To Carol or Not to Carol?

The question isn’t whether it’s right or wrong for Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus—or anyone else in the Bible, for that matter! I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness, after all. And many Christians don’t even care about this issue and simply say, “That’s not why my family and I celebrate Christmas!”

But the deeper question—whether Christmas is truly Christian (i.e., whether it is biblical and completely free of pagan influence)—remains a serious one for the church.

It is clear from both the New Testament and historical evidence that Jesus was not born during the winter solstice. He never was “the reason for the season.”

Ultimately, the issue comes down to how much Christians are willing to participate in a religious holiday that bears the name of the one they call Teacher, Lord, and Savior, yet has very little to do with the religion he founded.

The truth is, we would do well to heed the apostolic warning and command:

“Do not participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things done by them in secret. But everything that is exposed by the light becomes visible, and everything that is made visible can become light. That is why it says, “Wake up, you who are asleep, and arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.” So watch carefully how you conduct yourselves, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but become wise by understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Eph. 5:11-17)

Who Created Genesis?

The central belief of most Christians today is that Jesus was personally involved in the Genesis creation. Yet when we read Jesus’ own words, a very different picture emerges.

One of the clearest ways is to examine a common biblical idiom known as the divine or theological passive—a grammatical form that describes actions done by God without directly naming Him. Jesus often avoided directly naming God as the subject of a verb out of reverence. And instead used a passive-voice construction so that the reader would naturally supply “God” as the unspoken agent. For example, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt 5:4); the comforter is clearly God, though He is not named. In other words, "for they shall be comforted," i.e., by God.

In an article titled “Jesus’ Avoidance of the Divine Name,” (by Soulen, Jesus and the Divine Name) the writer notes:

"The “divine passive” is so typical of Jesus that a full survey basically amounts to a recapitulation of his public teaching."

And Jeremias, NT Theology adds:

“The divine passive occurs around 100 times in the sayings of Jesus.”

The same is true when Jesus speaks about Genesis, he consistently uses divine passives in ways that attribute the creative act exclusively to someone other than himself, i.e., God his Father. This internal linguistic evidence—coming from Jesus’ own lips—has major implications for who Jesus was and continued claims about him.

The following is a survey of New Testament texts in which Jesus uses the divine passive for Genesis, along with an explanation of what this language communicates about his role (or non-role) in Creation.

He Who created

When discussing marriage in Matt 19:4; Mar 10:6, Jesus quotes Genesis 1:27 and refers to the Creator as “He who created them”—a classic divine passive referring to God. He does not include himself in this creative action, nor does he reinterpret Genesis to include anyone else. Jesus unambiguously attributes creation to “the Creator”—language that points directly to God the Father, with no passive construction. Thus, Jesus upholds the traditional Hebrew understanding that the one Creator is God. His language explicitly places himself on the receiving end of creation, not within the acts of the original Creation.

In Mark 13:19 Jesus combines the divine passive with a fully explicit subject: “God created.” Jesus attaches Genesis creation directly to God and again does not claim any personal involvement. He affirms unitary monotheism by the Father alone. If Jesus believed he had participated in Genesis, this would have been an ideal place to say as much. Instead, he reinforces the opposite.

Similarly, in John 17:24 Jesus uses the standard divine passive idiom “before God founded the world.” Jesus’ point is not that he was with the Father creating the world, but that the Father loved him before God founded the world. Jesus portrays himself as the object of God’s love prior to creation, not as a co-Creator. The idiom highlights the Father’s creative action while assigning no such role to Jesus.

And even if Jesus claimed some kind of personal pre-existence, it is still not a claim that he himself was involved or that the world was made “by” him. The verse actually strengthens the view that Jesus never used the divine passive (or any other indirect device) to hint that he was the one doing the creating when speaking of Genesis.

Jesus uses the divine passive elsewhere, especially in parables about the kingdom that echo Genesis creation motifs:

• Matthew 13:31–32 (Mustard Seed): “when it has grown” (aorist passive)

• Matthew 13:33 (Leaven): “until the whole was leavened” (aorist passive)

God here is the unmentioned agent causing the growth and transformation. The imagery deliberately recalls Genesis themes of multiplication, fruitfulness, and divine sovereignty over creation. Yet even here, Jesus never connects the passive verbs to himself; the implied agent remains the Father.

Furthermore, the Gospel Jesus sayings match the earliest Christian preaching in the rest of the NT, where Genesis is repeatedly attributed to God alone:

• Acts 4:15; 24–25 Christians quote from Ps 2:1–2 as “the Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David,” but immediately before that they say:

“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them” (a direct quote of Gen 1/Exod. 20:11, but in context treating the Genesis creation account as God’s own work and word).

• Acts 17:24–28 Paul in Athens says: “The God who made the world and everything in it… he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation…” A direct reference to Genesis 1–2 creation and the single origin of humanity (Gen 2–3), attributed solely to God.

• Hebrews 1:5 “For to which of the angels did God ever say…” While the primary citations are Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14, Hebrews’ interpretive grid treats God as the speaker of all Old Testament divine speech, including Genesis material (e.g., Heb 6:13–17 makes this explicit).

• Heb. 4:4 ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’” A direct quote of Genesis 2:2 introduced as “God spoke”;

• Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God…” Genesis 1 creation by divine fiat, attributed to God alone.

• Romans 4:17 Paul says “…in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” A direct echo of Gen 1 creation language attributed to God alone.

• Revelation 4:11 “You created all things.”

Jesus’ own words challenge the widespread belief that he was the Genesis Creator or somehow, some oblique way personally involved in the Genesis creation. Instead, his words reinforce the biblical portrait of one God, the Father, and of Jesus as His anointed representative—sent to the world God had already made. And in every instance where Jesus directly cites or alludes to the original Genesis creation, he uses active-voice verbs and explicitly attributes the work to God (the Father).

Let us all learn from the one who prayed to that one single Creator saying:

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to children. 26 Yes, Father, because this was pleasing in your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 

The only true God and His agent

 “This is the Life of the Age to come: that they may know you, the only one who is truly God, and Jesus the Messiah whom you sent (apesteilas).” John 17:3, OGF

The Gospel of John is frequently used—or, more accurately, misused—to “prove” that Jesus is God. Yet, ironically, this very Gospel is dominated by Father–Son language and by the biblical principle of agency (which by definition portrays the Son as subordinate to the Father).

John 17:3 sets the stage for understanding how Jesus viewed himself. For example, he refers to himself in the third person as “the Messiah whom you [the Father] sent.” The Greek verb translated "sent" (apesteilas) is the the aorist form of “apostle,” and carries the sense of an authorized representative. This lies at the heart of the biblical principle of agency. In Scripture, an agent (Heb. shaliach) represents the one who sends him with full delegated authority, yet the agent is never confused with the sender. God remains the one who appoints, and the agency belongs to the one He commissions. This is the framework within which Jesus consistently describes his own mission.

The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible (2013) adds:

“The repeated stress, in these and other passages, on the `sending’ of Jesus (e.g. 5:23-4, 36-7; 7:29; 10:36; 17:18) indicates that his depiction as God’s authorized envoy is to be explained against the background of Jewish notions of agency. Based on the principle that the one who is sent (Hebrew: shaliach) is endowed with the full authority of the sender….Jesus, therefore, functions as the unique emissary, because the Father ‘has placed all things in his hands’ (3:35). His words and works are those of God, including the giving of life and executing judgement (5:21-2, 27). The Son acts in dependence upon the one who sent him (7:28; 8:42; 10:37; 12:49) and commits himself obediently to the will of the Father (4:34; cf. 5:30; 6:38). During his earthly life he speaks and acts in unity with God (10:30), so that to see and know him is to see and know the Father (12:45; 14:7, 9).”

John 17:3 therefore presents a decisive and unmistakable distinction: the Father is “the only true God,” and Jesus is the Messiah whom that one God has commissioned. In other words, Jesus is God’s authorized agent—not God Himself.

Too many Christians assume that if Jesus is “sent,” it must imply that he literally pre-existed—either as the archangel Michael or as “God the Son.” But in the Old Testament, patriarchs, prophets, and kings (all anointed ones) are also described as being “sent” by God. The language is about agency, not about being sent from one physical location to another.

In John 17:3, Jesus identifies himself as God’s ultimate human representative precisely because he is the Father’s human Son—anointed, empowered, and commissioned to carry out the Father’s kingdom mission. This text also clearly sets apart the Father as "the only true God," and it identifies Jesus as the Messiah whom this one God has sent.

Understanding the biblical principle of agency allows John 17:3 to speak with its intended force: Jesus is God’s uniquely appointed human representative—the one through whom the Father accomplishes His saving purpose. Knowing the Father and His Messiah—that is the essence of immortality in the kingdom age to come.

1 John 2:24 As for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 This is the promise which he himself promised us: the life of the age to come.