Colossians 1:17
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Continuing the hymn of Christ's supremacy, Paul moves from creation to providence: Christ not only made all things but personally sustains them. This undercuts any notion that the world is held by lesser powers.
What Does Colossians 1:17 Mean?
Paul says that Christ existed before anything was made and that He is the One who keeps the whole creation together moment by moment. The phrase "he is before all things" speaks of His priority over everything -- He precedes the universe in time and in rank, standing outside and above the order of created things as their source. Paul does not say He was, but He is, marking a presence that does not begin or end with creation.
The second half of the verse may be even more wonderful: "by him all things consist." The word translated "consist" means to hold together, to cohere, to be sustained as a unified whole. The same Christ through whom all things were made is the One who now upholds them, so that the cosmos does not fly apart into chaos. Everything from the largest structures of the heavens to the smallest ordering of life is held in continuous existence by His power. This is a deeply pastoral truth: the Lord who saves you is also the Lord who sustains all that is. Nothing slips outside His hold. When your own life feels as if it is coming apart, the One who holds the universe together is near, and He is faithful to keep what He has made.
In the Original Language
The Greek "synestēken" (consist) means to hold together or cohere into a unified whole. The present-tense "estin" (is), where one might expect a past tense, signals Christ's timeless existence before and over creation.
Cross References
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”
- Hebrews 1:3
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
- John 8:58
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
- Acts 17:28
Application
When life feels as though it is unravelling, rest in the Christ who holds the whole universe together; the One who sustains all things can be trusted to sustain you.