Jesus in the Old Testament 2: Jesus and Creation

Jesus and Creation

Thesis: Jesus is the God of creation.  While this is hinted at in the original text, it is fully revealed in the New Testament. Practically for us, as followers of Jesus, this means that there is nothing that is outside of His ability to affect for His glory and our good. He created in the past and is creating in us a “new creature.”

1. Nutshell with Kids (<5min)
1. Has anyone been somewhere really cool?  What is your favorite place?
2. What are some of your favorite animals? 
3. Hebrews 1:1-3
1. What are some of the things that Jesus is said to have done in this passage?
2. Why do you think that it is important that Jesus is mentioned as our creator?
3. If Jesus made everything, is there anything He can’t do?  Is there any problem He can’t solve?
4. Jesus made all of the amazing things you’ve ever seen or ever will see.  He made it all, and He can do anything with it!  You can trust Him in everything. 
5. He made you, too, and He is still working on making you exactly who he wants you to be.
2. Deeper (30 min)
1. Genesis 1
1. Eloheim, the plural of “god,” El.

a)    Used elsewhere to denote a council or collection of divine beings, real or imagined (Ex 20:23; Ps 8:6).

b)    However, when referring to the God of the Bible, always with singular verbs and pronouns (Bara, “He created”)

c)    Debate as to whether this is a preview of the doctrine of the Trinity or an expression of the “plural of majesty.”

(1)  All the members of the Trinity are referred to independently with the singular “El.”  So plurality here may be proto-trinitarian.

(a)  Father Gen 14:18

(b)  Son Isa 7:14

(c)  Spirit Job 33:4

(2)  Earliest uses of the plural of majesty outside of the Bible are much later and tend to be European before they are Near-Eastern. 

d)    Less debated are the “us” pronouns in Gen 1:26 and 3:22.  This is definitely not a majestic plural. Jews: a council of the angels.

2. Creation is a correction of chaos

a)    To the modern western thinker, the opposite of creation is nothingness (why is there something rather than nothing?)

b)    To the Semitic mind, the opposite of creation is chaos (vs 1)

(1)  Darkness and deep water

(2)  Formless and void

c)    Creation is about creating the form (days 1-3) and filling the void (days -6).

d)    Several of these images used in Psalm 30:4, in reference to God and God’s son.

e)    Interestingly, in the New Heavens and the New Earth, there will be no hint of this chaos Rev 21.

(1)  No seas: vs 1

(2)  No darkness: vs 25

(3)  Highly ordered form vs11-21

(4)  Highly populated: vs 24-27

3. Creation is accomplished through the spoken word of God.

a)    Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26

b)    Heb 11:3

c)    Jesus is the word of God John 1:1-5, 14.

d)    While it is a stretch, based only on the text of Gen 1, to say that Jesus is the intention of “God said,” the NT helps us clarify.

2. NT Clarifications
1. John 1:1-5, 14

a)    “With God” a separate person

b)    “Was God” an identical essence.

c)    Vs 3: “All things created” Explicitly stated.  Nothing created outside of His agency.

d)    Vs 4: He is the source of life (Days 3-6).

2. Col 1:15-17

a)    Nothing made apart from Him

b)    Physical world and heavenly, ranks of angels.

c)    He is the sustainer of all creation.

3. Heb 1:1-3

a)    Creator and Sustainer

b)    Redemption tied to his role as creator.

3. Jesus creating in miracles
1. Feeding of the 5,000 and 3,000 Matt 14:13-21

a)    A small amount of matter was magnified into much more.

b)    Creation out of nothing.

2. Water into wine John 2:1-11

a)    Not just a miracle of accelerating natural process. Water doesn’t become wine. Grape juice and yeast do.

b)    Creation of new compounds where they did not exist.

3. Raising Jairus’ daughter Luke 8:40-42, 44-56 (and Lazarus).

a)    Creation of life where there was not life.

b)    Reminiscent of the creation of Adam.

4. Jesus controlling natural processes
1. Calming the storm (twice) Mark 4:35-31

a)    Demonstration of his control of nature.

b)    Disciples get it!

2. Walking on water Matt 14:22-33

a)    He triumphs over the watery chaos of creation (storm)

b)    He brings peace in the midst of the storm while standing in the middle of it with his people.

5. Application for us: Nothing is outside the power of God.
1. Christ created order out of chaos “in the beginning,” and he is still in the process of doing so.
2. Nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God! Rom 8:38-39
3. There will come a time when all the hardship of this life is over, when sin, death, and all the primordial chaos is finally done away with. Rev 21-22
4. When hardship comes, run to the only one who can overcome anything and create the peace that we cannot comprehend.

a)    Prov 18:10

b)    Phil 4:7

Follow-Up Questions:

1. Why is it important to understand Jesus as the creator with regard to:
1. His identity as God?
2. His ability to do anything?
3. His ability to save us from any danger, hardship?
4. His ability to save us from our sin?
2. What are some things that we need to trust Jesus with in our lives?
3. Spend a moment in prayer as a group/family, giving these things to Jesus and asking Him to exercise His power as creator over them.