οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν (Luke 19:40)
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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:1-3; 14a).
"Who do you say that I am?" (Jesus - Matt. 16:15)
Who is the Creator?
The Bible is clear from the very first verse that God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). If you can get past that concept, then the rest of the Bible is a breeze. While there is no doubt as to that truth, the Bible is also very clear that Jesus Christ is God Himself in the flesh. Since that is true, and God is the Creator, then Jesus can be called the Creator as well. This is evident in even just studying the names of God used in Scripture (especially in a detailed study of His special personal Name - Yahweh). If these are foreign concepts to you, consider the following passages:
Isaiah 7:14 (NASB95)
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6 (NASB95)
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Matthew 1:21-23 (NASB95)
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Mark 2:5-12 (NASB95)
5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
9 “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?
10 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”
12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
John 1:1-3 (NASB95)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:14 (NASB95)
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 8:56-59 (NASB95)
56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
John 10:30-33 (NASB95)
30 “I and the Father are one.”
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
John 20:26-29 (NASB95)
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Romans 9:5 (NASB95)
5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB95)
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Colossians 1:15-17 (NASB95)
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 2:9 (NASB95)
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Titus 2:13 (NASB95)
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 1:8-12 (NASB95)
8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment,
12 And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.”
2 Peter 1:1 (NASB95)
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
1 John 5:20 (NASB95)
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
The deity of Christ is not a New Testament-only doctrine. In the Old Testament the prophets foretold a time when God would come to earth (Is. 7:14; 9:6). The angels broadcasted the fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew 1:21-23. Jesus Himself claimed to be God (John 8:58; 10:30). When the religious leaders of the day heard this, they charged Him with blasphemy and wanted to kill Him (John 8:59; 10:31). The miracles He did and the forgiveness of sins He offered proved He was God (Mark 2:5-12). Others acknowledged this and believed He was God in the flesh (John 10:28). Since Jesus, then, is God incarnate, we recognize Him as the Creator of all things (Col. 1:15-17).
Can we know our Creator?
To answer this we can look to the Old Testament. King David ruled Israel from 1011 to 971BC. The Bible says that he was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). David wrote of God in Psalm 139, "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You" (Ps. 139:13-18 NASB).
Truly David had a special relationship with God, his Creator. David's heart was in line with God's, and David understood the intimacy he had with God while in his mother's womb while God was forming him from "unformed substance". That being true, David also understood that he was born a sinner (Ps. 51:5). David struggled with sin the same way everyone else does because we are cursed with the imputed sin of Adam (Rom. 5:12). In Psalm 32, David writes, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin" (Ps. 32:3-5 NASB).
We find here David's recipe for a saving and fruitful relationship with his Creator. The first step is to acknowledge our sin, because we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23). David said that God's hand was heavy upon him and he wasted away until he confessed his sin. When he did that, God forgave him. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1John 1:9 ESV). When God fogives that sin, it is remembered no more, it is separated from us (Ps. 103:12). When the sin is gone, then and only then can we have intimate fellowship with our Creator because He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1John 1:5).
On this website, I have done all I can do to try to prove the existance of the Creator through evidence from His word and how it uniquely and perfectly fits what we see in nature. Truly the heavens declare His presence and attributes so that we are without an excuse (Rom. 1:19-20). But to take that next step into an intimate saving relationship with Him requires faith. God is not willing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance (2Pet. 3:9). To make that possible, He did what only He could do. He emptied Himself, coming to earth in the form of man whom He created (Phil. 2:6-7). Jesus kept His deity, took on humanity, and offered Himself up on the cross to take our place. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), but Jesus took our sin to the cross to die in our place (Rom. 5:8). His death made it possible for us to come to God (1Pet. 3:18). All we need to do is believe in Him (Acts 16:31). God's grace alone through faith alone can save us and bring us to our Creator: there is nothing we can do on our own to truly know Him and have eternal life in Him (Eph. 2:8-9).
While all this may sound complicated, it is in truth as simple as Jesus Himself says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NASB). If you have not taken that step of faith, you may be feeling the hand of God heavy on you as David did. Jesus invites all who are burdened down to come to Him, and He will give them rest for their souls (Matt. 11:28-30). Yes, we can know our Creator because He reaches out to us so that we might all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1Tim. 2:4). If you would like to put your trust in Him today, you can simply pray and ask Him to forgive your sins and be the Lord of your life and He will give you the eternal life He promises. If you have made this decision or have any more questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will get back to you.
Copyright 2009 The Stones Cry Out. All rights reserved.