ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY CHRIST - Colossians 1:16
C. B. sent me an e-mail regarding Colossians 1:16, which reads: 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.What does it mean that "in" him all things were created? The word "in" sounds like a container-word, such as: "The water was in the bottle."
N.T. Wright translates this verse as: by him all things were created. Because the Greek word ev can also be translated as "by."
ἐν,p \{en}1) in, by, with etc.
Christ is not simply part of the created world itself. “All that God made, he made by means of him.” (NTW, Colossians and Philemon, 72)
“All things” can be translated As: “the totality.” Wright writes: “Wherever you look, or whatever realities you think of, you discover entities which, even if they do not acknowledge the fact, owe their very existence to Christ. They are his handiwork. Paul has here chosen to mention especially what we today call the power structures of the universe.” (NTW, Col & Phile, 72)
Ben Witherington comments: – “All
things are repeatedly connected to Christ. Everything points to him.” (BW,
Phile, Col, & Eph, 129)
