Besides being the "firstborn over all creation," Jesus is the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). This implies that before anything in the universe was created, Jesus emerged as the visible manifestation or likeness of the invisible God. That is, He was concealed within the unseen God, and then He was revealed visibly as the one by and through whom everything would be created. The fullness of the Deity of God always has dwelled in Jesus (1:19, 2:9), who is the physical representation of God. He never has
not been God.
Jesus created all things, visible and invisible, in the entire universe (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2,10). Jesus always has existed, and He always has been God, although He was not known as Jesus or Yeshua (meaning "Salvation") until He was born into the world as a human.
The Jehovah's Witness Bible (The New World Translation) is the only version that translates the final portion of John 1:1 as "the Word was
a god." All others versions translate this as "the Word was
God" or "
God was the Word." By insisting that Jesus was "
a god," they are stripping away Jesus' deity because they reject the idea of the
Trinity of God. Yet, the fact that Jesus created all things and that all things are held together by Him (Colossians 1:16,17) signifies that He was/is the
Creator, Sustainer, who is God.
Speaking of Jesus, God the Father said, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father" or "today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7; Hebrews 1:5). Then, speaking to Jesus the Son, the Father said, "Your throne,
O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom" (Hebrews 1:8). The Father did not call Jesus the Son
a god; He called Him
God. Jesus was the first and only begotten Son of God, the Father. He has authority over all of creation; and, as the visible manifestation of God, He will rule as Lord and King over the whole earth when He returns (Zechariah 14:9).