Article Jesus Was Not the Agent of the Material Creation

[Ray Faircloth]

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Jesus Was Not the Agent of the

Material Creation



Jesus Is the Agent of God’s New Creation​

The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that only Yahweh was the creator of the physical universe as well as of the Genesis creation regarding the earth. Indeed, He had no agent just as He stated in Isaiah 44:24 that:



“I Yahweh am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens alone, spreading forth the earth by myself” (Isa. 44:24 Rotherham). Similarly, along with many others the Lexham English Bible reads:



“I am Yahweh, who made everything, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth—who was with me?” (Isa. 44:24 LEB).



There are many other Scriptures that also directly state that only Yahweh was the sole creator of the universe and dozens more which strongly imply the same and so giving some fifty texts in all. However, a few Scriptures also inform us that Jesus is an agent of creation. Clearly there is no contradiction in the Scriptures, so we have to ask: in what context or in what regard is Jesus an agent of creation? The answer we discover concerns the many biblical statements concerning “the new creation” such as:



“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17 NET).

“…the only thing that matters is a new creation!” (Gal. 6:15 NET).

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Eph. 2:10 ESV).



Inasmuch as Jesus’ sacrifice reconciles humans to God this has brought about “the new creation”—a new order of society. Furthermore, the point of focus in Isaiah 51:16 is “the new creation.” Here God says to the future Messiah:



“And I have put my words in your [Messiah’s] mouth…to plant the heavens and to found the earth, saying to Zion, ‘You are my people” (Isa. 51:16 LEB).



The Word Biblical Commentary, the Fausset Commentary, and others all recognize this verse as applying, not to the original creation, but to Messiah and the new heavens and earth. So, with God’s words in his mouth Jesus, as Messiah, plants the New Heavens and lays the foundation of the New Earth by his ransom sacrifice. Additionally, the focus of the New Testament Scriptures is forward looking, toward the reconciling of mankind to God through Jesus and not backward looking toward the physical creation.

Indeed, there are three passages which directly show Jesus to be an agent of the New Creation. These are: Colossians 1:15-18, Hebrews 1:10-12, and Revelation 3:14. Any examination these concerns a few aspects of translation, grammar, the context, and background of these passages, as well as taking into account the overall context of “the new creation” in the New Testament Scriptures. Additionally, 1 Corinthians 8:6 speaks of “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through him.” But what does “all things” include in these contexts? Are there factors showing that this does not refer to the entire universe?

The New Creation in 1 Corinthians 8:6

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As with many other passages in the New Testament Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 8:6 shows that the One God has made new creatures by reconciling us to Himself through the One exalted Lord who is also over all gods. Paul writes that:



“…to us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we are for Him, and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ through whom are all things and we (God’s people) are through him” (LEB).



THEME AND CONTEXT

The context of Paul’s words is shown in 1 Corinthians 8: 4 where he says: “We know that an idol is nothing, and there is no God but one.” So again, this is not about past material creation but about the present worship of the one God of the Shema (Deut. 6:4).



THE “ALL THINGS” ARE “NEW THINGS” THROUGH CHRIST

From 8:6a we have already learned that “all things” are from the “one God, the Father.” So, it must be a different “all things” which come through Christ and which involve “we” i.e., God’s people which is called “a new creation.”



“Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all things have become new (including the new creation reconciled to God, life in the age to come, immortality, and new heavens and earth)!” (2 Cor. 5:17 ISV).



“…and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake” (Col. 1:20 CJB).



Indeed, all these new things are from God because we are reconciled into Him, i.e., “we for Him.” And all these new things are through Christ, mediated through him because of his sacrifice. As with Colossians 1:16, the phrase ‘all things’ so, too, in the case of 1 Corinthians 8:6 the “all things” is limited to those new things concerning those who worship the One God only and avoid idolatry and which new things come through the “one Lord Jesus Christ.” So here we find that it is the New Creation rather than the original material creation which is referenced. In commenting on 1 Corinthians 8:6, theologian Karl-Josef Kuschel notes that:



Jesus Christ is certainly the mediator of God in establishing the new creation, but he is evidently not the divine mediator at creation, before time. Born Before all Time? p. 291.



TEXTS SHOWING THAT JESUS DID NOT PRE-EXIST HIMSELF

These are: Luke 1:3, 4, 35, 2:52; Matthew 1:1, 18, 20; Galatians 4:4; Acts 3:22, 26 (Deut. 18:18); Hebrews 1:1-2; Romans 4:17; Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:20, John 16:25.

So, bearing in mind all of these Scriptures we can be sure that it is the New Creation that is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, and Revelation 3.

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Does John’s Gospel Show That Jesus

Literally Pre-existed?​

Strangely, one of the Bible books that most demonstrates that Jesus was dependent on God and was granted various honours is used by those who promote the idea that Jesus was literally pre-existent, namely, the Gospel of John. So, this section of several chapters will examine in detail what Jesus’ own words in context show in this regard. Indeed, what we find is that only a notional or ideal pre-existence of Jesus is spoken of in John. This means that Jesus only pre-existed in God’s mind i.e., he was foreknown or foreordained for certain purposes. Evidently, the problem has been that of understanding the kind of language that John has used. Furthermore, in John’s Gospel Jesus used a great amount of figurative anticipatory or rather perplexing language. Additionally, there is one translation issue.

Earlier we studied the details of the coming into existence of Jesus only in Mary’s womb as shown in Matthew and Luke and in several of Paul’s statements. So did John have a different view of Jesus’ origin than that of Matthew, Luke, or Paul? Did he have a different view of who Jesus really was than that of those writers? There are a number of theologians who very clearly show that Matthew, Luke, and Paul did not teach that Jesus was literally alive in another form before his conception in Mary’s womb. However, some of these same theologians, although not believing that Jesus was “the word” in John 1:1, fall back on the rest of John’s Gospel to find a Jesus who literally pre-existed, and so they believe the Trinity to be true. However, would John really be at variance with Matthew, Luke, and Paul on such an important and foundational subject as who Jesus was and how he came into existence? Or could it be that God revealed to John factors about Jesus of which the other writers were unaware?

An in-depth study of the various ‘sayings’ of Jesus as recorded by John shows that, although John’s gospel was written last, it cannot be maintained, that whilst the other gospels and writings do not speak of pre-existence, that John is providing a new revelation as to who God is and who Jesus is. Certainly, Jesus never changed the Jewish definition of God or of what the Messiah was to be i.e., a descendant of David. So, Bible Scholar Sir Anthony Buzzard notes that:



We also see, then, that there has been no evolution or change...in the basic identity of Christianity’s founder. Peter, in conversation with Jesus in the 30’s AD, provides the creedal statement about Jesus as Messiah, Son of God. And John writing probably in the 90’s makes the same identity of Jesus the whole point of his gospel-writing. This should put an end to any theories of “progress” within the New Testament period … everything John included in his gospel was to demonstrate the Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus. Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian, p. 120.



So, John wrote:



“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31 NIV).



So, this chapter deals first of all with issues raised in the Gospel of John concerning John the Baptist’s statements in John 1:15 and 30 that “[Jesus] existed before me,” after which we will examine the many figurative and perplexing statements made by Jesus in the following passages:

3:13 — “but he that descended from heaven”

3:31 — “He that comes from heaven.”

6:33-58 —“bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven”

6:46 —“except he who is from God; this one has seen the Father.”

6:62 — “see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?”

8:58 — “Before Abraham came into existence I am.”

12:41 — “Isaiah…saw his [Messiah’s] glory….”

16:28 — “I came from the Father and have come into the world...”

17:5 — “with the glory that I had at your side before the world

existed” (LEB)

John the Baptist’s Statements about Jesus​

THE TRANSLATION ISDSUE IN JOHN 1:15 AND 1:30

Typical renderings of these verses are: “The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me’” (CSB) and “He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me” (NASB). So, because Jesus was born six months after John was born these and similar renderings are used in an attempt to prove that Jesus must have pre-existed John. However, when we examine the original Greek it becomes evident that it is the pre-eminent status of Jesus that John speaks about. Furthermore, this concerns the time immediately prior to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and does not concern any comparison of timing of Jesus’ coming into existence with John’s time of birth. So word-for-word Marshall’s Interlinear Translation reads: “The one after me coming before me has become, because first of me he was.” This reads literally as: “The one coming after me has become before me, because he was first of me.” Other translations are:

“The one coming after me has now moved ahead of me, because he was my superior (OGOMT).”

“…because he is first (in rank. Gk protos) in regard of me” (The Revised Version).

“He that cometh after me was before me: for he was better than I” (The Geneva Bible).

“He is my superior” (The Emphatic Diaglott).

“my chief he was” (Rotherham).

“He was my Chief” (Dr. Leon Morris in the New International Critical Commentary on John).

“For he is my superior” (Schonfield in the Authentic New Testament).

“There is a man in my following who has taken precedence over me, because he is and always has been essentially my superior” (theologian C.H. Dodd).



There are two rendering issues involved regarding these texts, one of translation and one of syntax:

In most translations the Greek word protos is usually translated “chief or first (in rank).” Only for John 1:15 and 1:30 has protos been translated as “before” in most translations. (Wigram’s Greek Concordance shows every instance of the translation of protos).



Although most modern Bibles get the first point correct, they wrongly rearrange the sentence structure i.e., the syntax to say: “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me” (ESV). However, it makes no sense to say that someone has advanced in front of someone else simply because he existed before him; but it does make sense to say that even though John began his ministry six months before Jesus began his, Jesus has advanced in front of John because he is John’s superior. An appropriate paraphrase could be: “The one whose work (or ministry) started later than mine has advanced in front of me because he is my superior.”



Showing this to be the correct meaning John the Baptist again speaks of Jesus as outranking him when he says: “...the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals” (Matt. 3:11 CEB). This thought is repeated in Mark 1:7, John 1:27, and Acts 13:25. So when the rendering and syntax of John 1:15 and 30 are properly presented there is no thought that Jesus literally existed before John the Baptist, but rather that Jesus outranks him because he is the Messiah—a position which John denied about himself (Luke 3:17). Therefore, these verses are primarily about the importance of Jesus and his ministry as compared to the importance of John and his ministry and make no comparison of the timing of Jesus’ coming into existence with John’s time of birth, but refers to Jesus’ superior ministry as beginning after John’s ministry began. So, the statement in John 1:15 and 30 concerns syntax and translation issues and so is best rendered as or similar to: “The one coming after me has advanced in front of me, because he ranks ahead of me” (KGV).

John’s Gospel Was Not to Prove That Jesus Was

God or Any Other Spirit Being

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In spite of the fact that John’s gospel is the most quoted in attempts to prove a pre-human existence of Jesus it was actually written to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and not that he was God or a spirit creature or a pre0existing being: “But these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31 DLNT). So rather than any pagan idea that Jesus had a past life as a divine being, John’s statement maintains its harmony with the Matthew, Mark, and Luke concerning Jesus as coming into existence in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:35).

The Figurative and Mysterious Statements by Jesus​

John, in his Gospel, is unique in concentrating on the words of Jesus (5:24, 8:31, and 12:48). Also, unlike the synoptic Gospels, his Gospel concerns mainly events for Jesus in Judea and is written from the standpoint of Jesus’ post-resurrection glory. It unifies the earth-based Jesus with the exalted “Christ.” This is evident from Jesus’ use of the literary devices of prolepsis (anticipatory aspect) and heterosis (exchange of one grammatical factor for another). Therefore, single Christological texts from John cannot be taken literally and used legitimately as proof texts for pre-existence. They must be seen in the light of all of John’s Gospel and of the synoptic Gospels. Furthermore, systematic theologian Colin Brown states with reference to the fourth Gospel: “When read in context, the statements are evidently about Jesus’ relationship with the Father while Jesus was on earth.”



THE SCOPE OF JESUS’ FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN JOHN

Jesus shows that for fifteen or more chapters of John’s Gospel he has significantly used figurative or obscure language. He says: “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language” (John 16:25 NASB) (“figures of speech” NAB). Also note John’s mention in John 10:6 of a “figure of speech” in describing Jesus’ illustration of the fine shepherd. With reference to the fourth Gospel Raymond Brown states that: “Jesus frequently uses figurative language or metaphors to describe himself or to present his message.” (The Gospel and Epistles of John, p.17). Indeed, from John chapters 1 to 17 a large body of the sayings of Jesus are given in obscure and figurative language e.g. ‘the temple of his body’ (2:19-22); the ‘born again’ discussion with Nicodemus (3:1-12); ‘lifting up the serpent in the wilderness’ (3:13); ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (4:9-15); ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about’ (4:31-34); ‘the harvest’ (4:35-38); ‘the manna—bread from heaven’ (6:22-51); ‘eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood’ (6:53-58); ‘rivers of living water’ (7:37-39); ‘I am the light of the world’ (8:12); ‘night is coming when no one can work’ (9:4,5); ‘sheepfold, good shepherd, doorkeeper, door, other sheep’ (10:1-16); ‘Lazarus is asleep’ (11:10-14); ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies’ (12:23-25); ‘the light will be among you’ (12:35,36); ‘another helper’ (14:16, 25); ‘the true vine/branches/fruit’ (15:1-8); ‘the helper’ (16:7-11); ‘a woman when she is giving birth’ (16:20-22); and the many proleptic sayings in John 17. So, it should not surprise us that the other ascending/descending and pre-existence language in John is also figurative. In fact, even in the synoptic Gospels more than one third of Jesus’ teaching is given in parables i.e., figurative language. This preponderance of figurative language from the lips of Jesus in John’s Gospel should put one on alert to question just how literal are the apparent pre-existence so-called proof texts concerning Jesus’ origin, especially when the other Gospels do not teach pre-existence in regard to Jesus. Indeed, as professor Roger Haight says in his book Jesus–Symbol of God: “To read a metaphor as literal speech is misinterpretation.” So, when one understands ancient Jewish ways of thinking and the kind of language they used, i.e., that the Jew would speak of future things as already existing in heaven, and would use numerous types of figures of speech, then one can draw out the real meaning.

The Categories of the Perplexing Statements

In John’s Gospel​

AS WITH ALL PROPHETS JESUS CAME FROM GOD

3:13— “except he who descended from heaven [i.e., has his origin in God] the Son of man” (ESV)

3:31— “He who comes from heaven is above all”

6:33-5— “For the bread of God is the One coming down from heaven…”

16:28— “I came forth from the Father, and I have come into the world” (DLNT)



JESUS SEES GOD BY FAITH (PERCEPTION)

6:46— “except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father” (LEB).



JESUS IS SEEN IN PROPHECY – DANIEL 7:13-14

6:62— “…what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” (Mounce)



JESUS AS THE FOREKNOWN MESSIAH WITH FOREKNOWN GLORY

8:58— “Before Abraham came into existence, I am the one (ego eimi)!” i.e., I am the Messiah John 4:25, 26. Also compare Mark 13:6/Luke 21:8 with the parallel account in Matthew 24:5.

12:41— “Isaiah said these things because he saw his [Messiah’s] glory, and he spoke about him” (LEB).

17:5— “glorify me at your side with the glory that I had with you before the world began” (Mounce)



Indeed, none of these statements speak of any literal pre-existence of Jesus! Biblically Jesus came into existence at his conception and begetting in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:35).

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In What Way Had Jesus

“Seen” the Father?

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By those who believe that Jesus had literally pre-existed the texts in John 6:46, and 8:38 are viewed as indicating that he had literally seen his Father in heaven before his conception in Mary. These passages read:

“Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father” (6:46 LEB) and,



“I speak the things that I have seen with the Father” (8:38 LEB).



Again, on the surface, when taken in a quite literalistic way and without their context, these verses appear to teach that Jesus must have, at some time, been actually with God seeing Him. However, the first point to note is that this does not indicate the time and so could be referring to any time, including during his ministry but prior to his utterance of those statements. So, they are no proof of pre-existence. However, to understand what Jesus really meant we must first examine the context of John 6:46 where the verse immediately before i.e., verse 45 quotes Isaiah 54:13 which says:



‘“…And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears from the Father and learns comes to me”



In Greek knowing and seeing are near synonyms according to Kittel and Friedrich’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. The Greek word used here is eoraken as in John 1:18 which links “seeing” God with understanding Him because of Jesus’ “explaining” of Him. Eoraken is from the verb horao and means: to perceive, spiritually perceive, or to become acquainted with by experience e.g.: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 ESV) as meaning ‘He who has spiritually perceived me has spiritually perceived the Father.’ (Also see John 12:45.) Nevertheless, these verses cannot mean simply physically caught sight of Jesus, but rather it is those who get to know Jesus who will get to know or spiritually perceive the Father. Additionally, John pointed out those who also do not know God as: “…no one who remains united with him continues sinning; everyone who does continue sinning has neither seen him nor known him [God]” (1 John 3:6 CJB). For example, Job did not physically see God, yet after his experience he knew God in a far better, although limited, way than before. His conclusion was that: “I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You” (Job 42:5 CSB). Evidently, Job’s was not the same depth of understanding as was Jesus’ “seeing” of the Father. As John 1:18 notes Jesus explained the Father and so he said: “I speak the things that I have seen with the Father” (John 8:38). So, it is really supposition on the part of those who believe in a Jesus who had literally pre-existed to think that he was referring to the physical “seeing” of the Father at some time prior to his coming into existence in Mary’s womb. During almost thirty years of life Jesus was “seeing” the Father and, in fact, he used the present tense when stating that:



“…the Son can do nothing from Himself except something He sees the Father doing. For whatever things that One is doing... (present participle)” (John 5:19 DLNT).



NOTE: Blepo is translated as “see” in most versions. Also The Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words informs us that blepo: “is near to horao in meaning”...and that...“it also represents intellectual functions.”



There is no logical reason to understand that John 6:46 concerns any pre-existent literal ‘seeing’ of the Father by Jesus. He sees or understands the Father while he is on earth, according to these passages. So, one should not jump to the conclusion that Jesus’ ‘seeing’ the Father means that Jesus literally pre-existed; otherwise, one would logically have to imagine that Isaiah pre-existed because he said “I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne” as well as saying “for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!” (Isa. 6:1, 5 LEB). In this instance the “seeing” was by means of a vision and not physically seeing.

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