God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
Parallel translations
- WEB All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.
- KJV All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
- BSB Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
- NKJV All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
- NASB All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Everything that exists was made through the Word, with nothing excepted. This shows Christ is the Creator, not a creature.
Overview
John insists, both positively and negatively, that all created things came into being through the Word, leaving nothing outside His creative work (cf. Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). Because He made all things, He stands above creation as God. This refutes any notion that the Son is merely the highest created being and grounds His authority to redeem the world He made.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Col 1:16–17For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet to 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 we live through him.
- Rev 4:11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”
- Ps 33:6By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- Gen 1:26God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
- John 1:10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him.
- Heb 1:2–3has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Isa 45:18For Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am Yahweh; and there is no other.
- Isa 45:12I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.
- Ps 102:25Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
- Gen 1:1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Heb 3:3–4For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.
- Heb 1:10–12And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.
- Eph 3:9and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ;
- John 5:17–19But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Pastoral
Henry on the prologue — rich on the Word and the incarnation.
Seminary
- ★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 1:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.