Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G002 The Word and the Creation of All Things
John 1:3

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All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

John 1:3 In Greek:

πάντα (all things) δι’ (through) αὐτοῦ (Him) ἐγένετο (came into being) καὶ (and) χωρὶς (without) αὐτοῦ (Him) ἐγένετο (came into being) οὐδὲ (no/not) ἕν (one/thing) ὃ (that) γέγονεν (has come into being)

English Majority Text Version

3 All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be which has come to be.

Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

John 1:3 affirms the participation of the Word in the creative work of God. Verses 3 through 5 remain in the context of verses 1 and 2, so the pronoun ″He″ in these verses all refers to the Word.

The preposition ″through″ (G1223) is used here to indicate the means, manner, or agent by which something is done. This preposition helps us understand that all things came into being by the action of God in the person of the Word.

The term ″all things″ is in the plural form, referring to whatever persons or things (G3956).

In Greek, the verb ″come into being″ (G1096) occurs three times in this verse: the first in the aorist tense, speaking of the existence of all things; the second, also in the aorist tense, referring to the existence of anything whatsoever; and the third, in the perfect tense, indicating the possibility or reality of anything having actually come into existence.

As we already know, only God has the power of creation, that is, the power to bring something into existence out of nothing. We already know that all things were created by God. The Word is a person of God, so naturally the Word also took part in the creation of all things, just as the God and the Spirit did. This is the meaning of John 1:3.

So then, how did the Word take part in creation?

Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth.

″The heavens″ include the two physical heavens in the material world and the spiritual heaven in the spiritual realm.

The two physical heavens are: the space of the earth’s atmosphere, which we understand as the first heaven, and the space containing the sun, moon, and stars, which we understand as the second heaven.

The spiritual heaven is called in the Bible the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2), also called paradise, which is the dwelling place of God.

″The earth″ refers to our planet.

Genesis 2:1–4 affirms that God completed the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all things in six days.

Psalm 148:5 tells us that the Self-Existent Eternal One created all things:

″Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.″ 

Isaiah 40:28 tells us that God is the Self-Existent Eternal One and the Creator:

″Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.″ 

1 Corinthians 8:5–6 tells us that all things come from God, through the Lord Jesus Christ:

″For even if they are being called “gods” whether in heaven or on earth (just as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.″

Ephesians 3:8–9 tells us that God created all things through the Lord Jesus Christ:

″To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the mystery, which had been hidden from the ages in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.″

Colossians 1:15–17 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of God and the head over creation, for He directly spoke the creative words that brought all things into existence. Not only did He create the physical and spiritual entities, but He also created thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities.

″He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, because by Him all things were created, those in the heavens and those on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things are held together.″

Hebrews 1:1–2 tells us that God made the worlds through Christ — both the physical or material world and the spiritual or heavenly world:

″God, who in various ways and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by the Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.″

Revelation 3:14 tells us that Christ is the beginning of the creation of God:

″And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, ‘These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.″

Thus, the Triune God, under the name the Self-Existent Eternal One, created all things. God in the person of the Father conceived and established the creative plan. God in the person of the Word carried out the work of creation by speaking the commands. God in the person of the Spirit gave the power of existence, being, and growth to all things.

In Genesis 1:2, the power of God moving over the face of the waters refers to the power of God proceeding from the Spirit. That power, when poured out upon God’s people, is called holy spirit (without the definite article in Greek), indicating the power given by God. By contrast, “the Holy Spirit” with the definite article refers to God Himself.

Let us consider the following example, which illustrates the cooperative work of the Triune God in the creation of all things.

Suppose there are three engineers from the City Construction and Management Department assigned the task of building a modern model city. Each engineer is responsible for different aspects, but all contribute to the same project. The first engineer handles the design, drafting, and specification of building materials for the city. The second engineer oversees the proper construction of the city according to standards. The third engineer is responsible for supplying and maintaining all essential city services, such as electrical systems, gas, water, sewage, transportation, and communications.

Thus, it can be said that the City Construction and Management Department built this modern city; yet the first, second, and third engineers are all called the city’s construction engineers.

Similarly, the following statements are all true according to the truth of the Scriptures:

• God is the Creator of all things.
• The Self-Existent Eternal One is the Creator of all things.
• The God is the Creator of all things.
• The Word is the Creator of all things.
• The Spirit is the Creator of all things.

We can imagine that, at a certain moment about 6,000 years ago, God in the person of the Father said, “Let us make the worlds!”

Based on Genesis 1:1, with the phrase “the heavens and the earth,” we understand that God created the spiritual world and the physical world simultaneously. And based on Job 38:1–7, we understand that God created the angels and the creatures in heaven before proceeding with the details of creating the physical world. For the angels, called the sons of God, sang and rejoiced when God created the earth.

In the creation of the physical world, God in the person of the Word spoke seven commands, and all things in the physical world immediately came into existence. But when creating mankind, God in the person of the Father said:

″Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.″ (Genesis 1:26).

Following that, perhaps God in the person of the Word appeared on earth in the form of a physical body, as God and the angels often appeared to humans. Then He gathered dust from the ground into a form resembling His physical likeness. Finally, the Spirit breathed the life of God into the nostrils of the dust-formed body, and the body became man, bearing within it the life that comes from God.

″And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.″ (Genesis 2:7)

Mankind has become the pinnacle of God’s creation. Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God and is called ″the children of God″ (Genesis 1:26; Luke 3:38) and was given authority to rule over the earth and all things belonging to the earth. Although mankind was created last in the creation, they became the head, ruling over the physical world. This is also the event of ″the last becoming first″ (Matthew 20:14, 16; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30).

God in the person of the Word not only participated in the creation of the worlds and all things in them; He also participates in the recreation, also called regeneration, of those who receive the Gospel of Salvation of God. The Scriptures call these people those who are in Christ, being made new.

God in the person of the Word regenerates the self, that is, the soul of the one who is in Christ:

″Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.″ (II Corinthians 5:17)

God in the person of the Spirit regenerates the spiritual body, that is, the spirit, of the one who is in Christ:

″That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.″ (John 3:6)

God in the person of the Father regenerates the physical body, that is, the flesh, of the one who is in Christ. Therefore, Christ in the physical body is called ″the firstborn among many brethren″:

″Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.″ (1 John 4:7)

″For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.″ (Romans 8:29)

God in the person of the Word will also participate in the recreation of the new heavens and new earth for the Millennium Kingdom (Isaiah 65:17) and the new heavens and new earth for the Eternal Kingdom (Isaiah 66:22; II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).

The recreation of the new heavens and new earth for the Millennium Kingdom will occur at the end of the End Times, restoring the current heavens and earth to their original state as at the beginning of creation, before sin entered the world.

The recreation of the new heavens and new earth for the Eternal Kingdom is the complete creation of new heavens and new earth after the Millennium Kingdom, after the first heavens and the first earth have passed away.

The Word truly has always been God, has always been the Self-Existent Eternal One, and is the Creator of all things.

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
08/20/2022

Note:

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.