THAT all things were in the beginning created by our Lord Jesus Christ is made so plain in the Scriptures as to admit of no reasonable question. In John 1:3 it is plainly said of the Word, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made;” while verse 14 unmistakably identifies “the Word” with our Lord, by declaring that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
In Col. 1:16 inspiration testifies of him “who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature,” that “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him.” And in the second chapter, the ninth and tenth verses, reference is made to his possession of creative power, and to his oneness with the Father, as giving the strongest possible assurance of his sufficiency as a Saviour. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
The question is sometimes discussed, Whether is greater creation or redemption? But in truth they are one; redemption is re-creation. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (Greek, καινὴ κτίσις, literally a new creation). With this agree the words of our Saviour to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This same truth is taught in the inspired prayer recorded in Ps. 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” The sinner needs not only pardon, but renewing; hence the promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “The body of sin” must be destroyed, that we may “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Nor is man alone the subject of the re-creative power of the Son of God. The earth itself is to be redeemed from the curse of sin and restored to its Eden glory. “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” Isa. 35:10, 1. The divine promise is, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” Isa. 65:17. And of this act of recreation all the redeemed will be witnesses. “Behold,” says the Saviour, “I make all things new.” When in the beginning the earth came from the hand of her Creator, clad in Eden beauty, arrayed in robes of living green, bedecked with never-fading flowers, and watered with noble rivers of life-giving water, “the morning-stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. That song is to be repeated, that shout again be heard, only increased in volume, when, in response to their Saviour’s invitation, the redeemed shall behold all things made new, when, at the word of command, the last trace of the curse shall disappear, the ashes of the last day give place to carpets of emerald, briny seas be transformed into rolling plains beautified with forest and stream, with grass and flower, and when the Creator shall again pronounce all things very good. Will not this be the perfect answer to the Redeemer’s prayer, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”? And is not this the time of which John speaks when he says: “Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever”? C. P. B.
