Jesus in Creation
Series: CREATIO | Bible text: Colossians 1:15–17; John 1:1–3
In the creation of the world, God was at work as a team (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Jesus is the Word through whom everything was created. This Word later became man to restore the originally intended communion between God and man. The New Testament knows two terms for Word: logos and rhema. Rhema stands for oral speech, the spoken word. A rhema of God is still vividly effective and powerful today and creates life.
At the moment we are renovating our house. A lot of the work that needs to be done can only be done as a team. Someone applies the glue to the floor, someone else saws the parquet to the right length and another person helps lay the boards. It is also said that TEAM means «Great, someone else does it». What about the creation of the universe? At that time there was a team consisting of three persons: the Father, the Son and the Ruach (Holy Spirit). How did the three work together? Was one responsible for the sketches and the AVOR? Did the second produce the world and the third do the post-calculation and invoicing? Or did God the Father work alone, while the Son and the Holy Spirit watched Him in amazement? Today we are especially interested in the role of Jesus in creation.
Complementary teamwork
Already in the first three verses of Genesis we see that all three work together: «In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was desolate and waste, and darkness was upon the face of the waters. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. Then God said, «Let there be light,» and there was light.»(Genesis 1:1–3 NLB). The Spirit of God made the preparations, God the Father spoke and Jesus is the effective Word. To discover Jesus in these verses is admittedly somewhat adventurous. But thousands of years later John will write: «Through him (Jesus) all that is was created. There is nothing that he, the Word, did not create.» (John 1:3 NLB). Paul confirms this truth when he says: «Christ is the image of the invisible God. He was already there before God created anything and is the first of all creation. Through him (Jesus) God made everything that is in heaven and on earth. He made everything that we can see and that which we cannot see, whether kings, kingdoms, rulers or powers. Everything is created through him and for him. He was there before everything else began, and he holds all creation together»(Colossians 1:15ff NLB). Every natural scientist recognises that the whole world is closely connected and interconnected. It is Jesus who holds the whole Creatio together.
Last Sunday we looked at the close interplay between the work of the Ruach and the Word. The Ruach enables the creative word. God the Father speaks it and Jesus is it. Jesus was therefore already present and active in creation and He was throughout the history of the people of Israel in the First Testament. Once He appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18) to announce the birth of Isaac, another time as a rock from which water flowed (Genesis 20:8; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus Christ is who is eternal, who created everything, who is omnipotent and omnipresent, and who also provided for his people in Old Testament times.
Specific order
«Out of love, even before the creation of the world, God destined us in Christ to be holy before him and freed from guilt. From the beginning it was his unchanging plan to receive us as his children through Jesus Christ, and in this decision he had much joy»(Ephesians 1:4,5 NLB).
When I have a good idea, I get up from my chair, take a spin around the office or beyond and rejoice. If I am on my way to work, I shout out the joy. Perhaps it happened to God in a similar way when he had the following brilliant idea before the creation of the world: human beings! Perhaps the three persons of the Godhead met and raved: We are creating a human being in our image. We will receive them as our children. They shall be set apart (= holy) from the rest of creation and live in a completely carefree communion with us! This state of happiness is to be realised through the mediator, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In this state of happiness that I have just described lies the real meaning of human life.
So before man made the fatal decision not to put his trust in God but in something else (= sin), the mediator between God and man was already determined. Apparently God knew of man’s desire to be God himself – and also already knew the way out of the misery. His name is Jesus Christ. God took the risk because He did not want a puppet, but a counterpart who can freely decide for a relationship with Him.
When there is an insoluble conflict between people, a mediator is needed. His or her task is to bring the parties to the point where they can come to an understanding again. If the factions are at fault with each other, they have to make up for it themselves. With Jesus Christ, everything is included: the understanding and the rehabilitation of debts. «For God made Christ, who never sinned, a sacrifice for our sins, so that through him we might be justified before God»(2 Corinthians 5:21 NLB). Whoever personally accepts this mediatorial offer from Jesus is considered holy before God and is called His child! God takes great pleasure in this thought.
Powerful effect
Jesus was the Word through whom all things were created. In the New Testament there are two terms for Word: Logos and Rhema.
Logos denotes the totality of the Word of God, the whole of Holy Scripture. According to John 1:1–14, this Word became man in the person of Jesus Christ. He, the Son of God, reveals himself in the Holy Scriptures. When we read the Bible, we come into contact with Jesus Christ and through him with the Holy Spirit and the Father. That is why Ephrames the Syrian (306–373) said: «The Bible is like a field that can never be harvested and therefore never lies barren and empty. It is like a spring that flows constantly and flows all the more abundantly the more one draws from it.«Martin Luther called the Bible a manger in which the Child Jesus lies; we should not forget to worship the Child Himself because of our amazement at the manger. However, if one only deals with the Bible in an instinctive and superficial way, one does not find the gems. We need to keep our ear to God’s word long enough to hear his heart beating.
Rhema is the Greek word used in the New Testament for oral speech, the spoken word. A Rhema God’s is always vividly effective and powerful and creates life. «With God no word (rhema) is without effect»(Luke 1:37). When God said: «Let there be light!» (Genesis 1:3 NLB), this was a Rhema with great effect. A Rhema has creative power.
A year after our wedding, Silvia and I travelled to San Diego for a three-month language study trip. The leadership of the church we belonged to had been under the impression for some time that we should do theological training. Shortly before we left, they urged us to pray about it during our stay. When we opened the Bible on the first day, we came across the following sentence: «Thus faith comes from preaching, but preaching comes through the word (rhema) of Christ.»(Romans 10:17 NLB). This Rhema struck like a bolt of lightning. It was very clear to us that the ball was now in our court. We were faced with the question of whether or not to be obedient to God.
Jesus took from the Logos a Rhema and spoke it into our situation. One could dissect this sentence and come to the conclusion that Paul was not at all concerned with vocational direction. A Rhema you receive in person. Often people make the mistake of thinking that the RhemaThe first thing to do is to take a message that someone else has received and try to apply it like a formula or a panacea for their concerns. A Rhema cannot simply be copied and turned into a method.
How do I receive a Rhema? You receive it by having communion with the Logos (= Word of God). The Bible is our basis for life. Jesus confirms this: «Man needs more than bread to live. He also lives from every word (rhema) that comes from the mouth of God»(Matthew 4:4 NLB).
Faith comes from preaching, preaching through the Word (rhema) Christi. This challenges me very much. If the preacher is not a Rhema receives, then the preaching will not be effective. Paul wrote: «For when we brought you the good news, it was not only with words (logos), but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you the assurance that we were telling you the truth»(1Thessalonians 1:5 NLB). A rhema of God is always alive, effective, powerful and creates faith in the heart.
Jesus Christ, is the creative Word through whom all things came into being and all creation is held together. This Word became man so that we humans, as children of God, could experience the deep meaning of life through Jesus Christ. The creative Word is still effective today. It creates faith and completely changes deadlocked situations. When reading and digging into the Scriptures, Jesus Christ Himself speaks through Rhema to us. Through this, our lives are recreated according to God’s design. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, who was and who is to come. He is the beginning and the end.
Questions for the small groups
Read Bible text: John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:15–17
- Based on Genesis 1:-3, how do you imagine the three persons of the Godhead working together? What role did Jesus play in this?
- Read Ephesians 1:4,5: What did God delight in? What kind of task is Jesus given? What does this mean for us in concrete terms?
- Are you a person who is holy before Him?
- What is Logos? What is Rhema? Why is that Rhema so crucial for our (faith) life? How can we be a Rhema receive?
- How important is the Holy Scripture in your life? Are you already aware of the mining rights?
- What are your concrete plans for the next two weeks?
