, and the application of them to Jesus Christ, cannot be in any way weakened, so as to take them as meaning that Jesus is merely the “instrument”, through Whom the Father Created. The Father Himself destroys this heresy!