God, the Father, the Sole Creator of Heaven and Earth
Despite the massive popularity of the Bible, many are uncertain about who created the universe. The idea that Jesus was active as agent in the Genesis creation is popular, but is it based on the Bible?
The following information is provided by the text of Scripture:
Acts 4:24 (the first believers): “With one mind they lifted their voices to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.’”
Acts 7:48-50 (Stephen): “The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool...Was it not My hand that made all these things?’”
Acts 14:15 (Paul and Barnabas): We are "preaching the Gospel to you, telling you to turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.”
Acts 17:24-26 (Paul): “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth...He Himself gives all people life and breath and all things. And from one man He made every nation of mankind to inhabit the whole earth, determining the times set for them and the fixed limits of the places where they should live.”
Rev. 4:11 (24 elders): “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, because You created all things, and through Your will they existed and were created.”
Rev. 10:6 (an angel): He "swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it.”
Rev. 14:7 (an angel): “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”
Mark 10:6 (Jesus): “At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”
Matt. 19:4 (Jesus): “Have you not read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female?”
Rom. 11:35-36: “Who has first given to God, that God needs to repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.”
Heb. 2:9-10: “God...for whom and through whom all things exist.”
Heb. 3:4: “The builder of all things is God.”
Heb. 4:3-4: “God's works were accomplished from the foundation of the world...God rested on the seventh day from all His works.”
Heb. 11:3: “By faith we understand that the world was created at God’s command.”
1 Cor. 8:6: “There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one lord Jesus Messiah, through whom are all things and through whom we live.”
Col. 1:16: “For in him [Jesus] [not 'by' him as mistranslated in some versions] all things in heaven and on earth were created, whether visible or invisible, thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created through [not 'by' as mistranslated in some versions] him and for him.”
The Creator is God, the Father. He made everything. He made man and woman. He rested at creation. Jesus came into being when Mary conceived supernaturally. The miraculous conception makes him the Son of God in a special sense (Luke 1:35). The Messiah Jesus was the reason for all creation, the occasion for creation, since as the firstborn he is to possess all authority over everything under God. But God, the Father, the One God (1 Cor. 8:6) is the creator of all things:
Isaiah 44:24: "I am the LORD (YHVH) who made everything, who stretched out the heavens by Myself and spread out the earth alone."
"Let us"
Why, then, did God say, “Let us make man in our image”? (Gen. 1:26). He may have been addressing His attendant council as in 1 Kings 22:19: “I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.” Since angels appear to be made in the image of God, Genesis 1:26 may include them. However, God was alone responsible for the Genesis creation as Isaiah 44:24 and the New Testament texts cited above show.
Elohim: Singular Meaning with Plural Ending
NOTE: No argument can be built for plurality in the Godhead from the plural ending on Elohim (God). Moses, who is a single person, is called Elohim (Ex. 7:1). The Messiah is called Elohim (Ps. 45:6; Heb. 1:8). Note that the Greek version of the Old Testament and the New Testament always render the word God by theos which is a singular, not plural, word. In Judges 8:33; 16:23-24, a single idol is called Elohim. In 1 Kings 11:33 Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, are each designated Elohim, though each was a single god. Furthermore, Abraham is called "lord," where a plural form, adonim ("lords"), is used (Gen. 24:9-10). Potiphar is called the adonim ("lords" or “masters”) of Joseph (Gen. 39:2, 3, 7, 8, 16, 19, 20; 40:7). Joseph is called the man who is the “lords” (adonim) of the land (Gen. 42:30, 33). Other examples of a plural ending with singular meaning are found in Num. 25:1-5; Deut. 4:7; 1 Sam. 4:5-8; 1 Kings 11:5; 2 Kings 1:2; 19:37.