Is Jesus Christ the Creator or a Creature?
By David Cox
JW06 v1 ©2011 http://www.coxtracts.com/
This tract can be freely reproduced for non-profit purposes
Within certain groups, there has been a resurrection of old heresies, and one of these old heresies is the belief that Jesus is a creature, an angel created by God as the Captain of the heavenly forces. They propose that Jesus was the first created thing (firstborn), and they believe that he created the rest of creation. Paul attacked this false belief in Colossae, and wrote Colossians to refute it.
Note: the abbreviation “NWT” is the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ version of the Bible, New World Translation.
. Contents
God Created the Earth and the Heavens and all that there is in Them
Isa 45:12 I (Jehovah) have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 18 For thus saith the LORD (Jehovah) that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and there is none else.
In Gen 1:1, the Bible clearly states that “God created the heavens and the earth”. Notice that Scripture does not attribute creation to any other being or person except very God. God made it. God himself credited with having created the animals (Gen 1:21), food (1Tim 4:3), man (Gen 1:27; 5:1-2; Deu 4:32; 32:6, 18 “thou… hast forgotten God that formed thee”; Isa 42:5 “Thus saith God the LORD (Jehovah), he that created the heavens, and stretched them out”, the earth (Isa 40:28), and the heavens (Isa 45:18), and even “the creation which God created” (Mark 13:19). It is God “that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are thereing” Rev 10:6. The JWs say Jesus was first created by Jehovah, and then Jesus created the rest of creation, but these OT verses say Jehovah created. Either Jesus is Jehovah, or Jesus is very God. But Jesus the Creator is nothing less than God. In Gen 14:19, it describes the God of Abraham as “the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth” The Hebrew of this word “possessor” is creator or erector. Later in verse 22, again, Jehovah is “the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,” (See Isa 42:5 above).
The Bible also uses the concepts of “Former” Isa 43:1; 45:11; 51:19; and “Maker” Job 32:22; 35:10; 36.3; Psa 95;6; 149:2; Prov. 14:31; 17:5; Isa 17:7; 27:11; 29:16; 44:2; 45:9; 51.13; 54:5; Jer 10:16; Hosea 8:14. God is Father (usually speaking of His Will), and this is credited with being the Creator 1Pe 4:19 “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” Psa 102:25-27 speaks of the eternity of God the Creator.
Only God Creates
If we examine the JWs Chaim that Jehovah first made Jesus, and the Jesus, an angel, made the rest of creation, it doesn’t agree with Scripture.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD (Jehovah), thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD (Jehovah) that maketh all [things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Clearly the Bible teaches that God, Jehovah, the Lord is the Redeemer, and this same Jehovah created all things BY HIMSELF. This passage clearly teaches Jehovah is the Creator alone. The JW’s *New Worldversion” is translated, “This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser and the Former of you from the belly: “I, Jehovah, am doing everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was with me?” (from Watchtower.org). Although they translate “Redeemer” with “Repurchaser” (see Psa 19:14 “O Jehovah my Rock and my Redeemer” where Jehovah is stated to be our “Redeemer”, and Isa 41:14 where Jehovah is our Redeemer; also Isa 43:14; 44.6, 24; 47:4; 48:7; 49:7; 49:26 “I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Repurchaser, the Powerful One of Jacob” NWT), still the idea is very clear that Jehovah alone is the Creator. Compare Isa 54:5 NWT “For your Grand Maker is your husbandly owner, Jehovah of armies being his name” Who is the Redeemer? Jesus (Gal 3:13; 4:5; Titus 2:14; 1Pe 1:18; Rev 5:9). Who is the Creator? God, Jesus.
We are Prohibited from Worshiping any Creature
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
God condemns and prohibits all worship that is not directed to God alone. Jesus repeated this clear teaching when Satan tried to tempt him in Mat 4. Jesus stated “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service” (Mt 4:10 NWT). He cited Deu 6:13-14; 10:20; etc. Apart from this clear declaration by Jesus, we see this is indeed the general understanding of Scripture as in Peter (Acts 10:26), Paul and Barnabas (Acst 14:15), and the angel with John in Rev 19:10; 22:8, because all refused worship because it is solely reserved for God lone. But on further examination…
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
What should scream for our attention here is God the Father is commanding (let… worship him is imperative, a direct command) that all heaven should worship Jesus Christ, His Son.
Jesus is the Creator
John 1:1 In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 3 All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. (NWT)
John declared that this “Word” is the Creator of all things. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that was created came into being except through the Word. So is this “Word” created or Creator? Did Jesus auto-create himself? No. Did God the Father create Jesus? That is not what this verse teaches either. Jesus has aseity, (has always existed without beginning or end).
The entire presentation of John is that this God, the Word who alone is the Creator, is Jesus Christ (Jn 1:14), worthy of our faith and worship.
Is Jesus just “a god”?
John 1:1 In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 3 All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. 14 So the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father; and he was full of undeserved kindness and truth. (NWT) Notice that the New World Translation inserts “undeserved” into the text when it is not found in any Greek manuscript in this passage. They lower Christ, the God Creator. Jesus is Jehovah, and when they purposely desire to remove him as the object of worship, and they deny him full deity. This is blasphemy, yet this is what the Jehovah’s Witness group prides itself on, their unique and only official God-authorized interpretations of Scripture. They ascert that Jesus was “a god” implying that he is not equal with God Jehovah, or God the Father. Is that what this passage really teaches? While the JWs teach that Jesus is not fully “very God”, but is some inferior being, the Son of God for them, they fail to explain what Jesus is then. They deny the Trinity as being of pagan origin, and they say it is not at all biblical but is a heresy. Their attack on the Trinity is that it teaches 3 equal Gods, which it doesn’t. It teaches 3 equal persons in the singular Godhead. But the JW answer here is simply a revelation of their duplicity and deception. There is the one true God, and there are false gods (indicated by the lowercase “g”). So if Jesus was a false god, how is it we are to worship Him, and He is our Creator and Redeemer? The JWs cannot get their story straight, because at some points in Scripture Jesus is the angel Michael, and at others like here He is “a god” to them. What hypocrisy! Are there two classes of true God, the Father (superior) and the Son of God (inferior)? If there is only 1 true God, and Jehovah is this true God, and all other “gods” are false gods, then the JWs either deny the true God Jesus, or they cast him into some classification which is the same as a false god. John states, Jesus “is God” (Jn 1:1),
What is Paul’s Teaching?
1Co 8:6 For even though there are those who are called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,” 6 there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and we through him. (NWT)
When we first understand and accept that the OT clearly states that very God (Jehovah) alone is the Creator, and then Jesus is this Creator, we see the hypocrisy and error of the JWs. Paul clearly understood what “gods” are and “lords” are in pagan religions, but to Paul, there is a singular “God the Father”, and Jesus His Son is the Creator. (Compare this with Eph 3:9 “God, who created all things” What the JWs don’t accept here is that the NT word “Lord” corresponds to the OT “Jehovah” when a NT writer quotes the OT. This passage affirms Jesus as Jehovah. How can they denigrate Jehovah-Jesus so?
Paul against Heresy Col.1
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist, 18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things; 19 because [God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him, (NWT)
Again we find the JWs playing rough with the text, inserting words that are not found in ANY GREEK MANUSCRIPT! They wish to support their heretical view that Jesus was the first creature, so they insert “other” various places in this passage, changing drastically the understanding and teaching of Paul. Paul was teaching AGAINST worship of angels (Col 2:18), and his teaching here is to distinguish creature (angels) from Creator (Jesus). This is the principal and most important point of the entire epistle! The JWs not only miss it, they teach against it! Paul declares that Jesus is the exact same image and essence of God the Father (1:15).
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This is a good tract. Do you have any more on the JWs?
Hi Barry, Yes. I will try to translate them from Spanish into English. — David Cox