All Things Were Made By Him? What Does This Mean? Surprising Answer!

ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM

All things were made by him? What does this mean in John 1:3? All things were made by whom? Who is the creator? Is it the Father or the Son?

In part 1 of this two part series on John 1 (In the beginning was the Word), we looked at the first 2 verses of John 1. We concluded that the word is the spoken word of YAHUAH that was delivered through the prophets of old.

If you have not yet seen it, we suggest you take a look.

At the time appointed, the word became flesh when the Holy Spirit was given to a man without measure. This man, Yahusha HaMashiach, the Son of the Father, spoke what he heard from the Father. The Word becoming flesh was hence the full extent of the Holy Spirit (without measure) embodied in a man.

In this post, we will look at verse 3, which says:

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Now the most troublesome word there is the word “by.” I have perused scripture and found 4 different Greek words that mean “by.” Bear in mind that the new testament was written in Greek. So to solve John 1:3, we simply need to figure out the meaning of the word “by” as used in the verse.

THE PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE

This is because it was prophesied that languages would be a problem in the end time:

Isa 28:11  For with stammering (lâ‛êg – foreign) lips and another tongue (lâshôn – language) will he speak to this people.

Because we will be in captivity in the end because of the rebellion of our fathers who would not listen to the most high:

Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

So because he is speaking to us through a stammering (hard to understand) language that was not the original language of scripture, we have to be very careful in how we study scripture. The strange language cannot be the basis on which we make final judgment about scripture.

In other words, if we put our trust in the languages in which we are given, which in our case is the English Language, then we have a huge problem. We will not be able to understand scripture.

So we will look at just 2 meanings of the word “by” to solve the puzzle of John 1:3 (all things were made by him).

THE GREEK WORD “EN”

The first meaning of “by” that we will look at is the Greek word “en.”

G1722
ἐν
en
en
A primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and ***(by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively)***, that is, a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); “in”, at, (up-) on, by, etc.: – about, after, against, + almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-) by (+ all means), for (. . . sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-) in (-to, -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-) on, [open-] ly, X outwardly, one, X quickly, X shortly, [speedi-] ly, X that, X there (-in, -on), ***through*** (-out), (un-) to(-ward), under, when, where (-with), while, with (-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) prep.

The important thing to note about “en” is that it denotes instrumentality. This means the “by” means that whatever is by (or through) is the instrument that was used to do something.

An illustration would be this verse:

So the word “en” denotes instrumentality, so the most suitable of the many meanings is “through.” The Most High now speaks to us THROUGH his son. The son is the instrument or medium through whom he speaks. This is an example below:

Mat 12:28  But if I cast out devils by (en) the Spirit of YAHUAH, then the kingdom of Aluahym is come unto you.

The “by” in the verse above speaks of the spirit of Aluahym being the instrument by which devils are cast out. This is the use of “en” and is the word used if we were to say the Messiah created (was instrumental in the creation of) the world. So we look at another meaning of the word “by” before we go back to our core verse in John 1:3.

THE GREEK WORD “DIA”

So another meaning we will look at to solve the mystery of John 1:3, is the Greek word “dia.”

G1223
διά
dia
dee-ah’
A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through (in very wide applications, local, ***causal or occasional***). In composition it retains the same general import: – after, always, among, at, to avoid, because of (that), briefly, by, for (cause) . . . fore, from, in, by occasion of, of, by reason of, for sake, that, thereby, therefore, X though, through (-out), to, wherefore, with (-in). In composition it retains the same general import.
Total KJV occurrences: 610

Now dia speaks of the channel of an act, but this channel is causal or occasional. This is different from “en” which means instrumentality. So let’s lay them out below:

So we will use this understanding to solve John 1:3.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

You see, if the verse was saying that the Messiah created the world, then the word for “by” there would have to be “en.” So let us see what it is:

Joh 1:3  All thingsG3956 were madeG1096 byG1223 him;G846 andG2532 withoutG5565 himG846 was notG3761 any thingG1520 madeG1096 thatG3739 was made.G1096

As you can see, it is Strong’s G1223, which is “dia,” As we said, this word does not speak of instrumentality, but speaks of causal or occasional. Hence the sentence is actually alluding to this:

because of, for (cause) . . . by reason of, for sake,

So putting it in its proper context, we would get this:

John 1:3  All things were made by (Greek “dia” – because of, for, by reason of, for the sake of) him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

BY WHOM ALSO HE CREATED THE WORLDS

The very same thing pertains to this found in Hebrews 1:

Heb 1:1-2  YAHUAH, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by (G1722) his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by (G1223) whom also he made the worlds;

Now look below for the meaning of each word “by” as used in Hebrews 1:1-2).

1. G1722 (Greek “en”) which denotes the Son was the instrument used to speak to us).
2. G1223 (Greek “dia” which denotes that the worlds were made for the sake of/because of the Messiah).

WHO CREATED ALL THINGS BY YAHUSHA HAMASHIACH

There is yet another instance in the book of Ephesians. Let’s see:

Eph_3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in Aluahym, who created all things by Yahusha HaMashiach:

Once again, is this saying the Most High used the Messiah as an instrument of creation? Is this saying Yahusha HaMashiach created all things? Let us see which “by” is used there:

Eph 3:9  AndG2532 to make all men seeG5461 G3956 whatG5101 is theG3588 fellowshipG2842 of theG3588 mystery,G3466 which fromG575 theG3588 beginning of the worldG165 hath been hidG613 inG1722 God,G2316 who createdG2936 all thingsG3956 byG1223 JesusG2424 Christ:G5547

As we see once again, it is G1223, which is the Greek word “dia” meaning it was causal. This is saying yet again, that the Most High created all things for the sake of the Messiah.

ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM: CONCLUSION

It should be plain to see, that all things were made by him means all things were made for the sake of the Messiah. This is because the Most High created this world for him to inherit. Explanations are in the brackets:

Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by (through) his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things (which is why the world was made for/because of/for the sake of him), by (because of/for/for the sake of) whom also he made the worlds;

So likewise when it say”without him was not any thing made that was made,” it means every sing;e thing was made for the Messiah, nothing excluded!

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So this post coupled with our previous post about “In the beginning was the word,” should go a long way into explaining John 1. This is a great misunderstanding on which an entire religion of 2 billion people are based. However:

Ecclesiasticus 3:19
Many are in high place, and of renown: but mysteries are revealed unto the meek.

RELATED POST: In the Beginning Was the Word: The Mystery of John 1 Solved!