"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." (Colossians 1:16)

Before one can really know Jesus Christ as Savior or Lord, he must acknowledge Him as offended and rejected Creator, because He was our Creator first of all. This is such an important doctrine of the New Testament that it is remarkable how rarely it is emphasized in modern evangelicalism.

Creation by Jesus Christ is the doctrine with which John begins his great gospel of salvation: "In the beginning was the Word, . . . All things were made by him; . . . and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" (John 1:1, 3, 10). It is the foundational message of the book of Hebrews: "God. . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The apostle Paul said that he had been called specifically to preach "the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:8-9). When a person becomes a believer in Christ, receiving His very life by the new birth, he is said to be "renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Colossians 3:10).

In the final book of the Bible, Jesus Christ is called the "Alpha . . . the beginning . . . the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8), as well as "the beginning of the creation of God" (3:14).

But of all the biblical passages identifying Jesus Christ as Creator, the most definitive of all is our text for today. Everything in heaven and earth was created by Him, and for Him! "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). HMM