Who Created the World? God or Jesus or both together?
The creation of the world is told at the very beginning of the Bible. In Gen. 1:26 God says: God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
God also says this: Isa. 44:24 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, the maker of all things; who alone stretched out the heavens, who did spread forth the earth by myself;
So God has done it alone and created everything. Psalm 33:6 confirms this: By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. And Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he it is that commanded, and they were created:
When Jesus was born (became flesh) of the Virgin Mary, he became the Word of God who conveyed the will and message of God to mankind. Jesus was not in my opinion, in heaven creating the world at the beginning of the ages, but the world was made by the Father alone as testified by Isaiah at 44:24.
Jhn 1:10 He [Christ] was in the world, and the [new] world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” – God promises that “I make all things new” (Rev 21:5) but it is not the same thing as the original creation of the world. Also, pay attention to Eph 1:10: “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”
You need to keep strictly separate the physical world (the universe, Gr. Cosmos), created by Jehovah God and the spiritual future world, created by the high priest, Jesus Christ.
Heb 1:2
“1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world (literally: ages).”
ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν Υἱῷ ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων δι’ οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας
In Hebrews, does it really mean that the world was created through Jesus? The word ‘world’ comes from the Greek word αἰών aiōn. In Strong’s Lexicon, the meaning of the word aion is defined like this:
αἰών aiṓn; from the same as G104; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication, the world; especially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future):—age, course, eternal, (for) ever(-more), (n-)ever, (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end).
A better translation of the Hebrew letter could, concerning the creation of the world, be like this: … through which He created the coming ages (the Messianic era). This translated version is also supported by NENT: 2 hath at the end of these :days spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all, through whom also he made the ages; 3 who being the Glory’s effulgence, and the very †image of his :substance, and †upholding :all things by the word of his :power, when he had made purification of :sins, sat down on the right of the Majesty on †high;
KJV 1789 says Heb 1:2 the following: 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; – The preposition is wrong, not by Jesus, but through him, that is, Jesus’ crucifixion allows people to enter into the coming era by Jesus. The future time is also discussed in the next chapter: Heb 2:5 For he has not subjected to angels the habitable world which is to come, of which we speak;
At least the translation does not follow the most important meaning of αἰῶν (aion), which is related to time and times. The physical, material world is in Greek cosmos, but its creator was God the Father. Aion means the world as a human being perceives it in terms of his intellectual development; modern time (world) in relation to the times to come and eternity.
According to my interpretation, Paul’s idea is not to give evidence of the creation of the world (cosmos), but of the leading part of Christ in the reign of man in the coming ages, eternity, the kingdom of God. God has given us the opportunity, through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to enter the kingdom of God in the future. Jesus is the heir of this new world (Millennial kingdom), its king. Christ will be the high priest of the true kingdom of God which starts after the last judgment has been executed.
God has spoken through His Son in the last days, and in earlier times he spoke through the prophets. From this, you could draw the conclusion that the creation of the world through Christ involves the creation of the future world that Christ has already begun on earth.
God the Father created alone the world, the universe testifies Isa 44:2 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?); God created the heavens, the stars, the entire universe (cosmos), but through the death of Jesus was created the messianic era. The same says Heb 1:10 And, You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands;
In Proverbs 8:30, it is stated that Jesus was a master workman of God in creating the world. This, however, does not mean that Father God was not the real creator, the architect. In Gen 1:26, God says, “Let us make …” To whom did he say so? For his own master worker, Jesus, if you believe in Jesus’s pre-existence, or to angels, who also rejoiced at the outcome.
Col 1:16
For by [or in] him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him.
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς
because in Him all in heaven were created … Preposition ἐν (en) in him, not he. If Paul wanted to say that Christ created everything, he would have said it directly. Now he uses the words in a way difficult to understand. Earlier, I wrote who alone created the world, God the Father. He also created the visible and invisible powers. After his resurrection, Christ ascended to Heaven and was exalted above all these powers. All of them have been created and been foreseen by God, and they were assigned to Christ. 1 Pet 1:19 “but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, the blood of Christ; 20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake,
Col 1:17: καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” – Those who regard this as referring to a moral creation, interpret it as meaning that he has the pre-eminence over all things; not as referring to his pre-existence (Barnes’).
Many Trinitarians think these verses witness the pre-existence and divinity of Jesus. Barnes: ”And by him all things subsist” – or are sustained. The meaning is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing. If this is the proper interpretation, then it is the ascription to Christ of infinite power – for nothing less could be sufficient to uphold the universe; and of infinite wisdom – for this is needed to preserve the harmonious action of the suns and systems of which it is composed. None could do this but one who is divine; and hence we see the reason why he is represented as the image of the invisible God. He is the great and glorious and ever-active agent by whom the perfections of God are made known.
The above verses of Paul are difficult to understand and Peter found this himself and wrote (2 Pet 3:16): … “as also in all His letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction”
Jeremiah
10:12 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
38:16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, As Jehovah lives, who made us, …
Nehemiah
9:6 You are Yahweh, even you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships you.
Job 9:5-9
5 Who [God] removes the mountains, and they don’t know it, when he overturns them in his anger 6 Who shakes the earth out of its place; The pillars of it tremble; 7 Who commands the sun, and it doesn’t rise, And seals up the stars; 8 Who alone stretches out the heavens, Treads on the waves of the sea; 9 Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;
Psalms
33:6 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
89:11 The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; The world and its fullness. You have founded them.
115:15 Blessed are you by Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.
124:8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah, the maker of heavens and earth.
136:5 To him who by understanding made the heavens; For his loving kindness endures forever:
148:5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he it is that commanded, and they were created:
Isaiah
42:5 Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk therein:
45:18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is no one else.
44:24 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, the maker of all things; who alone stretched out the heavens, who did spread forth the earth by myself; – Is this God the Father, or Jesus Christ, the Son of God speaking? According to one opinion (Gill’s Bible Exposition), the Son of God: These are the words of the Son of God, of Christ, the Redeemer of his people; and the following show him to be the Mighty God, and so able to redeem them, and therefore was appointed to this work, and undertook it.
I cannot accept this position because God spoke in ancient times through his prophets, not through his son Jesus. The prophets, like Isaiah as quoted above, were prophets of God the Father. In their message, it is the Father God who speaks. Jesus became the last prophet and the Word of God after these prophets. God has made Jesus Christ the heir of the future world. This is when the kingdom of God, the new world, is established (created) on earth. This is also about the coming event and God’s sure promise. Satan is still the king of this world, as he said to Jesus in the wilderness when he offered the world to Jesus if Jesus consented to worship Satan. In Heaven, Jesus is already above all creatures and when he comes for the second time, God’s promise is fulfilled and Satan is excluded from his present position as the god of this world.
Acts
17:24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands,
Revelation
4:11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, because you created all things, and they came into existence and were created because of your will.
