Christ the Creator
‘FOR BY HTM WERE AUL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, AND THAT ARE IN EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS, OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, AND FOR HIM.”
Col. i. 16.
ANY theme which exalts the Saviour is precious to the saints.
This is oue in which the preacher cannot hope to do more than to show how vastly his theme is above him.
All things were created by God and for him, yet by Jesus and for him, because he is truly vjod and one with the Father.
I. CONSIDER THE STATEMENT ITSELF.
1. Heaven itself was created by and for CLrist Jesus.
There is such a place, as well as such a state, and of that place Jesus is the centre. Enoch and Elijah in their bodies are there, Jesus as man is there, and there all his people will be. God, as a pure Spirit, needed no such place; nor angels, for everywhere they would see God.
It was created for Jesus, and for the people 13 (193)
whom he will bring there to be one for ever with himself. It exists by Jesus and for Jesus.
Everything in heaven is prepared by Jesus.
He is the designer of it.
Everything in heaven reflects Jesus. He
is the soul of it.
Everything in heaven praises Jesus. He
is the King of it.
2. The angels. All their ranks were made by
him arid for him. To worship him, and glorify him with their
adoration. To rejoice with him and in him, as they do
when sinners repent. To guard Christ’s people in life, and bring
them to him in death. To carry out his purposes of judgment, as
with Pharaoh, etc. To achieve his purposes of deliverance, as
Peter from prison.
* This world was made by him to be — A place for him to live and die upon. A stage for his people to live arid act upon. A province to be fully restored to his dominion.-
A new world in the ages to come, to bless other worlds, if such there be; and to display, for ever, the glories of Jesus.
4. All the lower creatures are for Jesus. “And that are in earth.”
They are needful to man, and so to our Lord’s system of grace.
They are illustrations of Christ’s wisdom, pow er, and goodness.
They are to be treated kindly for his sake.
5. Men were created by and for Christ.
That he might display a special phase of pow er and skill, in creating spiritual beings embodied in material forms.
That he might become himself one of them.
That he might himself be the head of a remarkable order of beings who know both good and evil, are children of God, are bound to God by ties of gratitude, and are one with his Son.
That for these he might die: to save them, and to make them his companions, friends, and worshippers for ever.
That human thrones, even when occupied by wicked men, might be made to subserve his purpose by restraint or by overruling.
II. REVIEW THE REFLECTIONS HENCE ARISING.
1. Jesus then is God.” By him were all things
created,”
2. Jesus is the clue of the universe; its centre and
explanation. All things are to be seen in the light of the cross, and all things reflect light on the cross. For him all things exist.
3. To live to Jesus, then, is to find out the true object of our being, and to be in accord with all creation.
4. Not living to Jesus, we can have no blessing.
5. We can only live for him as we live by him, for
so all things do.
6. It is clear that he must triumph. All is going
well. If we look at history from his throne, all things are “for him.” “He must reign.” Let us comfort one another with these words.
What an honor to be the smallest page in the retinue of such a prince!
WORDS OF HOMAGE.
When the Christian martyr Pionius was asked by his judges, “What God dost thou worship?” he replied: “I worship him who made the heavens, and who beautified them with stars, and who has enriched the earth with flowers and trees.” “Dost thou mean,” asked the magistrates, “Him who was crucified (ilium dicis qui crucifixus esf)?” “Certainly,” replied Pionius, “Him whom the Father sent for the salvation of the world.” As Pionius died, so died Blandina and the whole host of those who, in the first three centuries, without knowing anything of the Xicene Creed, held it implicitly, if not explicitly, and proclaimed it in flames and in dungeons, in famine and in nakedness, under the rack and under the sword. — Joseph Cook.
In creation God shows us his hand, but in redemption God gives us his heart. — Adolphe Monod
What sublime views does this subject (the creation of angels) furnish us of the greatness of Christ! By him, says the apostle, were all those illustrious beings created, together with all their attributes, importance, and dignity. The character of every workman is seen, of course, in the nature of the work which he has made. If this be insignificant and worthless, it exhibits nothing but the insignificance and worthlessness of the maker. If curious and ex cellent, if sublime and wonderful, it unfolds strongly and certainly his greatness, wisdom, and glory. Of what faculties are angels the subjects! Of what intelligence, purity, power, loveliness, and elevation of mind! What, then, must be the perfections of him who contrived and formed angels; who with a word called them into being; who preserves, in forms, directs, controls, and blesses them for ever! Great and excellent as they are, they are exhibited as “unclean in his sight,” and as “charged with folly,” before him. How amazing, then, must be the perfection of his character! how great, how wise, how good! — Timothy I) wight.
Paul would prevent the shadow of a doubt crossing our minds about our Lord having a right to the divine honors of the Creator. “By him,’’ he says, “all things were created”; and as if an angel, stand* ing at his side when he penned these words, had stooped down to whisper in his ear that men, attempting to rob Jesus of his honor, would rise to throw doubt upon that truth, and explain it away — to make the truth still more plain, he adds, “that are in heaven, and that are in earth.” Not content with that, he uses yet more comprehensive terms; and to embrace all the regions of God’s universe above the earth and beyond the starry bounds of heaven, he adds, “visible and invisible.” Nor leaves his task till, sweeping the highest and the lowest things, men and worms, angels and insects, all into Christ’s hands, he adds, “whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.” — Dr. Guthrie.
It was well said of a heathen, Si essem luscinia — if I were a nightingale I would sing as a nightingale; si alauda — if I were a lark I would soar as a lark. Since I am a man, what should I do but know, love, and praise God without ceasing, and glorify my Creator? Things are unprofitable or misplaced when they do not seek or serve their end; therefore, for what use are we meet, if we are unmeet for our proper end? We are like the wood of the vine, good for nothing, not so much as to make a pin whereon to hang anything (Ezek. xv. 2); good for nothing but to be cast into the fire, unless it be fruitful. What are we good for if we be not serviceable to the ends for which we were created? — Thomas Mantan.