For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.
- KJV For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
- NKJV For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
- NASB for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
- NLT for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All things in heaven and earth, including every spiritual power, were created through Christ and for Him. He is the agent and goal of all creation.
Overview
Paul insists that 'all things were created' through Christ and 'for him,' explicitly including unseen 'thrones,' 'dominions,' and 'powers.' By naming these angelic ranks, he answers any teaching that exalted angels, for Christ made them and they exist for His glory. Creation finds both its origin and its purpose in the Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Rom 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
- John 1:3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
- Heb 2:10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- 1 Chr 29:11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
- Heb 1:2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
- Eph 1:10as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
- Prov 16:4The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Isa 44:24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Heb 1:10–12And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- Col 1:15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- Eph 1:20–21which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Col 2:10And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
- Isa 43:21The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Ps 102:25–27In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- Heb 3:3–4For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.
- Eph 3:9–10and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
- Deut 4:39Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
- 1 Pet 3:22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Phil 2:10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
- Col 2:15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
- Col 1:20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
- Rev 5:13–14And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”
- Eph 6:12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Isa 40:9–12Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
- Rom 8:38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
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Christ at the center
The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.
How Colossians 1:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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