because by him were created all things, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities all things have been created by him and for him.
The verse opens with "for" — it is the reason behind the title just given to Christ, the firstborn of all creation. Everything that exists, from the dust of earth to the unseen ranks of heaven, comes from Him and exists for Him.
The title "firstborn" is not a claim that Christ was the earliest thing made. It states rank, and this verse supplies the reason for that rank.
But Colossians 1 calls Him not only the "Image of God" but the "Firstborn of all creation." Even if He had been the last to be born, He would still hold the Firstborn's place. Here is the reason: He created all! And when the Creator-Son comes into His creation, He must have the first place.
The sweeping language of this verse is deliberate. It fences off any suggestion that Christ Himself belongs among the things made.
In this detailed description of the Son's creative work, the Spirit leaves no loophole for unbelieving man to suggest an exception that might seem to disprove His claim: the Son of the Father's love is the Creator of the whole creation. He created all things Himself, in His own right, and as the instrument of God's purpose and glory. So, according to the Spirit's teaching, nothing can cross the fixed barrier between the Son, the Creator, on one side, and the created things He produced on the other.
Three small words carry the weight of the verse. Older English translations blur the first one.
Verse 16 states this great fact in a threefold way, using three different prepositions: in, by and for. In our Authorized Version the first preposition is "by," just like the second. Word for word, though, it is "in." Look this passage up in Darby's New Translation and you will find footnotes. They tell us that "in" means "characteristic power": "He was the One whose intrinsic power characterized the creation. It exists as His creature." They also tell us that "by" means He was "the active Instrument," and that "for" means He is "the End" for which creation exists.
That first preposition means the universe carries His stamp.
He created the whole creation, the "all things," including thrones and so on, to bear some mark of His glory — each detail in its own measure. Suppose we knew the language of the heavens above our heads, or of the earth beneath our feet, as He created them. Then every form of life, every atom, every colour, every shape, every sound and every authority would tell us something of the wisdom and glory of Christ.
The four terms name positions of office, seen and unseen. Older versions call the last two "principalities" and "powers."
Whether they are thrones, the highest officials; or dominions, rulers over parts of God's vast universe; or principalities, lesser authorities; or powers, every angelic being glorying in its strength, fallen and unfallen — though all were unfallen when He created them.
Writers admit the exact difference between the four is beyond us — and that this does not weaken the argument.
What may be the real distinction between thrones, dominions, principalities and powers we do not know, but we do know that they all owe their very existence to our Lord Jesus. Twice over in this one verse is it stated that He is the Creator of "all things."
The closing words rule out the idea of Christ as a workman serving someone greater.
He is not a lesser workman creating for the glory of a higher Master, for a God above Himself, as Arianism later pretended. He is the End of created things as well as their immediate Source. When a creature lives for Him, it finds there both the explanation and the rule of its own being.
Some later taught that Christ was Himself a creature. That claim cannot survive this phrase.
He is Creator, not created, and all created things are not only by but for Him. Did He, a creature, create all things for Himself? What is left then for God?
Teachers at Colossae offered a religion of ranked spirit-beings that pushed Christ down the ladder.
The Colossian heresy turned on a subtle error, a false mysticism that only a privileged few could enter. It set out to explain evil and creation. God is good and matter is evil, so a descending series of angelic orders (principalities and powers) must connect God with the universe. The result was that the Son of God lost His throne and angels received worship.
One day every seat of power He made will stand for Him.
In the end, someone who represents Christ will fill every throne in the universe. All will be conformed to His image and represent Him. And every place of lordship will be held for the glory of Christ.
- Reason — "For" explains the title before it. Christ ranks first over creation because He made it, not because He was made first.
- In Him — creation bears His stamp. He formed every atom and every authority to show something of His wisdom and glory.
- By Him — He is the active hand behind everything in heaven and earth, seen and unseen, from the dust to the highest thrones.
- For Him — He is the goal, not a workman building for someone greater. Each creature finds the point of its existence in Him.
- Therefore — no spirit-being, philosophy or angelic order stands alongside Him. One day every throne in the universe will represent Him.
And *he* is before all, and all things subsist together by him.
Paul is describing where the Son of God stands in relation to everything that exists. This short verse makes two claims about Him: one about time, and one about what keeps the universe going. Both shut the door on any idea that the Son is part of creation.
The verb matters here. Commentators point out that it rules out any idea that the Son had a starting point.
Some men claim to believe in His pre-eminence over creation, and yet say that He Himself had a beginning. We are guarded against such mistaken thoughts, for we are clearly told, "He is before all things." This statement tells us in no uncertain terms of the divine and eternal glory of the Son. We are carried back to a time before anything created existed. There we learn not merely "He was," but "He is." These words forbid the thought that "He began" or that "He was made." They tell us clearly of His eternal existence as the Son.
This way of speaking is not unique to Paul. The same timeless "I am" is heard from Jesus Himself and from God at the burning bush.
The verb establishes His existence before all created things: "He is," not was, "before all things" and beings. It is the scriptural phrase signifying absolute, timeless existence. The Holy Spirit uses it here of the Son. Jesus used it of Himself when He said to the Jews, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). God said the same of Himself when He sent Moses to the children of Israel: "I am has sent me to you" (Ex. 3:14).
There is an extra weight on the word "He" in the original that English readers can miss.
The special force of the pronoun may be lost to the English reader, but the original Greek uses the emphatic pronoun autos, which means "very self." So the verse declares that "He Himself," or "His very self" is "before all things." It is He (that is, the Son) and no other. The Person of the Son preceded the universe, and He is also the universal Cause.
The second half of the verse moves from where things came from to what keeps them going.
"And He is before all things and by Him all things consist." Everything depends upon Him; all things are held together by Him. Without Him all would cease to be. Four times in these two verses we read of "all things." All things created by Him; all things for Him; He is before all things; all things consist by Him.
Older translations read "by Him all things consist," where the ESV has "in him all things hold together." Commentators say that little word "by" means more than simple agency.
"And by [or, in virtue of] him all things consist." In virtue of Him gives a clearer and more intimate idea. The object here is to take away all vagueness in exalting Christ.
Commentators press the word "together."
Created things do not only continue to exist; they continue together. The Son sustains the vast creation in all its parts as one harmonious whole. Men would use what they call the laws of nature to shut the Creator out of His universe. But without the sustaining power of the Son, all would collapse into ruin.
Science can map the universe. It cannot find the centre this verse names.
Our sun and other suns may all revolve around some great central point, and astronomers have tried in vain to discover it. But the simple Christian is after all wiser than the astronomers, for he can say, "By Him all things hang together." He is the central Pivot, the glorious Person in whom every part of the universe is concentrated, and He holds everything for God.
Such a Person could seem far away. But believers are united to Him, in what is called here the assembly, or the church.
All things subsist together "by Him," and in what relation does this wonderful Person of such glorious pre-eminence stand to us? "He is the Head of the body—the assembly." Oh! to think that we are so closely united to such a One! He is our Head, and we are the members of His body! He gave Himself for the assembly.
- Before — "He is," not "He was," marks timeless existence and shuts out any beginning for the Son.
- Himself — the emphatic pronoun says it is He and no other who precedes the universe and causes it.
- By — "in virtue of Him" is closer than mere agency; the wording exists to remove vagueness about Christ.
- Together — everything depends on Him moment by moment; He holds creation as one whole, and without Him all would collapse into ruin.
- Ours — the Person holding the universe together is the Head of the body, and He gave Himself for us.