Did God create Jesus?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Jesus is the Son of God. As God’s Son, He is fully divine, existing eternally, before creation . All of creation was created through Jesus. To be involved in creation means that He was Creator, not creation. Therefore, no, God did not create Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Son of God appeared regularly as the divine Angel of the LORD. Each was a temporary appearance for a specific event. In the New Testament, Jesus permanently added on human flesh so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for sinners. When He added humanity, He did not lose His divinity but was both fully God and fully man (John 8:58). Even today, Jesus continues as both fully God and fully man, now glorified, and interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• While Jesus taking on flesh is recorded in the New Testament, theologians generally agree that the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament was the pre-incarnate Son of God, who, as seen in Genesis 22, spoke as God and was obeyed as God—showing that He is fully divine and identifying Him as the eternal Christ.
• Other encounters such as in Genesis 16:7–13; Exodus 3:2–6, 14; Judges 6:11–24, Judges 13:2–22, and Zechariah 3:1–10 consistently reveal a divine figure distinct from God the Father, supporting the view that the Angel of the LORD is the pre-incarnate Christ.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Jesus was born at a specific time and place in history. Does that mean that He is a created being like other humans? No. In Philippians 2, Paul encourages the believers to be humble, pointing to Jesus as the perfect example. He said, “although He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). Before Jesus added on humanity, He was God. This passage does not mean He stopped being God but that He added on humanity, making Him both fully God and fully human. Because He is fully God, He was not created, but eternal.
• John makes a similar statement to Paul. In John 1:1–2, he wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” “The Word” is Jesus, who “became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Similar to Paul, John states that the Son of God (“the Word”) was God.
• Not only does John say that Jesus is God, but he also said that all created things were created through Jesus (John 1:3).
• Colossians 1:16 emphasizes this, saying, “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.” So, not only is Jesus not created, but He is the Creator!
• While those verses are clear that Jesus always existed (c.f., John 8:58), one verse that concerns people is Colossians 1:15. It says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The phrase, “firstborn of all creation” can be misread as Jesus was the first created thing of all creation. That contradicts the very next verse which says that everything was created by Him, which is a warning that it can’t mean that. However, the term “firstborn” does not inherently mean created. In Greco-Roman culture, to be the firstborn was to be in a position of prominence, heir of his father’s inheritance. Its use here denotes Jesus’ unique prominence.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

As the eternal God, Jesus is fully divine and not created. Instead, everything was created through Him. That means that He has the full rights and privileges of the Creator over us, His creation. As Creator, God intended for us to live perfectly holy. However, we rebelled (Genesis 3) and became corrupted, incapable of not sinning (Romans 3:23). In that state, God had every right to destroy us (Ezekiel 18:4). In His mercy, God has delayed His final wrath against unrepentant sinners.

In order to provide a way of escape, He sent His Son. Being fully God, the Son of God always existed but, in order to be able to save us, He added on humanity, being born as Jesus. He needed to be human because only a human can be a substitute for other humans. Being born in time and space, He then did what no human before or since has been able to do—He lived perfectly. Because death is the punishment for sinners (Romans 6:23a), Jesus did not have to die. However, He willingly did so. In that way, the Father made Him a propitiation—a sacrifice which turned away His wrath (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2).

Because He is divine, Jesus resurrected (Romans 1:3–4). However, He also continues to live as fully human, interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25). At the same time, He remains fully divine and in full authority over His creation. When He returns, He will unleash God’s wrath upon humanity (Revelation 19:11–21). Everyone who has not repented and trusted in Him will be swept up in that wrath and spend an eternity in Hell paying for their sin. Therefore—it is imperative that we each cling to God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13)!

UNDERSTAND

• Jesus is the creator of all things, not a created being.
• Jesus is the eternal Son of God, fully divine, and coequal with the Father.
• Jesus added on humanity to save sinners, lived perfectly, died sacrificially, rose again, and continues as both God and man to intercede for us.

REFLECT

• How does knowing that Jesus was never created but is the eternal Son of God shape your trust in Him?
• How are you living under Jesus’ authority as your Creator today?
• How does the truth that Jesus, the uncreated one, became human to save you deepen your gratitude and commitment to Him?

ENGAGE

• Why is it essential to affirm that Jesus is eternal and not a created being when we talk about the gospel?
• How do Old Testament appearances of the Angel of the LORD support the divinity of Christ, and why does that matter for our faith today?
• What dangers arise when people deny Jesus’ divinity, and how can we lovingly respond with biblical truth?