WHO CREATED ALL THINGS?
By George B. Thompson
IN a previous article we noticed how all things were made. It was seen that there were no long periods of geological formation, but that the Creator simply spoke and the earth came into existence. The power of His word called it into being, with all things that it contains. “He spake, and it was.” The word had, then, creative power; and, bless God, it has this power still. The power of God was manifested through His word; and it is the same to-day. Another thing which is clearly stated in the Word is that the same being who redeems us from sin—the Son of the eternal God—is the one who created all things. The same being is both Creator and Redeemer. Jesus existed before Abraham. John 8:56. “Before the world was,” He was crowned with such glory as no human mind can understand. John 17:5. The same One who was born in Bethlehem of Judea had existed from the days of eternity. Micah 5:2, margin. Before a single star which now glimmers in the sky was made, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, existed. He was “before all things.” Col. 1:17. The Son was associated with the Father in the stupendous work of creation. When the Father said, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), He spake to His Son. There is one Lord Jesus Christ, “of whom are all things.” 1 Cor. 8:6. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds.” Heb. 1:1, 2. See also Eph. 3:9; Prov. 8:22-31. Jesus is the One who “spake, and it was.” It was He “who commanded the light to shine out of darkness.” 2 Cor. 4:6. And, to the praise of His name be it said, that word which in the beginning had power to bring light out of darkness, can still do the same work. It can do this for us; and the people who sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of darkness, can see great light. See how closely creation and redemption are associated. The same One who created, redeems, and the same word which brought order from chaos in the beginning, makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Sometimes we hear it asserted that redemption is greater than creation; but they are both the same. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Creation is Jesus Christ working to create worlds; redemption is Jesus Christ working to create men anew in Himself. Both of these are mysteries incomprehensible to finite minds. No mind can fully understand how the Creator could make a world from nothing, or how He can take a soul all steeped in sin and iniquity, and present him faultless before the throne; how He can impart to such a soul a divine power that will enable him in the time of the strongest temptation to stand steadfast, immovable, and make him abound in the works of righteousness; yet this He can and does do. Then why should men discuss which is the greater of two things, neither of which they understand? In Col. 1:12-17 the apostle connects these two things, clearly showing that they are both the working of the same power: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for 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 He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” By this it is clear that creation and redemption both center in Jesus Christ. And, O, what hope this awakens in my soul; for I know that He who could make this earth and all the stars of heaven can save me from the awful consequences of sin! Reader, is He saving you? The sign of this power we will consider next.
G. B. THOMPSON.
Rome, N. Y.