¹God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ²in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Is Jesus Christ the Creator of the world? Wait a minute, doesn’t the Bible say, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1)? But our passage in Hebrews depicts that He did it “through” His Son. Is it proper to say, then, that Jesus, the Son, was the Creator?

It is too easy to dismiss the question by appealing to the fact that Jesus was God. Sometimes, we get tripped up with trinitarian terms that sound confusing. If Jesus Christ was God, and the Father is God, then did God the Father die on the cross? The easy answer to this is, “Of course not!” Furthermore, how could God possibly die? Yet we sing hymns that include lines like, “Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou my God should die for me.” If God died on the cross, then to whom was Jesus speaking when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” (Matt. 26:46)?

We should be careful with our theological wording lest we cause confusion and seem to contradict ourselves. Trinitarianism is the belief that one God exists in three persons. He is not one God who exists as three Gods—that would be a contradiction. He is one God. It is not a logical contradiction to assert that there are three persons who “make up” one God (whom theologians call “the Godhead” when talking about these things). Christians have wrestled with this from the earliest times, and understandably so. It is not an easy concept to grasp with our finite minds. But think of it this way: it makes complete sense that God becoming incarnate as a human being would involve things far beyond our puny minds to comprehend: the Infinite living among the finite, the Creator becoming part of His creation. How can God become a man? Great church councils struggled with putting into words the various truths in Scripture that touch on this subject. The defining wording generally accepted in Christendom is found in the multiple creeds established by the early church (e.g., the Nicene Creed, the Apostle’s Creed, etc.).

The Bible unequivocally teaches that Jesus is God, as the apostle Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), which Jesus accepted without hesitation. The apostle Paul made this clear: “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (Col. 1:19) and “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). Jesus exhibited the attributes of divinity (healed people, forgave sins, etc.). Jesus’ detractors fully understood the implication of His teachings when they explained why their attempts to kill Him: “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God” (John 10:33).

While the word “Trinity” does not occur in Scripture, we use this term to label the belief that Jesus is God, the Father is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet we find Scripture speaking of them as distinct. Jesus talking with the Father is just one example:

Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” (Matt. 11:25)

So, back to our question above: is Jesus Christ the world’s Creator? When Genesis 1:1 says God created, the Scripture distinguishes between the members of the Trinity. We do see the Holy Spirit was God’s movement in bringing order to the formless void of the initial creation: “the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). And from our passage in Hebrews 1:2, we read that the Son was the agent of creation: “through whom also He made the world.”

So, what does this have to do with worship? We worship an amazing God whose mysteries we discover as we study His Word and grow in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We worship God through Jesus Christ, His Son. We approach the Father through Him. When we worship God through the Son, the Father is pleased, for He is worthy.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for giving Him as the sacrifice for my sin. I am secure in Him and the salvation so freely given, and no one can separate me from You, my Creator God.