Christ Was Before All Things
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
All things were created through and for Jesus Christ (as discussed in Colossians 1:16). This fact confirms that the One who became Jesus existed before any created thing, whether angelic or physical.
Of course, we know that the Word has existed for eternity—He has no beginning or end (Hebrews 7:3).
The New International Version and many other English translations of Colossians 1:17 use the words “hold together” to translate the word the New King James Version translates as “consist.” The Greek word is synistemi (G4921).
“That all things ‘hold together’ in Christ means that he is both the unifying principle and the personal sustainer of all creation. It springs from him and finds in him its common bond and center. He is, to use the words of Lightfoot, 'the principle of cohesion' who makes the universe 'a cosmos instead of a chaos' (p. 156; cf. Heb. 1:3)” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, note on Colossians 1:17).
For more about Jesus Christ before His human birth, see “Jesus, the Son of God.” See also our booklet Getting to Know the God of the Bible.
