Did Jesus or God the Father speak the world into existence?

Question

Did Jesus or God the Father speak the world into existence? For instance, did God the Father speak and create light (Gen. 1:3) or did the entire Godhead speak it into existence? I’m confused about John 1.

Answer

It’s proper to read Genesis 1 through the lenses of John 1. John 1:1-18 presents Jesus as the Word through whom all things, including the world itself, were created (cf. Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 11:3). John 1:1-3, 10 states:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. … He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

One of John’s main points in John 1:1-18 is that Jesus is himself God. The Son of God is the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is the Word of God through whom the three Persons of the Trinity reveal themselves. So, when God the Father said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), he spoke the Word. The Father made all things through the Son so that nothing was created apart from the agency of the Son.

This said, all three members of the Trinity are responsible for the creation of a “very good” world (cf. Gen. 1:31). Gen. 1:26 states “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …” The words “us” and “our” are plural. Eph. 3:9 speaks of the Father creating all things (cf. Psa. 102:25). In Gen. 1:2 we read that the Spirit of God hovered over the primordial waters at the moment of creation. Paul states in 1 Cor. 8:6 “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” (cf. Psa. 33:6). So, all three members of the Trinity were present and involved in the creation of the world.

Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.

Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).

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