John 1:3
All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.
World English Bible translation.
More literally, verse three is rendered:
All [Greek, panta, Strong's #3956] came to be through him, and apart from him not [Greek, oude, Strong's #3956] one came to be.
The Logos is not being called "the Creator", but rather the one "through" whom these things were made. In other words, the only true God (John 17:3) used the Logos as an agent in creation. The Logos was with the only true God; the Logos was not the only true God whom he was with.
The Greek word "panta" (a form of "pas", Strong's #3956) always looks to context as well as common evidence for what is included. Likewise the negative oude (Strong's #3761), especially when used relative to any form of the Greek word pas (Strong's #3956), also does the same. The word "things" is often supplied by the translator with various usages of "pas". By comparing scriptural spiritual revealment with scriptural spiritual revealment, we can see the that the "all" being spoken of in John 1:3 is relative to the world of mankind, the world that was made through the Logos, and into which the Logos came. (John 1:10) Rather than adding "things" to the Greek word "panta", it could also be rendered as "all of this" or "all of these". -- See the KJV in Mark 4:11; Colossians 3:18.
If one would take a NT Greek Lexicon and look at how the word "pas" (and the related "hapas", Strong's #537) is used all through the scriptures, it become apparent that it is rarely, if ever, used of absolutely everything in the universe (which would include God), nor even of absolutely everything in the created universe (which would not include God). It is most often used of things pertaining to man, in the world of mankind, and often not even all that is the world of mankind.
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/NewTestamentGreek/grk.cgi?number=3956http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/NewTestamentGreek/grk.cgi?number=537A good illustration of the usage of pas and oude is in Hebrews 2:7,8, where these words are used to refer to the things subjected to mankind as described in Psalm 8:6-8. Please note that both pas and oude is used relatively, and neither one is speaking of absolutely everything in the universe, nor even of the created universe. Psalm 8:6-8 outlines all the things that were subjected to man, of which nothing was left that was not subjected to him. Another good example is Romans 3:10,12, where it is evident that Jesus is excluded, since his flesh was specially prepared by God, and he was not made a sinner due to Adam's disobedience. -- Romans 5:19; Hebrews 10:5.
And then we have Paul's example of evident exclusion in 1 Corinthians 15:27.
Thus seen, John 1:3 should be taken together in consideration of what is being spoken of. John 1:1 speaks of a "beginning". The beginning of what?
What was the general thought of the NT writers when they spoke of the beginning of creation, or of the world? We need to examine some scriptures to see, and thereby compare spiritual with spiritual. -- 1 Corinthians 2:12,13.
The first scripture we will examine is Matthew 19:4:
He answered, "Haven't you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ..."
We can learn from this that Jesus associated "the beginning" with time of the creation of Adam and Eve. This agrees with Exodus 20:11: "in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them." This shows that the "beginning" spoken of in Genesis 1:1 is the six days that are described in Genesis 1:3 through Genesis 2:1. Adam and Eve's creation was on the last of the six days of creation in which God created the heavens and the earth. Thus, the "beginning" spoken of in Genesis 1:1 is regarding the six days of creation.
However, do the six days include the creation of the planet earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and the angels? No. Let us examine why this is so.
Before getting into the creation of the heavens and the earth -- the six days -- we read: "the earth was formless and empty." (Genesis 1:2) It should be apparent here that "earth" is referring to the planet. The planet earth already "was" before the first day of creation, thus before the beginning spoken of in Genesis 1:1.
So what was the "earth" that is spoken of that created in the "beginning"? Genesis 1:9,10 tells us:
God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good.
Notice that is was not the planet that was created on the third day, but dry land. This is the "earth" that was created in the beginning spoken of in verse one. "Earth" in the Bible, however, also designates the society of people who are living on the dry land. We read that "The earth also was corrupt before God." (Genesis 6:11) Does this mean that the physical planet itself was corrupt? No, it is speaking of mankind and his society upon the earth: "the earth was filled with violence." And:
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. -- Genesis 6:13.
Here God says he will destroy all flesh with the earth. Did he mean that the planet earth would be no more? No, but he did destroy the order of things that man had made upon the earth.
Likewise, Abraham called Jehovah the "Judge of all the earth." (Genesis 18:25) Did he mean that the planet itself was to be judged by Yahweh? No, he is speaking of mankind upon the planet.
More scriptures could be cited, but these show the point that the "earth" referred to in Genesis 1:1 is not the planet, but rather the things upon the land.
What about the heavens -- what is included in the statement that in the beginning God created the heavens? Very evidently "heavens" does not include the heavens that is God's throne, and where the angels see the face of God. (Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:34; 18:10) As best as we can determine from the Scriptural revealment, the invisible heavens where God throne is has always been. (Psalm 93:2; 103:19; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:45) What, then, are the "heavens" that is being referred to?
The word "heaven", like the word "earth", is used in different ways in the Bible.
The Hebrew word *Shamayim*, usually rendered "heavens" in Genesis 1:1, is precisely the same word that used in Genesis 1:8. Often it rendered by translators as singular in Genesis 1:8; however, the it is plural in both instances in the Hebrew -- it is exactly the same word used in both instances. (Actually, the singular of *Shamayim* is never used in the Bible. It is always plural.) The "heavens" spoken of as being created in Genesis 1:1, is that expanse, or firmament, that is spoken of in Genesis 1:8, but as it involves the full of the six days, "heavens" also includes all that is in these heavens (as seen from the surface of the planet.) Symbolically, it refers to the spiritual ruling powers that had been set in place by God through Jesus, which heavens -- spiritual ruling powers - is to pass away. -- Psalm 102:25; Ezekiel 28:12-15; Hebrews 1:8,10.
http://godandson.reslight.com/heb-1-8.htmlBut what we are especially interested in is the "beginning" spoken of in John 1:1. As already seen, Jesus elsewhere refers to this beginning as when Adam and Even were created. It is speaking of the beginning of the world of mankind and not the creation of the spirit world or even of the stars and planet systems. (We should take note that there is a single "day" of creation spoken of in Genesis 2:4, which "day" includes "six days" in which he created the heavens [skies] and the earth [land masses]. -- Exodus 20:13; see also Matthew 19:4,5, which refers to the beginning when Adam and Eve were created.) The angels were already in existence in the spirit world at the creation being spoken of. -- Job 4:11-17; Mark 10:6.
In Matthew 24:21, Jesus speaks of the "beginning of the world."
For then will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
Is he here speaking of the world of the angels? No, he is speaking of the world of mankind. The angels were already in existence when the world of mankind was created. -- Job 4:11-17; Mark 10:6.
Mark 10:6 makes this even clearer:
But from the beginning of the creation, 'God made them male and female.'
The beginning of creation here is not the beginning of the creation of the spirit world; the angels -- the spirit sons of God -- were already in existence at the creation that Jesus spoke of. -- Job 38:4-7; see Job 1:6; 2:1.
Let us notice some usages of the word "creation" (Hebrew, ktisis; Strong's #2937) that show that it usually (although not always) was used in the NT times to refer to human creation, and not angels, sun, moon, stars, etc.
Mark 16:15 - He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
The whole "creation" here does not include the angels, nor the sun, the moon, the stars, etc. Nor does it mean that we are go into the world and preach to spirit beings -- angels. The "creation" being spoken of is the human creation. The word translated "whole" in the Greek is "pasee", a variation of the word "pas". "Panta" in John 1:3 is a variation of this same word. (Strong's # 3956) The usage here further illustrates that "pas" in all its variations does not refer to absolutely everything in the universe. Here it is limited to the human creation, as it is also in John 1:3. It is speaking of the world of mankind into which Jesus came. -- John 1:10.
Romans 1:20 - For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.
It should be obvious here that the "world" being spoken of is the visible world -- the world of mankind here on earth, and not the invisible world of the angels, etc.
Romans 8:19 - For the creation waits with eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Romans 8:20 - For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
The angels in heaven, who always see the face of God, were not subjected to this vanity, but, due to Adam's disobedience, the human creation on the earth has been subjected to vanity. -- Ecclesiastes 1:2,13-17.
Now getting back to the "beginning" spoken of in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1. It should be apparent by a comparison of spriritual revealment with spiritual revealment that this beginning is not speaking of everything in the entire universe, but in John 1:1, it can be seen to be limited especially to the world of mankind (the world that did not recognize him), into which Jesus came, and was the light of the world while he was in it. (John 1:10; 9:5) It is the world of mankind that John speaks of John 1:3 as "panta" -- all. TON THEON made the all of the world of mankind, through Jesus, and without him none of this world was made.
In service of Jesus,
Ronald
See also:
http://godandson.reslight.net/john-1.htmlhttp://godandson.reslight.net/gen-1-1.html
