Fueling the day!
Christ at Creation
Our first devotions will focus on the life of Christ since He is the essence of Christianity. What is the first mention of Christ in the Bible? Does the Old Testament mention Christ? Was Christ present at Creation? Or is the first mention of Christ in the Gospels at His birth?
In fact, Old Testament mentions Christ for the first time at Creation which is a surprise to many people. What is more, Jews throughout the Bible were aware of the Old Testament Scriptures that prophesied of the coming Messiah, and they looked to the events of their day for a sign of Him.
Additionally, there were many appearances of Christ in a physical form as well as an audible form that was clearly perceptible to the senses. So, these appearances are simply called “Theophanies” or “Christophanies” meaning “appearances of God” or “appearances of Christ.” Hence, this week we will concentrate on the appearances of Christ throughout the Old Testament. But first, let’s look at Christ in the Creation story.
Christ the Creator
The first mention of Jesus is in Genesis in the Creation story. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Therefore, Christ is present and active during the Creation of the world according to this passage.
Furthermore, the New Testament confirms that the above verse is speaking of Christ. For example, Colossians 1:15-16 states explicitly that the Lord Jesus Christ, along with God the Father, is the Creator of the world. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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.”
John 1:1-5, 10
To further demonstrate the point, John 1:1-5, 10 speaks about “the beginning” as in Genesis 1:1. Christ was there at the Creation of the world and actively participating in Creation. He was called the Word. (He is called the Word throughout Scripture.) “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 were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” This is a great reminder of Christ’s participation in creation as stated earlier.
Today, we should meditate on Christ the Creator of the world. Christ is a member of the Godhead, the Trinity. What’s more, Christ is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-seeing like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, we serve a Savior in true control over the circumstances of this world. For this reason, we can have rest.
Additional Passages to study
In addition to these passages above, consider the following verses that clearly show Christ at work in the Old Testament.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.