Then, verse 16 says, "For by him all things were created…all things were created by him and for him." The doctrine of creation, as it is related to Christ, reinforces Scripture's insistence on his deity. This is because it attributes the ability and accomplishment of creation to God alone, and at the same time it says that all things were created by Christ, and therefore Christ must be God: "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3).

Paul's purpose is to emphasize Christ's "supremacy" (v. 18), and so in this context the doctrine of creation suggests the supremacy of Christ over all things. That is, he is greater than all things because he is the creator of all things. He is the firstborn over all creation because of who he is and what he did. This is said in relation to him not only as the second person of the Trinity in eternity, but the apostle stresses his supremacy as Christ, or as the incarnate Son of God. This is the Jesus who walked the earth, preached to the people, who died on the cross, and was raised from the dead (v. 22). He is the creator of all things, and he has supremacy over all things.

Although this might be the main reason for the apostle's mention of creation in this passage, the doctrine does more than to reinforce Christ's divinity and supremacy. The manner that it is asserted informs us about the creation itself, such as the purpose, the nature, and the content of creation. By "purpose" we mean the reason for which Christ created all things. By "nature" we refer to the general manners in which these created things exist. And by "content" we refer to the actual objects that have been created.

Regarding the purpose of creation, verse 16 says that "all things were created…for him." Although we may call attention to some secondary purposes for creation that are legitimate to mention when speaking relative to non-ultimate reference points, the primary and ultimate purpose of creation is for God himself. As with all biblical teachings, the doctrine of creation is God-centered. Any formulation of a doctrine of creation that is not God-centered must be false. For example, it is against the entire spirit of divine revelation to suggest in any way that the purpose of creation terminates on the development and the salvation of mankind. These are at best secondary purposes that serve the primary, God-centered, purpose of creation.

This controlling theological principle produces clear implications for Christian doctrines and practices.

First, the God-centered principle defines true religion. For example, it requires a supralapsarian approach to the order of the eternal decrees. This is the biblical and rational order. Infralapsarianism confuses logical conception with historical execution, so that not only is it contrary to fact, but it makes nonsense of some of the divine decrees. For any given decree, it leaves the purpose of the decree unspecified until the next decree. But then, of course, there is no reason for the present one, so that it becomes arbitrary. Thus infralapsarianism is blasphemous by implication, since it insults God's intelligence and rationality.

Infralapsarians retort that supralapsarianism undermines God's justice, but to assert this they smuggle in a private and unbiblical standard of justice, one that rejects God's absolute sovereignty and violates strict logical inference, and then evaluate the eternal decrees by it. Their attempt to defend God's subservience to a human standard of justice turns out to be a subversion against his sovereign and divine justice, and a denial of even a simple ability for logical planning and arrangement in the mind of God. Hence their objection commits another act of blasphemy, although again, by implication and not necessarily by intention.

Berkhof, in explaining some of the objections against supralapsarianism, writes, "Notwithstanding its seeming pretensions, it does not give a solution of the problem of sin. It would do this, if it dared to say that God decreed to bring sin into the world by His own direct efficiency." But I dare say this. In fact, I dare not deny it, since if I do, I would be saying that some other power has the ability to generate and control sin by its own "direct efficiency." Handing over divine power to humans and demons, this is the heresy and blasphemy of dualism. Berkhof continues, "Some Supralapsarians, it is true, do represent the decree as the efficient cause of sin, but yet do not want this to be interpreted in such a way that God becomes the author of sin." But I do affirm that God is the sovereign and righteous author of sin, for the same reason that I just stated. To deny that God is the author of sin would produce some form of dualism, which amounts to a rejection of biblical theism.

Then, another objection goes, "It is pointed out that the supralapsarian scheme is illogical in that it makes the decree of election and preterition refer to non-entities, that is, to men who do not exist, except as bare possibilities, even in the mind of God; who do not yet exist in the divine decree and are therefore not contemplated as created, but only as creatable." This is a perplexingly stupid objection. In a logical arrangement, the final purpose is first conceived, and then each succeeding decree is made to accomplish the one that comes before. Thus of course the decree that concerns the creation of man would be preceded by a decree that requires the creation of man to accomplish but still represents man as bare possibilities. The objection fails to grasp the reasoning of supralapsarianism, and amounts to saying that supralapsarianism is wrong because it is not infralapsarianism.

As with many other related controversies, the real question in this disagreement between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism is whether we are willing to "let" God be God on his own terms. A consistent supralapsarianism is the only position that honors God, Scripture, and reason on this matter. And it is the only God-centered position.

Second, the God-centered principle explains and directs proper worship. Some people wonder if it is right for God to require worship, for is it not selfish and self-exalting? Would we not question the character, if not also the sanity, of any man who demands the same thing? But God is not a man. This objection assumes that either God is not as exalted as he is, or we are not as abased as we are. Among other things, to worship is to ascribe honor to the one most worthy of it. Since this person is God, it is ethically appropriate and necessary for man to worship him. And by the same principle, it is also appropriate and necessary for God to ascribe honor to himself. He does what is right when he exalts himself and demands his creatures to do the same, since he is the one who is most worthy of honor and praise.

What frustrates man-centered religion is that God refuses to worship his creatures or to allow them to worship themselves. This explains why greed is idolatry even when it is not explicitly religious (Colossians 3:5). All self-centered or man-centered thinking and living, or to honor any object, person, or ideal in a manner that ought to be reserved for God alone, is idolatry. Since all things were created for him, to place anything other than God in the highest place in our thinking and living is to go against the very purpose of creation. It is unethical and destructive. It is the reason for all present human misery, and the basis for future divine judgment.

We must note as well, that when the passage says "all things were created…for him," it is referring to Christ – all things were created for Christ, the Christ of the Christian Trinity, so that worship is not ascribed to any deity conceived by non-Christian religions. Rather, they are in the same position as any self-centered and man-centered system. And so all non-Christian thoughts and religions are idolatrous, because they refuse to honor the true God. The failure to consistently employ our principle, that creation is first "for him" and not for man, betrays a breakdown in both the intellect and character of man.

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