³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Verse 3 introduces a further proof that the Word or the Son of God is deity. The Word proved His deity by His work of creation.

This verse sets forth both the act of creation and the state of creation. The author John spoke of the act of creation positively and the state of creation negatively.

³ All things

“All things” refers to the created order. The Word did not just make some things; He made everything in the universe, everything in time and space.

were made

The words “were made” indicate that John moved to the subject of creation to prove the deity of Christ. Since the Word made everything, He Himself was not made because He made “all things.” Creation came into existence through the Word. The Greek word for “were made” means come into existence. The Greek tense indicates that creation came into being at one point, not progressively.

through Him,

The “Him” here is the Word. It was the Word who as the intermediate Creator made “all things.” Christ was the Agent of creation (1 Co 8:6; Co 1:16; He 1:2).

Arians such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the word “through” makes the Word inferior to God. However, creation of the world was executed jointly by both the Father and the Son.

Up to this point John stated from a positive viewpoint that the Word created the world. The next phrase in the sentence refers to creation from the negative viewpoint—nothing in creation came into being without Him.

and without Him

There was nothing created “without” the Word. This word implies that not one single thing was created apart from the Word. Nothing was created independently of the Word.

nothing was made that was made.

There is not one single thing that the Word did not create. He is the God who spans and exceeds time and space, and He never overlooked any detail in creation. It is a Person—not random chance—who brought the universe into being. He brought all matter into existence. Every single thing in the universe owes its existence to the Word. There is no possible exception to Him as the Creator.

The Creator of “all things” must Himself be uncreated. Since God is eternal, He was never created.

“Was made” comes from the Greek word to come into being. The Word brought time and space into being. The Greek tense indicates the permanent effect of creation (perfect tense).

PRINCIPLE:

The Creator of all things must Himself be uncreated.

APPLICATION:

Christ was Creator of all reality in time and space. Everything except God had a beginning. God had no beginning. He is the eternal Word.

The preexistent Word (Christ) created everything. He could not have been a created being because He created “all things.” He is the Creator and not the created.

The idea that an eternal, immutable, omniscient, omnipresent God exists shows why there is a creation. Creation discloses the kind of God that He is. Nothing came into existence apart from the Word. Everything in the universe depends for existence on the Word. There is no reality in creation that does not owe its existence to the Word.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (John 1:10)

…yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1 Co 8:6)

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Co 1:16,17)

…² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds … ¹⁰ And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.” (He 1:2,10)