Interesting Comments by James White

 

It is a short video, the full transcript of which is as follows:

“Jesus, the one into whose kingdom we have been transferred, made all things; and no matter how else you put it, one thing is very, very certain; the Apostle wants everyone to understand: This Jesus, whom he proclaims, is not merely a prophet, he is not merely a moral teacher; he says that by him all things were created; and then he gives us a description, a cosmology in verse 16, that is exhaustive—visible, invisible, thrones, lordships, rulerships, authorities—all things are made by him and for him; and he is before all things, so he can’t be a part of that creation. And in him all things hold together.”

For the most part he is right of course; but there are also several important issues in relation to it which he has overlooked. The first arises from the following scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:

27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God [the Father] may be all in all.

In other words, it is the Father who subjects all things to Jesus—which therefore does not include the Father himself, who subjected everything to him. Jesus will always remain subject to, and subordinate to the Father; and the Father will always remain the supreme Deity overall, including over Jesus. So while it is true that Jesus is the creator of all things; he was so under the direction of, and the superior leadership of God the Father. Paul is a troublemaker! He gets his followers (Calvinists, Reformed theologians, and Evangelicals) in an awful muddle! The second set of scriptures that he has overlooked are the following:

Colossians 1:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Revelation 3:

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

These verses suggest that, although Jesus is indeed divine, and creator of all things (under the direction of the Father); there is a certain sense at least in which he is himself a part of God’s creation. What is James White’s answer to all of that?