What does it mean that all things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16)?

It is so here; and in verse 16 this great fact is stated in a threefold way, three different prepositions being used, in, by and for. In our Authorized version the first preposition as well as the second is by. Literally, however, it is in. If you turn up this passage in Darby's New Translation you will find footnotes which instruct us that in signifies "characteristic power:" that "He was the One whose intrinsic power characterized the creation. It exists as His creature." They instruct us also that by signifies that He was "the active Instrument," and that for signifies that He is "the End" for which creation exists.

You will notice too the comprehensive way in which the creation is described in this passage. Heaven as well as earth is brought into view. Things invisible are contemplated as well as things visible; and the invisible and spiritual powers are spoken of under four heads. 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." Consequently He is before all both as to time and place; and all things hang together by Him. The stars pursue their appointed courses, but they only do so because directed by Him.

There is a remarkable use of prepositions in v. 16, "For by Him were all things created … by Him, and for Him". They give us a clear view of the greatness of the Son. The first "by" indicates that He is the source of all creation, though we know that each Person in the Godhead is spoken of in relation to the original creating of the universe. Yet this second "by" means that the Son is the active instrumental Agent in bringing it into being. While all three Persons are associated in the creation, as the source of it the Son only is spoken of as the active instrumental Agent. Then, "for" means that in bringing it into being He did so having His own glory in view.

Greek students tell us that in that verse there are three prepositions bearing upon this creating of all things. The last one is "for Him." That we can perhaps understand a little. We, and indeed the whole creation, are not made as a man might turn out something by machinery, but really to serve the purpose of glorifying Him who made us. Then also "by Him" in the end of the verse, we can somewhat grasp. He was the active agent in the work of creation. But the first line seems to me to be deeply mysterious. It was not merely that He was agent in their creation (it may perhaps be rendered "in Him;") but it implies that "He was the One whose intrinsic power characterised the creation." The creation, all creation, the all things, including thrones, etc., were so created as to bear — each detail in its measure — some impress of His glory. If we knew the language of the heavens above our heads, or of the earth beneath our feet as He created them, every form of life, every atom, every colour, every shape, every sound, and every authority, would utter some impress of the wisdom and glory of Christ. He created it in such a fashion that there is no part of it but interprets, and brings into evidence, something of His majesty, His wisdom, His power. "From the world's creation the invisible things of Him are perceived, being apprehended by the mind through the things that are made, both His eternal power and divinity" (Rom. 1:20, N.T.).

We read that "by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." By Him. The force which has summoned the worlds out of nothingness into being and which upholds them in being, is His; He wields it; He is the one Producer and Sustainer of all created existence. For Him. He is not as Arianism afterwards pretended, merely an inferior workman, creating for the glory of a higher Master, for a God superior to Himself; He is the End of created things as well as their immediate Source, and in living for Him every creature finds at once the explanation and the law of its being. For He is before all things, and by Him all things consist" (Liddon).

We read that "by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." "By Him." The force which has summoned the worlds out of nothingness into being, and which upholds them in being, is His; He wields it; He is the one Producer and Sustainer of all created existence. For Him. He is not as Arianism afterwards pretended, merely an inferior workman, creating for the glory of a higher Master, for a God superior to Himself; He is the End of created things as well as their immediate Source, and in living for Him every creature finds at once the explanation and the law of its being. For He is before all things, and by Him all things consist" (Liddon).

What a wonderful light does that throw upon creation itself and upon its destiny! Christ is not only the One under whom it is; He is not only the One who will bring it all into blessing, but He, the One who has become the Man Christ Jesus, is the One for whom it all exists. Christ, then, and that grace which is manifested in Him, — that manifestation itself, which is in itself grace, — is that which is the great purpose of God in creation. He must manifest Himself; He must make His creatures know Him. He could not possibly leave them without the full display of all His heart. He wants to be near them. He wants to have them near Himself. Christ is the fulness of God's heart thus told out, and as He is before all, as He is the One who holds all things together now, this purpose cannot fail of accomplishment.

Moreover, we are told why the Son has thus the supreme place as the Firstborn. "For by Him were all things created", whether in heaven or on earth; whether seen or beyond the limits of our vision; whether material powers, or spiritual powers. Further, not only were all things created by Him, they were also created "for Him", as equally for the Father. Then we are further guarded against the infidel thoughts of men who may profess to believe in His pre-eminence over creation, and yet say that He, Himself, had a beginning; for we are definitely 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 when there was nothing created that has been created, to learn not merely "He was", but "He is". These are words that while they forbid the thought that "He began" or that "He was made", plainly tell us of His eternal existence as the Son. Lastly, in relation to creation we are told, "All things subsist together by Him" (N. Tn.). Not only do created things subsist, but they "subsist together". The vast creation is sustained by the Son in all its several parts as one harmonious whole. Men would use what they speak of as the laws of nature to shut the Creator out of His universe; but apart from the sustaining power of the Son all would dissolve into ruin. Doubtless there are laws by which God maintains the universe, for God is a God of order, and possibly amidst all men's changing speculations they may have partially discovered some of these laws. But we may ask if gravity is one of these laws, by which the earth is held in its orbit round the sun. Who is it that sustains gravity? Scripture answers, "By Him all things subsist".

Col. 1:15-18. Who, as now incarnate, but the ever existent God, is the image or exact likeness in every attribute and moral character of the invisible God "who dwelleth in light unapproachable, whom no man hath seen nor can see," but who has been declared, made known, by the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father; the Firstborn, not in point of time, but of priority, establishing His headship of every creature, or of all creation, being thus its Master and its Head; for, the reason why this is the case is that by Him, in His power, the Author and Agent, were all things as hereafter stated, created, not formed out of pre-existent matter, but called into being from absolute nothingness, that are in heaven, the vast universe above and about us, and that are in earth, the sea, the land, all things, vegetable and animal, in various families and orders, with their characteristics and possibilities of further development, in fact every possible and conceivable existence outside of Deity itself; visible, the material creation; and invisible, the world of spirit; whether they be thrones, highest official dignitaries; or dominions, rulers over parts of God's vast universe; or principalities, lesser authorities; or powers, every angelic being exulting in strength, fallen and unfallen, though all as created by Him were unfallen, intelligent, responsible, superhuman, immortal spirits: all things as thus characterized, without a single exception were created by Him, who thus proves Himself to be absolute Deity, one with the Father, in essence, power and glory; and for Him as the expression of His attributes of power, wisdom, skill, of His divine mind with its infinite and glorious conceptions — that vast plan in which His entire universe is to set forth His glories, and those more blessed ones of righteousness, holiness, goodness and love; and He is before all things, nothing can compare with Him in importance; no subject can engage our thoughts equal with Himself; He rises above all the affairs of this world and of the universe; even as He existed before them, so now He is infinitely superior to them; and by Him, by His wisdom, and the power of that word which called all things out of nothing into being, not by anything inherent in themselves, all things consist, are held fast together, the stars in their immeasurable orbits above us, the tiny drops of water that sparkle upon a blade of grass, all are held fast by the same omnipotent power of the eternal Son of God; and He is the Head, supreme Master and sovereign Lord, not only in an administrative way, but vitally the controlling power of the body, composed of all believers since Pentecost, being united to Him by the baptism and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, no longer a Jewish nation or an earthly people, but Me Church, the truth as to which forms the mystery spoken of in this epistle, and made known by special revelation to Paul; who is the beginning, the Author and Head of the new creation which rests not upon fallen man, but upon the Son of God incarnate, who is the Firstborn from the dead, victorious over that death and judgment under which His people lay, He the first-fruits and the Forerunner of all His redeemed; that in all things, in every department of existence, wherever the thought can reach or wherever the Spirit of God can lead to still higher and ever higher conceptions of the breadth and length, the depth and height of those domains which have no boundaries, to all, with every family in heaven and earth, angelic, human, infernal, He might have the pre-eminence, Head over all things, Lord of all, to whom yet every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

But, as I have said, it is not by Him, but in Him that all things were created. It was in His own intrinsic power He brought the universe into existence. There is no created thing that does not owe its creation to Him. Whether they be things in heaven, or things on earth; whether they be visible, or invisible, He created them all, and He created them both by Himself, and for Himself; and in His power everything subsists. He holds everything together by the Word of His power.

It is in this terse account of creation (vers. 16, 17) that the Spirit both testifies to the Son's personal glory, and "sets bounds" to the inquisitive intrusions of the human intellect. In His detailed description of the Son's creative work, He leaves not a single loophole for unbelieving man to suggest an exception, which might seem to invalidate His claim that the Son of the Father's love is the Creator of the whole creation. He created all things both personally in His own right, and instrumentally to the purpose and glory of God. Therefore, according to the Spirit's teaching, nothing can pass the fixed barrier between the Son, the Creator, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the created, produced by Him. The whole creation sprang into being at His voice and by His hand. The Son, therefore, is before and above the whole creation.