Christ Is . . . Creator

For by him all things were created:

things in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;

all things were created by him and for him.

He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:16-17

I’ve just returned from a walk on the beach ladies. What a gorgeous day! In the morning sun the silica or quartz particles on the surface of the sand sparkled like fairy dust. Long-legged sandpipers pecked away in the shallows for tidbits, while pelicans glided in synchrony in the wake of cavorting dolphins. The breeze was welcome, gentle. I am amazed at the variety and detail in just this little corner of my world. Thank you Jesus!

Read the text carefully—it is obvious that Jesus was before all things (1:17). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit were before creation, and present at creation, although God the Son is given the credit for all things created. How and what to create was His idea, a better translation of the first “by him” in verse 16. Then He did it—the second “by him”. And while I like to think He did it for me, all things were created “for him”. The Message translates: everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

And so Jesus created all things in heaven and on earth ex nihilo—out of nothing—with an eye for detail. Consider the air we breathe, the stars in the sky, the snowflakes in winter, the elemental table, protons, ions, RNA, DNA, you and me. Now that’s an amazing thing—you and me. Consider all the intricacies in the basic cell. Consider the current adult stem cell research to repair or replace heart, lungs, skin, bone marrow, muscle, brain. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

What’s more, Christ holds it all together (1:17), in and of itself a great feat. What if He let gravity slip or the sun get out of position?

Look around you ladies. Appreciate the wonder of it all. Rejoice that Christ is Creator: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! (Romans 11:36).

Nancy P