Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 1:17
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
17. he ] Emphatic in the Greek; He, and no other who could even seem to rival or obscure His sublime eminence.
is before all things ] ante omnes, Latin Versions. The Greek genitive form is ambiguous; it might be either masculine or neuter. But the mention in the last clause, in the unambiguous nominative, of “all things,” decides for a similar reference here.
Lightfoot prints his rendering here, “ and He is before all things,” comparing Joh 8:58, and Exo 3:14, and adding, “The imperfect [‘ was ’] might have sufficed, but the present [‘ is ’] declares that this pre-existence is absolute existence.” He quotes Basil of Csarea ( adv. Eunom., iv.) as emphasizing the special force of “ is ” (as against e.g. “ was ” or “ became ”) in this very passage: “(the Apostle) indicates thus that He ever is while the creation came to be.”
“ Before: ” i.e., as the whole context shews, in respect of priority of existence; the priority of eternity.
by him ] Lit. and better, in Him; see above on Col 1:16.
consist ] I.e., literally, stand together, hold together. The Latin-English “ consist ” (Latin versions, constant) exactly renders the Greek. “He is the principle of cohesion in the Universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos” (Lightfoot). And Lightfoot quotes Philo to shew that the “Logos” of Alexandrian Judaism was similarly regarded as the “Bond” of the universe.
“Christ was the conditional element of their creation, the causal element of their persistence The declaration, as Waterland observes, is in fact tantamount to ‘in Him they live, and move, and have their being’ ” (Ellicott).
Natural philosophy, after all observation and classification of phenomena and their processes, asks necessarily but in vain (so long as it asks only “Nature”), what is their ultimate secret, what is, for instance, the last reason of universal gravitation. Revelation discloses that reason in the Person and Will of the Son of God.
Thus far the Apostle has unfolded the glory of Christ as the Cause and Bond of all being in the sphere of “Nature,” material and otherwise. Now he turns to the sphere of Grace.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he is before all things – As he must be, if he created all things. Those who regard this as referring to a moral creation, interpret it as meaning that he has the pre-eminence over all things; not as referring to his pre-existence. But the fair and proper meaning of the word before ( pro) is, that he was before all things in the order of existence; compare Mat 8:29; Joh 11:55; Joh 13:1; Act 5:36; Act 21:38; 2Co 12:2. It is equivalent to saying that he was eternal – for he that had an existence before any thing was created, must be eternal. Thus, it is equivalent to the phrase, In the beginning; Gen 1:1; compare the notes at Joh 1:1.
And by him all things subsist – Or are sustained; see the notes at Heb 1:3. The meaning is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing. If this be the proper interpretation, then it is the ascription to Christ of infinite power – for nothing less could be sufficient to uphold the universe; and of infinite wisdom – for this is needed to preserve the harmonious action of the suns and systems of which it is composed. None could do this but one who is divine; and hence we see the reason why he is represented as the image of the invisible God. He is the great and glorious and everactive agent by whom the perfections of God are made known.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Col 1:17
By Him all things consist.
That is, Christ upholds, rules, and governs all things by His providence, as is shown elsewhere (Heb 1:2-3; Pro 8:15; Joh 5:12). Christ is not like a carpenter that makes his house and then.. leaves it, or like a shipwright that frames his ship and never guides it.
I. All things are said to consist in Him in respect of
1. Conservation: in that He keeps all things in their being.
2. Precept: in that from Him are prescribed the laws by which nature, policy, and religion are governed.
3. Operation: in that all things move in Him.
4. His position of means to end.
5. As the universal cause of nature and natural instincts in all creatures, by which they further their own preservation.
II. Is Him all things consist.
1. As He is God–
(1) In respect of ubiquity; He comprehends all things, and is comprehended of nothing. The nations are but a drop of His bucket, and time but a drop of His eternity.
(2) In respect of power; in that this whole frame stirreth.
(3) In respect of omniscience and wisdom, for all is within His knowledge, and receiveth order from His wisdom.
(4) In respect of decree, for the world to he made did from everlasting hang in the foreknowledge and pro-ordination of Christ.
2. As He is Redeemer. All things consist in Him–
(1) Because He is that atonement which kept the world from being dissolved.
(2) Because the respect of Him and His Church is that which keeps up the world to this day. Were His body complete the world could not stand one hour.
(3) Because the promise made to man concerning His prosperity in the use of all creatures is made in Christ.
III. In Him all things consist. Which word notes–
1. Order. By an excellent order the creatures agree together in a glorious frame; for God is the God of order, not of confusion.
(1) But are there not many evils in the world?
(a) There may be order in respect of God, though not in respect of us.
(b) It follows not that there is no order because we see none (Rom 11:33).
(c) Many of the reasons of human misery are revealed–sin entailing punishment.
(d) There may be order in respect of the whole, though not in respect of every part.
(2) But there are many sins in the world, and those con-Mist not in Christ, neither tend they to order.
(a) These are restrained by Christ.
(b) Work out His purposes.
2. Continuance. The world, men, and lower creatures, etc., are maintained in being by Christ,
3. Co-operation. By the providence of Christ all things work together.
(1) For Christs glory;
(2) for His peoples good.
4. Immortality.
Uses–
1. For reproof of mens security in sin. Seeing that all things consist in Christ, they cannot stir but He seeth them.
2. It should teach us to trust in Christ, not in second causes.
3. If all things consist in Christ, then much more are the righteous preserved with a special preservation. (N. Byfield.)
All things exist in Christ
All things stand together in Him as the causal and conditional sphere of their continued existence. In Him they live and move and have their being, and in Him the sustentation or upholding of the universe rests. How wondrous, then, the glory and power of the Son of God! Without Him the sun would not shine, nor the seasons revolve; without Him the rain would not descend, nor the rivers run, nor the trees grow, nor the oceans ebb and flow. His power is necessary to summer and winter, seed.time and harvest, to earth and sky. He upholdeth all things by the word of His power, and without Him creation would collapse. Every province of the empire of immensity, with all its contents of life, force, and motion, depends on Him. The intellect of angels reflects His light, the fire of seraphs is the glow of His love, the energy of our own souls is an evidence of His beneficence and skill. In Him all things consist–the power of their support, the primal centre of their order, the rule of their operation. This is the Being in whom we have redemption. What sublimity His greatness sheds around the gospel! What moral richness His gospel throws around nature and humanity! How lofty should be our adoration, how strong our confidence, how warm our love, how complete our submission! (J. Spence, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. See Clarke on Col 1:16
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he is before all things: to obviate all exceptions to what he had said before, the apostle doth expressly assert (what was implied before) Christs pre-existence to all the things that were created, and therefore that he himself was not made, but eternally begotten, and so did exist, and was actually before all creatures in causality, dignity, and time; which proves his eternity, (consonant to other scriptures, Pro 8:22; Isa 44:6; Mic 5:2; Joh 1:1; 17:5; Rev 1:8,11,17; Re 22:13), because before all things there was nothing but proper eternity, Psa 90:2.
And by him all things consist: then follows this further argument of Christs excellency and perfection, that he is not only the Creator or Founder, but likewise the Supporter or Upholder, of all things whatsoever are created, yea, even of the most excellent and useful of them, who in him do live and move, Act 17:28; Heb 1:3; he being the conservant as well as procreant cause of the heavens and earth, with all things therein, because in respect of God it is the same action which is continued in conservation and providence whielt was in creation, not breaking off the same influence which was exerted in producing them out of nothing into being, Isa 46:4; Joh 5:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. (Joh8:58.) Translate as Greek, “And He Himself(the great HE) is(implying divine essential being) before all things,” intime, as well as in dignity. Since He is before all things, Heis before even time, that is, from eternity. Compare”the first-born of every creature” (Col1:15).
by himGreek,“IN Him” (as theconditional element of existence, Col1:16) [ALFORD].
consist“subsist.”Not only are called into being from nothing, but are maintained intheir present state. The Son of God is the Conserver, aswell as the Creator of all things [PEARSON].BENGEL less probablyexplains, “All things in Him come together into one system:the universe found its completion in Him” (Isa 41:4;Rev 22:13). Compare as to GOD,Ro 11:36: similar language;therefore Christ must be God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he is before all things,…. Not only in dignity, being preferable to angels and men in his nature, names, offices, and works, and worthy of more honour than all creatures; but he is before them in existence, as he must needs be, since they are all made by him; he was not only before John the Baptist, his forerunner, before Abraham who saw his day and was glad, before the first man was made, but before the angels were in being, or the heavens and the earth, or any creature were formed; and therefore must be God, who is from everlasting to everlasting:
and by him all things consist; he upholds all things by the word of his power; the heavens have their stability and continuance from him; the pillars of the earth are bore up by him, otherwise that and the inhabitants of it would be dissolved; the angels in heaven are confirmed in their estate by him, and have their standing and security in him; the elector God are in his hands, and are his peculiar care and charge, and therefore shall never perish; yea, all mankind live and move, and have their being in him; the whole frame of nature would burst asunder and break in pieces, was it not held together by him; every created being has its support from him, and its consistence in him; and all the affairs of Providence relating to all creatures are governed, directed, and managed by him, in conjunction with the Father and the blessed Spirit.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Before all things ( ). with the ablative case. This phrase makes Paul’s meaning plain. The precedence of Christ in time and the preeminence as Creator are both stated sharply. See the claim of Jesus to eternal timeless existence in John 8:58; John 17:5. See also Re 23:13 where Christ calls himself the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning () and the End (). Paul states it also in 2Cor 8:9; Phil 2:6.
Consist (). Perfect active indicative (intransitive) of , old verb, to place together and here to cohere, to hold together. The word repeats the statements in verse 16, especially that in the form . Christ is the controlling and unifying force in nature. The Gnostic philosophy that matter is evil and was created by a remote aeon is thus swept away. The Son of God’s love is the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe which is not evil.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He is [ ] . Both words are emphatic. Estin is, is used as in Joh 8:58 (see note), to express Christ ‘s absolute existence. “He emphasizes the personality, is the preexistence” (Lightfoot). For similar emphasis on the pronoun, see Eph 2:14; Eph 4:10, 11; 1Jo 2:2; Rev 19:15.
Before all things. In time.
By Him [ ] . In Him as ver. 16. So Rev.
Consist [] . Cohere, in mutual dependence. Compare Act 27:28; Heb 1:3. For other meanings of the verb, see on Rom 3:5. Christ not only creates, but maintains in continuous stability and productiveness. “He, the All – powerful, All – holy Word of the Father, spreads His power over all things everywhere, enlightening things seen and unseen, holding and binding all together in Himself. Nothing is left empty of His presence, but to all things and through all, severally and collectively, He is the giver and sustainer of life…. He, the Wisdom of God, holds the universe in tune together. He it is who, binding all with each, and ordering all things by His will and pleasure, produces the perfect unity of nature and the harmonious reign of law. While He abides unmoved forever with the Father, He yet moves all things by His own appointment according to the Father ‘s will” (Athanasius).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he is before all things (kai autos estin pro panton) “and he exists (apriori) before all things,” or antecedent to all things, Joh 1:1-2; Joh 8:58; Joh 17:5; Heb 13:8; Rev 1:8. He may also be considered before all things in the sense of superiority in rank of all existing principalities and powers and authorities before whom all shall one day bow. Rom 14:11-12; Rev 5:9-13.
2) “And by him all things consist” (kai ta panta en auto suenesteken) And all things in him consisted,” or held together, Joh 1:3; 1Co 8:6. He is the first and last in all things to be loved, obeyed, and worshipped by men, in whom we live and move and have our existence and subsistence, Joh 15:5; Act 17:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. All things were created by him, and for him. He places angels in subjection to Christ, that they may not obscure his glory, for four reasons: In the first place, because they were created by him; secondly, because their creation ought to be viewed as having a relation to him, as their legitimate end; thirdly, because he himself existed always, prior to their creation; fourthly, because he sustains them by his power, and upholds them in their condition. At the same time, he does not affirm this merely as to angels, but also as to the whole world. Thus he places the Son of God in the Highest seat of honor, that he may have the pre-eminence over angels as well as men, and may bring under control all creatures in heaven and in earth.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. 18. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Translation and Paraphrase
17. (Yea) and he exists before all things, and all things hold together in him (by virtue of his will and power).
18. And he is the head of the body, (that is,) the church. (It is he) who is the beginning (the ruler), the firstborn from the dead (the first to rise never to die again), so that he might have the preemince (first place) in all things.
Notes
1.
Col. 1:17 refers to the pre-existence of Christ. By this we mean his eternal existence with God before he emptied himself of much of his divine glory and was conceived in Mary. Many other Bible verses refer to his pre-existence. Joh. 1:1-2; Joh. 1:10; Php. 2:6-7; Mic. 5:2; Heb. 1:8-12.
2.
Col. 1:17 says that Christ is before all things, not that he was before all things. To God and Christ all events of all time are eternally in the present tense. Christ himself said, Before Abraham was, I am. (Joh. 8:58).
3.
In Christ all things consist, that is, all things hold together. There is a wonderful cohesion in the universe. Atoms resist breaking apart with awesome energy. Gravity and other laws of physics regulate the heavenly bodies with astounding order. No one really knows why gravity works, except that the supreme power so wills it. There is an interdependence among natural creatures that defies naturalistic explanations as to its origin. Even history and the social order, as chaotic as mans sinfulness has made it, seems rushing on to a foredetermined conclusionperhaps to self-destruction, Armageddon, and (definitely!) to a new heaven and earth.
4.
Christ is supreme to the church. He is its head and it is his body. Compare Eph. 1:22-23. As the head of a human body rules the body, so Christ rules the church.
Note that there is one head and one body, one Christ and one church of Christ. Let us be loyal to HIS church, and not to human churches.
5.
Christ is the beginning. This term signifies the first in a series of things. Thus of all the sons that God has drawn from among men unto himself, Christ is the beginning, the first, the unique son. He is the firstborn among many brethren. Rom. 8:29.
In Luk. 20:20 the term arche (here translated beginning) means rule or authority. According to this meaning of the word, Christ is the ruler; and truly he is.
6.
Christ is the firstborn from the dead. He was the first to rise from the dead, never to die again. Christ himself resurrected Lazarus (Joh. 11:1-57) and some others; there were a few resurrections in Old Testament times (e.g. 2Ki. 13:21). But all these died again with no recollection of their former experiences after death. But death has no more power over Christ. Rom. 6:9; Rev. 1:5.
In the time to come all the dead shall rise, and shall never face physical death again. (Some, alas, shall face the second death of hell. Rev. 20:14-15). Joh. 5:28-29; Act. 24:15; 1Co. 15:22. Even then Christ will always be the firstborn from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 1Co. 15:20.
7.
The last phrase of Col. 1:18 may also be translated, That he might have the preeminence among all, referring to Christs preeminence among the dead as well as the living. Christ has pre eminence both among all things and among all people, living and dead alike.
Study and Review
13.
How far back did Christ exist? (Col. 1:17)
14.
What do we mean by the pre-existence of Christ?
15.
What is the tense of the verbs in Col. 1:17? What significance can be attached to this?
16.
What does consist mean in the clause in him all things consist?
17.
What is Christs relation to the church? (Col. 1:18)
18.
What does the assertion who is the beginning indicate about Christ?
19.
Why is Christ called the firstborn from the dead? Were not others resurrected before Christ arose?
20.
What is Christ to have in all things? (Col. 1:18)
21.
Is Christ preeminent just over those things now living? Give the Scriptural statements that prove the answers to this question.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) He is before all things.The words He is are both emphatic. He, and He only, is; all else is created. It is impossible not to refer to the I am of Eternal existence, as claimed by our Lord for Himself. Before Abraham was, I am (Joh. 8:58; comp. also Joh. 1:15). Hence the word before should be taken, not of supreme dignity, but of pre-existence.
By him all things consist.That is, hold together in unity, obeying the primval law of their being. In this clause is attributed to our Lord, not only the creative act, but also the constant sustaining power, in which all lives and moves and has its being, and which, even less than the creative agency, can be supposed to be a derivative and finite power, such as that of the Demiurgus of Gnostic speculation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. And he is before Rather, and he is himself before all things. Observe, it is not said that he was, or became, but he is the word of eternity. If he existed before any act of creation, he is eternal.
All things consist He holds the universe together, preserves its permanence, and maintains its order as its sustainer. The Son of God is therefore omnipresent, as well as omnipotent and eternal.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Col 1:17. And by him all things consist This is a new argument which St. Paul uses, to prove the super-eminent dignity and authority of Christ; namely, that as the Father made all things by him, so he upholds and preserves all things by him too. The same is asserted, Heb 1:3 where he is said to uphold all things by the word of his power.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Col 1:17 . ] which is to be separated from the preceding by a comma only (see on Col 1:16 ), places, in contradistinction to the created objects in Col 1:16 ( ), the subject , the creating self: “ and He Himself, on His part , has an earlier existence than all things, and the collective whole subsists in Him.” Never is in the nominative [39] the mere unemphatic “ he ” of the previous subject (de Wette), either in Greek authors or in the N. T., not even in passages such as Buttmann ( Neut. Gr . p. 94 [E. T. 107]) brings forward; see Fritzsche, ad Matth . p. 47; Winer, p. 141 f. [E. T. 187]; Khner, II. 1, p. 563.
] like , referring to time , not to rank (as the Socinians, Nsselt, Heinrichs, Schleiermacher, Baumgarten-Crusius, and others hold); Paul thus repeatedly and emphatically lays stress on the pre-existence of Christ. Instead of , he might have written (Joh 1:1 ); but he makes use of the former, because he has in view and sets forth the permanence of Christ’s existence, and does not wish to narrate about Him historically, which is done only in the auxiliary clauses with , Col 1:16 ; Col 1:19 . On the present, comp. Joh 8:58 . His existence is more ancient than that of all things ( , not masculine, as the Vulgate and Luther translate).
] as in Col 1:16 , referring to the causal dependence of the subsistence of all existing things on Christ .
] denotes the subsistence of the whole, the state of lasting interdependence and order , an idea which is not equivalent to that of creation, but presupposes it. Reiske, Ind. Dem . ed. Schaef. p. 481: “Corpus unum, integrum, perfectum, secum consentiens esse et permanere.” Comp. 2Pe 3:5 ; Plat. Rep . p. 530 A: , Tim . 61 A: , Legg . vii. p. 817 B: . Herod. vii. 225; Philo, quis rer. div. haer . p. 489: , , . . . . It expresses that there is in Christ not merely the creative cause, but also the cause which brings about organic stability and continuance in unity (preserving and governing) for the whole of existing things. Comp. Heb 1:3 . Of attempts at explanation under the moral interpretation, we may note that of Schleiermacher: the consolidating of earthly relations and institutions; and that of Baumgarten-Crusius: “in this new world He is Lord in recognition and in sway ”
[39] Bengel correctly observes on ver. 16: “Ipse hic saepe positum magnam significat majestatem et omnem excludit creaturam.”
REMARK.
The intentional prominence given to the fact of the creation of all things through Christ, and in particular of the creation of the angels in their various classes, justifies the supposition that the false teachers disparaged Christ in this respect, and that they possessed at least elements of the Gnostic- demiurgic doctrine which was afterwards systematically elaborated. There is no evidence, however, of their particular views, and the further forms assumed by the Gnostic elements, as they showed themselves according to the Fathers in Simon Magus (Iren. Haer . i. 20 “Eunoiam generare angelos et potestates, a quibus et mundum hunc factum dixit;” comp. Epiph. Haer . xxi. 4), Cerinthus , etc., and especially among the Valentinians , while certainly to be recognised as fundamentally akin to the Colossian doctrinal errors (comp. Heinrici, Valentinian. Gnosis , 1871), are not to be identified with them; nor are those elements to be made use of as a proof of the post-apostolic origin of the epistle, as still is done by Hilgenfeld (see his Zeitschr . 1870, p. 246 f.), and more cautiously by Holtzmann. Of Ebionitism only Essene elements are to be found in Colossae, mingled with other Gnostic doctrines, which were not held by the later Ebionites. In particular, the , on which Paul lays so much stress, must have been doubted in Colossae, although a portion of the Ebionites expressly and emphatically taught it ( , Epiph. Haer . XXX. 3). Moreover, the opinion that Paul derived the appellations of the classes of angels in Col 1:16 from the language of the heretics themselves (Bhmer, comp. Olshausen) is to be rejected, because in other passages also, where there is no contrast to the Gnostic doctrine of Aeons, he makes use in substance of these names (Rom 8:38 ; 1Co 15:24 ; comp. Eph 1:20 ff; Eph 3:10 ; Eph 6:11 ff.). They are rather to be regarded as well-known and generally-current appellations, which were derived from the terminology of later Judaism, and which heretics made use of in common with the orthodox. The anti-Gnostic element is contained, not in the technical expressions, but in the doctrinal contents of the passage; and it was strong enough to induce Marcion, who took offence at it, to omit Col 1:15-17 (Tertullian, c. Marcion , v. 19). See, besides, Rbiger, Christol. Paul . p. 51 f.; Lechler, apost. Zeit . p. 55 f.; Klpper, l.c .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Ver. 17. By him all things consist ] They would soon fall asunder, had not Christ undertaken to uphold the shattered condition thereof, by the word of his power.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Col 1:17 . . . is emphatic, He and no other. Lightfoot (followed by Westcott and Hort and Ellicott) accents , “He exists,” on account of the present, and compares (Joh 8:58 ). But there stands alone, whereas here . . is completed by . Besides, there is no object in the assertion of the existence of the Son here. The sense of depends to some extent on that of . If, as is usual, is taken here as temporal, will be the pre-incarnate Son. If, however, with Haupt, it be taken to assert superiority in rank, will be the exalted Christ, and the present will be quite regular. It is urged that for this some other preposition, such as or , would have been expected. Gess says that in each of the eleven other passages in which it occurs in Paul it is temporal, and in the other N.T. passages (37) it is used of place or, as generally, of time, except in Jas 5:12 , 1Pe 4:8 , where it is used of rank. It is used, however, in classical Greek in this latter sense. Perhaps it is safest to allow the general Pauline usage to determine the sense here. In this case is temporal and a timeless present. is, of course, neuter, like , not masculine. : “hold together”. The Son is the centre of unity for the universe. He keeps all its parts in their proper place and due relations and combines them into an ordered whole. Apart from Him it would go to pieces. Philo ascribes a similar function to the Logos. Haupt thinks that this thought that Christ is the principle of coherence for the universe is not in the passage, which means no more than that He sustains it ( cf. Heb 1:3 , ).
The interpretation of Col 1:15-17 given by Oltramare should not be passed over. He eliminates the idea of pre-existence from the passage, and says that the reference is throughout to Christ as Redeemer. God had in creation to provide by a plan of Redemption for the entrance of evil into the universe, and only on that condition could it take place. So since Christ is the Redeemer, creation is based upon Him, He is the means to it, and the end which it contemplates. He objects to the common view on the following grounds: (1) Elsewhere Paul speaks of God, not Christ, as the Creator and goal of the universe; (2) Paul starts from the Christ in whom we have redemption as . . , and in Col 1:18 , which refers to the same Person as Col 1:17 , He is spoken of as the Head of the Church, therefore the context is against any reference to a pre-incarnate Christ; (3) He carefully avoids saying that the Son has created all things, though he has to change the subject of the sentence. In reply to (1) it may be said that the Son acts as Agent of the Father, and so creation may be referred to either, and that while Paul contemplates the final surrender by the Son of the kingdom to the Father, he also contemplates a prior subjection of everything to the Son. Oltramare himself, for another purpose, points to apparent inconsistency in John (Joh 1:2 compared with Rev 3:14 ; Rev 4:11 ; Rev 10:6 ) and the author of Hebrews (Heb 1:2 compared with Heb 2:10 , Heb 11:3 ). If these writers did not find the two views incompatible, why should Paul have done so? In reply to (2) it may be urged that Paul’s hold on the personal identity of the Son in the states through which He passed was strong enough to enable Him to glide from one to the other without any sense of incongruity. As to (3), the change in the form of sentence is probably to prepare for . . There is a similar change at Col 1:19 , where corresponds to (Col 1:16 ). His own view is open to fatal objections. It is not clear that the creation of the angels who did not fall would be conditional on provision being made for Redemption, nor yet how this would prove the superiority of the Redeemer to these angels. The insuperable difficulty, however, is that the thought is so far-fetched and not naturally suggested by the words. can hardly be consistent with the creation of the universe long before the Son came into existence. Nor can mean merely that the Son was an indispensable condition for the creation of the universe, it implies active agency. Nor is any adequate explanation of . given. Besides, Phi 2:5-8 sufficiently proves that Paul believed in the pre-existence of Christ, and that makes it less than ever justifiable to take the passage in other than its plain sense. Gess, it may be added, explains that the firstborn is the one who opens for those who follow the path of life, and by his consecration to God must purchase for them the Divine good pleasure. Exo 13:2 ; Exo 13:12 sq. and Num 3:12 sq. are quoted to prove this, but neither says anything of the purchase of Divine favour for those born after. Exo 4:22 and Psa 89:27 are explained to mean, accordingly, that Israel and David, not the nations and their kings, are objects of God’s good pleasure and mediators of it to the world. . . . is therefore explained as the opener of the path of life and mediator of God’s love to every creature. But this is to overlook the fact that in Psa 89 . the firstborn is further defined as the highest of the kings of the earth.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
is. Emph.
before. App-104.
consist = cohere, or hold together, Compare Heb 1:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Col 1:17. , He is) He does not say, He was made; nor, He was, of which the latter might, however, have been used in a dignified sense, comp. Joh 1:1; but He is, in the present; comp. Joh 8:58.- , before all things) even before time, i.e. from eternity.- ) and all things in Him came together into one system [Engl. Vers. By Him all things consist, i.e. are maintained.] The universe found its completion in Him. LXX. , Gen 1:10. He is the first and the last, Rev 22:13. [Isa 41:4, in regard to the origin: I the Lord am first, and I am with the last.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Col 1:17
Col 1:17
and he is before all things,-He and he only is; all else is created. This refers to the I am of eternal existence, as claimed by himself: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was bom, I am. (Joh 8:58).
and in him all things consist.-In him all things stand together as united parts of one whole. Just as in the bosom of the Son all things sprang into being, so in him as their compassing element all things find their bond of union and their orderly arrangement into one whole. [The emphasis rests on the word Head. The fullness of Pauls statement here, taken in connection with 2: 18, 19, indicates that the Colossian church was in danger from false teaching respecting the relation of Christ to the creation, especially to the angels.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
he: Col 1:15, Pro 8:22, Pro 8:23, Isa 43:11-13, Isa 44:6, Mic 5:2, Joh 1:1-3, Joh 8:58, Joh 17:5, 1Co 8:6, Heb 13:8, Rev 1:8, Rev 1:11, Rev 1:17, Rev 2:8
and by: 1Sa 2:8, Psa 75:3, Joh 5:17, Joh 5:18, Act 17:28, Heb 1:3
Reciprocal: Gen 1:1 – God 1Ch 16:30 – stable 2Ch 2:12 – that made heaven Neh 9:6 – preservest Psa 33:9 – and it stood Psa 55:19 – even Psa 78:69 – earth Isa 40:26 – who hath Isa 44:24 – by myself Isa 66:2 – For all those Jer 51:15 – hath made Joh 1:3 – General Joh 1:15 – he was 2Co 5:18 – all 2Co 8:9 – though Eph 3:9 – created Heb 1:2 – appointed Heb 2:10 – for 2Pe 3:5 – standing Rev 4:11 – for thou
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHRIST THE CENTRE OF ALL
By Him all things consist.
Col 1:17
A remarkable expression which contains a great truth.
I. Christ is the centre of all.
(a) Of the visible world. Christ is the central point of everything, and the whole circle of the universe is united and ruled and bound together by Christ.
(b) Christ is the essential point of all truth, even of the great Godhead of the Blessed Trinity. Christ came from heaven to reveal and magnify the Father. This done, Christ returned to heaven to send the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost leads us to Christ, Christ presents us to the Father.
(c) Christ is the Head of the Church.
II. Every real Christian will confess that every good thing he has, every act of love and service, every ray of light and holiness to his heart or life, all come from Christ. There is no other source. And further his own conscience will tell him that his one great desire is to serve and please Christ. That Christ is the focus of his lifeto be like Him, to honour Him, to be with Him for ever: so that past, present, future, all gathers up to one point, and that point is Christ.
III. Apply this truth very practically.
(a) You feel and you regret your inconsistencies. Your inconsistencies are the result of a little of Christ, or no Christ, in your heart.
(b) We lament divisions in the Church. What is the real and only remedy? More simplicity, greater humility, greater singleness of aim, Christ more preached, Christ more lived, Christ more exalted.
(c) Or go into a closer circlein your family, in your household, in your school, in your place of business. Is it peace? Labour for the prerogative of Christ. It is His work and His glory to keep all things well togetheryour family, your business, everything. By Him all things consist.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
(Col 1:17.) -And He is before all. The pronoun in the nominative has an emphatic sense-and this one-the creator of all, is before all. Two meanings have been assigned to the preposition .
1. Many take it in the sense of order, or eminence-such as Noesselt, Heinrichs, Baumgarten-Crusius, Schleiermacher, and, of necessity, the Socinian expositors. There is no need of this secondary meaning, and the phrase as it occurs in Jam 5:12, 1Pe 4:8, does not warrant such an exegesis, for it occurs in those places as a kind of adverbial emphasis.
2. It naturally means before all in point of time-as Bhmer, Meyer, De Wette, and Huther take it. Joh 1:30. When connected with persons, bears such a primary meaning always in the New Testament, Joh 5:7; Rom 16:7; Gal 1:17. Priority of existence belongs to the great FIRST Cause. He who made all necessarily existed before all. Prior to His creative work, He had filled the unmeasured periods of an unbeginning eternity. Matter is not eternal-is not the dark and necessary circumference of His bright Essence. He pre-existed it, and called it into being. Everything is posterior to Him, and nothing coeval with Him. And the present tense is employed-He is, not He was. Joh 8:58. His is unchanging being. At every point of His existence it may be said of Him, He is. He is all that He was, and all that He will be-and comprises in Him the birth and end of time. Were His existence measured by human epochs, you might say of Him at some bygone period, He was-but the apostle, glancing at His immutability of nature, simply says, He is. OEcumenius rightly remarks, that the apostle writes not , .
-And all things in Him are upheld. Not only is He the creator, but He is also preserver. Heb 1:3. The verb sometimes signifies to arrange, to constitute, to create, but it also denotes to maintain in existence what has been created. 2Pe 3:5. Such is the view of the Fathers; as OEcumenius paraphrases- . . The perfect tense seems to point us to this signification. What has been created has still been preserved. The two meanings of the verb meet and merge in its perfect tense. The , in this verse, are those of the preceding clauses, and not simply the church, as some in timidity and error restrict it. All things were brought together, and are still held together in Him. The energy which created is alone competent to sustain, every successive moment of providence being, as it were, a successive act of creation. In Him this sustentation of all things reposes. He is the condition of their primary and prolonged being. What a vast view of Christ’s dignity! His arm upholds the universe, and if it were withdrawn, all things would fade into their original non-existence. His great empire depends upon Him in all its provinces-life, mind, sensation and matter; atoms beneath us to which geology has not descended, and stars beyond us to which astronomy has never penetrated. He feeds the sun with fuel, and vails the moon in beauty. He guides the planets on their journey, and keeps them from collision and disorder. Those secret forms of existence which the unaided eye cannot detect are receiving from Him their meat in due season. The rain out of His reservoirs nourishes grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of man. The vitiated atmosphere discharged from animal lungs becomes in His laboratory the source of special nutrition to vegetable life, and the foul breathings of forges and manufactories supply with strength and colour the tall and gorgeous plants of the torrid zone. Thus that universal balance is preserved, the derangement of which would throw around the globe the pall of death. Order is never violated, the tree yields fruit after his kind, and according to the original edict. Evening and morning alternate in sure and swift succession. The mighty and minute are alike to Him whose supervision embraces the extinction of a world and the fall of a sparrow. The creeping things innumerable in the great and wide sea look up to Him, and He opens His hand and they are filled with good; as well the leviathan who is made to play therein, as the insect that builds its coral cell-first its dwelling and then its tomb. Every pulsation of our heart depends on His sovereign beneficence who feeds us and clothes us. The intellect of the cherub reflects His light, and the fire of the seraph is but the glow of His love. All things which He has evoked into being have their continued subsistence in Him.
Are we not entranced with the dignity of our Redeemer, and are we not amazed at His condescension and love? That the creator and upholder of the universe should come down to such a world as this, and clothe Himself in the inferior nature of its race, and in that nature die to forgive and save it, is the most amazing of revelations. Dare we lift our hearts to contemplate and credit it? And yet it is truth, most glorious truth; truth sealed with the blood of Calvary. What sublimity is shed around the gospel! The God of the first chapter of Genesis is the babe of the first chapter of Matthew. He whom Isaiah depicts as the Lord God, the creator of the ends of the earth, who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, is the Christ crucified of evangelical story and apostolic preaching. He who, in the pages of Jeremiah, is the true God, the living God, and an everlasting King, is in the pages of John the Word made flesh-the weeping Jesus-the master girded with a towel and washing His disciples’ feet-the sufferer crowned with thorns and nailed in nakedness to the cross. He who is depicted in Ezekiel as seated on the sapphire throne, with the rainbow for its canopy, and the cherubim for its bearers and guardians, is none other than He whose garments were divided by His executioners, yea, whose corpse was pierced by the barbarous arm of a Roman soldier, and probed to the very heart to prove the reality of His death. He who warned the ancient people that they saw no manner of similitude in the day when He spake to them in Horeb, says at length to a group standing around Him, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see. He by whom all things were made had not where to lay His head. What faith in power and extent should not be reposed in such a Saviour-God! Surely He who made and who sustains the universe is able to keep that we have committed to Him, and will not, from inability or oversight, suffer a confiding spirit to sink into perdition.
We have not chosen to interrupt the course of exegesis by taking notice of the non-natural interpretation which has been sometimes put upon these verses. The deniers of the Redeemer’s deity, and of necessity such as Crellius, Slichting, and the editors of the Improved Version, hold that the creation referred to is not the physical, but a moral creation,-an exegesis acquiesced in, in some of its parts, by Grotius, Wetstein, Ernesti, Noesselt, Heinrichs, Schrader, Baumgarten-Crusius, and Schleiermacher. But, as Whitby remarks, it is a flat and mean exposition; or, as Daill calls it, chicaneuse glosse. For-
1. It is contradicted by the paragraph which afterwards, and that formally, introduces the new or spiritual creation, and connects it as a sequel with that other creation which in these verses the apostle ascribes to Christ. This mode of connection is a plain proof that two distinct acts, or provinces of operation and government, are referred to Christ.
2. The obvious meaning of the terms employed is against the Socinian hypothesis. Had the words occurred in any common paragraph, their meaning would never have been doubted. Had the Father been spoken of, the reference to creation, in its proper sense, would never have been impugned. Why then, when the reference is to the Son, should not the first and most natural interpretation be put upon the language? Pierce remarks, that the exegesis which adopts the notion of a spiritual creation would never have been espoused but for the sake of an hypothesis. The language in its words and spirit-its minuteness and universality-leads us to the first or physical creation. It is a miserable shift of the editors of the Improved Version to argue the apostle does not say by Him were created heaven and earth, but things in heaven and things on earth. The inspired language is, the universe-the all was created by Him without exception; things in heaven, comprising heaven and its population; and things on earth, meaning earth and all that it contains. One is apt to wonder at the hardihood of such an exegesis, and to pause and ask with Whitby, Do the angels need this moral creation, or are they a part of this spiritual creation? And how jejune to say, that by things in heaven are meant the Jews, and by things on earth, the Gentiles! Besides, if we adopt the hypothesis, that a moral renovation is described by these words, the paragraph would lead us to suppose that it had been already effected, and that it still subsisted, whereas in reality it had only commenced.
3. Such phraseology cannot signify a moral creation. The verb has sometimes a secondary sense, and refers to the new creation. In such cases not only is the meaning obvious from the context, as in Eph 2:10, 2Co 5:17, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10, but also the subjects of the renovation are living men already in physical existence; and there can be therefore no mistake in calling the mighty moral change that passes over them a creation. In the paragraph before us, on the other hand, no such previous condition exists; all things are said to be created, that is, brought into existence, by Christ Jesus. The passages of similar meaning in the Old Testament, as Psa 51:10, Isa 45:8, Jer 31:22, etc., present no difficulty, for they carry with them the principle of their own solution. Such phraseology as that before us occurs not in any of these places; and in one of them where there is similar diction, ambiguity is guarded against by the addition of the epithet new,-I create new heavens and a new earth.
Lastly, as Whitby, Dr. Pye Smith, and Burton have shown, the early Greek Fathers unanimously understood the passage of a proper and physical creation. The Socinian interpretation, in short, is as repugnant to sound exegesis as the transparent trick of Marcion was to ordinary honesty, when, according to Tertullian, he omitted in his edition the verses altogether. The perversion of them is not better than the exclusion of them; nay, the latter has the merit of a direct avowal of inability or reluctance to explain them. They, however, survive as a bright and glorious testimony to Him who is the true God and eternal life.
A similar assault upon the natural meaning of the paragraph, and which created no small stir, was made by Schleiermacher in the third number of the Studien und Kritiken, 1832. His exegesis in its general principles and minute details is opposed alike to sound philology and to the context. His affirmation that is never used in Hellenistic Greek of creation proper, is contradicted by Wis 1:14, etc.; Rev 4:11; Rev 10:6. His attempt to connect as an adjective with the preceding is another failure clearly proved by the verbal arrangement. How frigid to confine the phrase, visible and invisible, to the last half of the previous clause-things on earth! Somewhat more spiritual and ingenious than the Socinian hypothesis, this exegesis of Schleiermacher leads to the same unsatisfactory result. It was answered by Osiander in the same journal, 1833; and by Holzhausen in the Tbing. Zeitschrift, 1833; by Bhr in an appendix to his Commentary; and by Bleek in his Exposition of Hebrews, 1.3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Col 1:17. Before is used in the sense of time or order of existence, and it denotes that Christ existed before anything else in the universe of creation. Consist is the same as “exist,” and it means that all things were created through Him, but also they continue to be through Him. This is the same thought that is expressed in Heb 1:3 which says of Christ, “and upholding all things by the word of his power.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Col 1:17. And he (emphatic) is before all things. Before in time, preexistent to all things, not simply all beings. He did not become thus preexistent, but is prior in time.
And in him all things subsist, more literally, stand together. This is not a repetition of the first clause of Col 1:16 : there the fact of creation is mentioned; here a more permanent relation is set forth. He keeps in organic permanence what was created in Him, through Him and unto Him; comp. Heb 1:3. Christ is the Living Centre, to which all things in creation converge, the Divine Keystone in the arch of the universe, on which the whole fabric leans (Chrysostom). The fulness of Pauls statement here, taken in connection with chap. Col 2:18-19, indicates that the Colossian Church was in danger from false teachings respecting the relation of Christ to the creation, especially to the angels. How far this seed of heresy had developed cannot be determined, nor can its connection with the later Gnostic and Ebionitic speculations be positively affirmed (comp. Introduction, 2).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Paul used words in verse 17 which would say “he (Christ) and only he is” before all things and the One through whom all things consist. It is reminiscent of the Lord’s identification of Himself to Moses ( Exo 3:6 ). Christ identified Himself this way in Joh 8:58 , and the Jews clearly understood it as a claim to being God ( Heb 13:8 ). Not only is Christ pre-existent, but Paul also says He is the sustaining power of the universe. The word, “consist” literally means “hold together in an orderly fashion,” according to Weed.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
He is caring for all creation. Heb 1:10-11 mentions that the creation is aging, yet Christ is not – He is able to keep this old creation going even when it is a senior citizen.
Worried about nuclear holocaust? Don’t be – won’t happen.
Worried about the sun burning out? Don’t be – won’t happen.
Worried about an ice age? Don’t be – won’t happen.
None of the disasters of the doom and gloom crowd can come to pass – these things may come, in part, but they will not wipe out the creation! (Read Gen 8:22 for more proof of this.) We know about global warming – it is in a fight with Christ the sustainer – I think I know the winner.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
Christ is the antecedent of creation ("before all things," Col 1:17 a). This revelation clearly separates Christ from every created entity. "He" has the force of "He and no other" in the Greek text. The word is an intensive pronoun. He is before all temporally (preexistent) and authoritatively (sovereign). [Note: C. F. D. Moule, An Idiom-Book of New Testament Greek, p. 74.] This assertion, combined with the earlier one that He is the first-born of all creation (Col 1:15 b), proves that Christ is no creature. If He were, He would have had to create Himself. To do that He would have had to exist before He existed, which is absurd and impossible.
"The phrase ’before all things’ sums up the essence of His designation as ’Firstborn before all creation’ and excludes any possibility of interpreting that designation to mean that He Himself is part of the created order (albeit the first and chief part)." [Note: Bruce, 562:104.]
Christ is the sustainer of creation ("hold together," Col 1:17 b). Christ is the Person who preserves and maintains the existence of what He has created.
"He is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos." [Note: Lightfoot, p. 154.]
"Every law of science and of nature is, in fact, an expression of the thought of God. It is by these laws, and therefore by the mind of God, that the universe hangs together, and does not disintegrate in chaos." [Note: Barclay, p. 144.]
"So the thought passes from creation to preservation." [Note: Johnson, 473:16.]
Col 1:17 sums up the thought of Col 1:15-16 and completes the statement of Christ’s relation to creation.