This is a study I did a number of years ago that I just had some notes for. I decided to flesh it out and share it. I trust it will bless you.
The Son’s Work In Creation
Colossians 1:16 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
When we picture the creation, we normally think of God the Father as the Creator. Maybe we picture Him like the famous painting by Michaelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, as an older, strong man with a great beard and a stern look. He points a finger, and says, “Let there be light!”
It was the whole Trinity involved in creation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the New Testament emphasizes the role of the Son in several places (He was not yet named Jesus or Yeshua; that was the name given to His humanity when He stepped down to be born as one of us).
Hebrews 1:1-2 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
Ephesians 3:9 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
John 1:1-3 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Here we have four scriptural witnesses that the Son was directly involved in the creation. All these verses says that all things were made through Him (KJV version says by Him). He was the channel through which all creation was brought about, through His agency.
He was not the only agent of creation, the whole Trinity was involved.
God the Father was the planner, the engineer. He designed how matter and energy would work together, the entire laws of physics.
Isaiah 40:12 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
Here we see God the Engineer in action. He started out by creating a single drop of water and a particle of dust, and by that calculated out the entire physical universe. He “measured” the heavens – this has the idea the he mapped them out. “Calculated” is translated comprehended – He understood matter.
Mankind’s concept of how big this universe is has grown as his technology has grown. On a clear night, away from light pollution, you can see 7000-8000 stars with the naked eye. At first man just believed these were pinpoints of light hanging in the night sky. But then came the understanding that they were all suns like our own. With the invention of the telescope, we could distinguish the planets, and see other galaxies. We realized that we were in a galaxy ourselves, visible in the night sky as the Milky Way.
With more advanced telescopes, we saw more galaxies. With the Hubble telescope, pointed at a tiny patch of sky that looks empty to the naked eye, we captured images of hundreds of galaxies, meaning there must be millions or billions of them out there. And then with the James Webb telescope showed us even more, with the estimates now in the trillions of galaxies. All with a billion or trillion stars each.
Wow.
The Son, as the Word of God, was the One Who initiated creation. Whenever it says “And God said ‘Let there be…’”, that was the Word talking. The planning and power was the Father, but the Son was “working the controls”. As the scriptures say, everything was created through Him.
The Holy Spirit moved over the face of the waters. That word can mean hover, move, shake, or flutter. It could also be translated vibrated.
All energy is vibrations. The Holy Spirit set the energies to their required states.
1 Corinthians 8:6 NIV 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
So here we see that all things came from (also of, from, by) the Father, but they came through (also by, with for, because of) Jesus Christ.
Holding Things Together
Jesus was not only a primary participant in the creation, He is currently holding things together.
Hebrews 1:3 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:3 MSG 3 This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words! After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God,
Colossians 1:15-17 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
That word consist means to sustain, hold together, cohere, stand. So not only was creation brought about through Jesus, it presently is held together and sustained by Him.
When first discovering the structure of the atom, scientists were puzzled over why the nucleus of an atom, made of positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons, would hold together, since like charges repel each other (just like the poles of a magnet). They postulated a “strong residual force” that holds the nucleus together.
Scientists have since found that protons, neutrons, and electrons are not the most basic building blocks of the atom. There are a host of other particles – quarks, gluons, muons, pions, bosons, mesons, hadrons – and have come up with theories to explain the internuclear forces that overcome the coulomb force (coulomb force is the one that says opposite charges attract and like charges repel).
But ultimately, matter is held together by “the word of His power”. And there will come a time when He will reverse that word and let go, and the universe as we know it today will be destroyed.
2 Peter 3:7-11 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
Ancient thought had the idea of three “heavens”. There was the sky, the atmosphere around the earth, then the cosmos – space where all the stars and galaxies are – and then the “third heaven” where God dwells (Paul mentions it in 2 Corinthians 12:2). Peter speaking of the heavens here is referring to the cosmos, not the heaven where God dwells.
Vs. 7 the current heavens and earth are preserved by that same word – another witness showing how the current universe is held together by His word. But, they are being reserved for a judgement of fire.
Vs. 10 tells us
- The heavens will pass away with a great noise
- The elements will melt with fervent heat
- The earth will be burned up
- Vs 11 all things will be dissolved
The elements of the periodic table are the types of atoms, which are combined in various ways into molecules to make up physical matter as we know it. When you burn something like a piece of wood, it is a chemical reaction. In a chemical reaction, elements that are combined into molecules in one form are broken down and/or combined into different forms. The organic compounds that make up that piece of wood – mainly carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a smattering of other elements – have their structure broken apart and released. It also releases energy in the form of heat. But the original elements are still all there in the ash and smoke.
Peter says that the elements will melt with a fervent heat. This is not just a chemical burning. The closest thing we have in human experience is nuclear fission. This is where heavy elements like uranium or plutonium (“heavy” means they have lots of protons in their nucleus) are broken apart and change into lighter elements. It releases a tremendous amount of energy according to Einstein’s famous equation e = mc2.
What really is going to happen is that the forces holding the atoms together – namely “the word of His power” – will be let go, and every atom will fly apart (i.e., “melt”), all matter will be converted to energy. It will be the opposite of the Big Bang. In the Big Bang, there was energy (God first started with light, which is energy), that coalesced into matter. In this melting we have the opposite – matter will be converted back into energy.
A New Universe
Why would God blow up the universe? The truth is, the present creation has been corrupted and brought under a curse.
Romans 8:19-22 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
It is God’s plan to wipe the slate clean and create a new heavens and earth.
2 Peter 3:11-13 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Isaiah 65:17 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Isaiah 66:22 22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain.
Revelation 21:1-5 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
The Bible does not tell us much about eternity future in the new heavens and earth, other than the sorrows of this life will be wiped away, and we will be ruling and reigning with Him. It is not just a new chapter, it is a whole new book that we only have hints of. But it is going to be great.
1 Corinthians 2:9 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
