As believers in Christ, we need a basic knowledge concerning Christ’s person and work, which are the main constituents of the Christian faith. If we have from the pure Word the proper knowledge of Christ’s person and work, we shall not be misled. Having covered Christ in His person, attributes, and virtues, we shall go on to consider Christ’s work. We begin with His work in creation.
Since God is the Creator of all things and since Christ is God, Christ is the Creator of all things. Hebrews 1:10, a quotation from Psalm 102:25, is applied to Christ and indicates that, as God, Christ created the heavens and the earth: “You in the beginning, Lord, have founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.” As the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Christ is the origination and the source of all the created things. This proves that He is the very God who is over all and is blessed forever (Rom. 9:5b). His creation of the heavens and of the earth began the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan to carry out God’s intention to have a full expression in man in the universe.
Colossians 1:16 says, “In Him were all things created in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.” “In Him” means in the power of Christ’s person. All things were created in the power of what Christ is. Furthermore, “in Him” implies that Christ is both the sphere and the element of creation. All things were created in Christ as the sphere and the element. “Through Him” indicates that Christ is the active instrument through which the creation of all things was processed. Therefore, the process of creation was carried out in Christ and through Christ.
Christ is related to creation in a subjective way. He did not create the universe merely in an objective way as an objective Creator. He did not, so to speak, stand apart and call everything into being. On the contrary, the process of creation took place in Him, that is, in the power of His person. Christ is the unique power in the universe. His person is this power. Therefore, creation was processed in Him. This means that He was not merely an objective Creator but also the subjective instrument through which creation was processed. Creation took place in the power of Christ’s person and through Him as the active instrument.
Christ is not only the Creator but also the One who is the means through whom all things came into being. Speaking of Christ, John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being which has come into being.” Here we see that creation came into being through Christ. For all things to come into being through Him and for nothing to come into being apart from Him means that apart from Him nothing has existence. One day, through Christ as the means, all things came into being. Therefore, Christ is both the Creator and the means by which and through which all things were created.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ upholds “all things by the word of His power.” After creating all things, Christ became the Upholder of all things. For instance, after Christ created the earth, which has nothing visible supporting it, He began to uphold it, and He upholds it now by the word of His power. Christ upholds all things, and He upholds them very easily simply by speaking. The universe is upheld by the word of Christ’s power. Therefore, Christ is not only the Creator and the means of creation but also the Upholder. He created the universe, and now He upholds it by His powerful word.
Speaking of Christ, Colossians 1:17 says, “All things subsist together in Him.” For all things to subsist together in Christ means that they exist together by Christ as the holding center, just as the spokes of a wheel are held together by the hub at their center. The word “subsists” in Colossians 1:17 implies to exist, to live, and to live together. All things not only exist in Christ but also live, or continue in existence, in Him. Furthermore, all things exist together in Him. The universe subsists in Christ as the center. All things not only exist in Him; all things also live in Him and live together corporately in Him.
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