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Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Proverbs 8:22,23
The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old…

Isaiah 43:11-13
I,even I,am the LORD; and beside methere is no saviour…

and by.

1 Samuel 2:8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to setthem among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earthare the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.

Psalm 75:3
The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

John 5:17,18
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work…

and in Him all things hold together
This phrase speaks to Christ's sustaining power over the universe. It suggests that not only did Christ create all things, but He also maintains and upholds them. This is echoed inHebrews 1:3, which describes Christ as "sustaining all things by His powerful word." The idea of Christ holding all things together implies His ongoing involvement in creation, countering any deistic view that God is detached from the world. It also reflects the belief that Christ is the cohesive force in the universe, ensuring order and purpose. This sustaining power is a testament to His omnipotence and His intimate relationship with creation, reinforcing His role as the cosmic Christ who is both transcendent and immanent.

-Colossians 1:17 opens by declaring Christ’s existence prior to anything created: “He is before all things.”

•John 1:1-3 echoes this: “In the beginning was the Word…Through Him all things were made.”

•Revelation 22:13 calls Him “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End,” underscoring timeless pre-existence.

•Micah 5:2 speaks of Messiah whose origins are “from the days of eternity,” showing the Old Testament anticipated His eternal nature.

•Psalm 90:2 highlights that God existed “before the mountains were born,” reinforcing the idea that Jesus the Son, fully divine, stands outside created time.

- Because He precedes all, He outranks all.Colossians 1:15 already called Him “the firstborn over all creation,” stressing both priority and supremacy.

- Practical encouragement: the One who entered history in Bethlehem was already Lord of history. Our lives are not left to chance but anchored in the eternal Christ.

- The verse continues, “and in Him all things hold together,” shifting from Christ’s priority to His sustaining power.

•Hebrews 1:3: “He upholds all things by His powerful word.” Every atom, galaxy, and heartbeat continues because He wills it.

•Acts 17:28: “For in Him we live and move and have our being,” affirming that human existence itself is contingent on Christ’s constant care.

•Nehemiah 9:6 praises the LORD who “gives life to all that is in the heavens and on the earth,” a role Paul here attributes specifically to Jesus.

•Job 12:10 reminds us, “The life of every living thing is in His hand,” so nothing is ultimately random or self-sustaining.

- Creation’s cohesion, the church’s unity (Ephesians 4:15-16), and the believer’s daily stability all depend on Him.

- Since He is both Creator and Sustainer, trusting Him is never misplaced; the same Lord who holds galaxies together holds marriages, jobs, futures, and souls.

Colossians 1:17 presents a two-fold portrait of Christ: eternally prior to creation and continually preserving creation. He is timelessly sovereign—“before all things”—and tirelessly active—“in Him all things hold together.” Every moment, molecule, and matter of life depends on the unchanging, all-powerful Son.

By him all things consist.--That is,hold together in unity,obeying the primaeval 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 theDemiurgus of Gnostic speculation.

(d) All things through Him and unto Him have been created;

(e) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

II. Ver. 18. . . .

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