The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 77

'' Tliougl,t, I'< press thy '1'cnk cu,lcavour I Here must rcRson prostrato fall· Oh, the inoffnblc for ever, ' Aud the clcrnal nil in all I" I r. TnE m,onv OF ,·nE So:,s n- RELAT10:-. TO TIIE CREATION. This is unfol,lc,1 by f,,ur truths respecting him. 1. He is "the Firstborn qf all c1·eiltiun." In tho New 'l'estam~~1t the term." Firstbor~" is Rpplied five times !o Christ (vers. 15 aud 18; llo~1. nu. 29; Heb. 1. 6; ~~v._ 1. 5). Its use he:e figurati:cly reminds us of the place which the firstborn occupied Ji1 a lfohrew family. Havmcr priority he had nl:io n certain supremacy over the other members and a double p;rtion of the inheritance. Our Lord Chris_t has fff~o1·i~y; "befoi:e Abraham," _!iofore all creation (John i. 1, 2); nbsolute pre-cx1stencc, • betore all thmgs" (ver. 11). Ile bas supremacy. IC Paul here alludes to Ps. lxxxix. 2i, we are reminded that the Messiah is "hi a her than the kings of the earth,"" King of kiugs," cc Lord of all," etc. Aud ho enjoys ~ore than the firstborn's double portion (John iii. 34-, 35; v. 22, 23, 26, 27). 2. He is the means of all creation. 'l'he sixteenth verse confutes the notion of the Son of God being himself a creature, though the highest. He is the Creator, not of cc tho rest" of the universe, but of" all things." Who can adequately interpret that mysterious term "in him," etc.? We can only venture to snggest such truths as these: Apart from Christ there would have been no creation at all. He was the re:i.son for it. Ho was the First Cause and the Final Cause, the Alpha and the Omega of creation. The term cc in him" includes both the following truths "by him" and "for him," cc through him and unto him." 'l'he same preposition (iv), which the apostle so often uses to describe tho relations between the Saviour and his people, he here employs to teach us the relations between Christ the Creator and the universe. But these are but guesses towards an interpretation (Luke x. 21). \Ve are at any rate expressly faught that all things were created "through him" or" by him" (John i. 3); cc in the heavens" (revelations of the tele- scope, Isa. xl. 26) "and upon the earth" (revelations of the microscope, ma.king cc things invisible" become visible),-all were created by Christ. From the world of matter we turn to the world of spirits, t-0 things strictly" invisible." The false teachers may have indulged speculations as to the ranks and power and aulhority of angels. With• out discussing the subject, Paul teaches that, whoever they may be and whatsoever their authority, they arc all created by and subordinated to Christ, the "Firstborn of all creation." 3. He is tl,e ob}tct of all creation. We need not dissociate the human nature of our Lord in his present glory from the Divine nature when we reBe9t on the truth that all things were created cc for him," cc unto him." It is a sublime thought that everything in creaLlon anrl in history was planned for the glory of our blessed Redeemer. 'l'l.tio world with its mountains and lakes and cataracts, its flowers and fruits and birds, was made so beautiful because it was Christ's world. Other worlds, peopled by the heavenly hosts, "·ere created th,1t his glory might be revea!etl to them and through them. Man was created and the a:~es of history were all arranged fur him. Sin was pern,itted for him (like a dark cloud showing more clearly the glory of the rainb~w). The eternal purposes o_f redemµl}on_ and th_eir fulfilment_ in time were all for hun. What a proof of the Deity of Christ 1s supplied by comparing ver. 16 with Rom. xi. 36 ! 4-. He is the upholder of all creation. (Ver. 17.) Deing "before all tbinl7s" from the moment of creation. down to the present time, he ha<l. upheld all things by the word of hie power, and "in him all things consist," i.e. hold together. He is the Comer-stone of the uuiverse no less than of the Church. Dehind the laws of nature we sec the mind of Christ. If he were to cease to uphold things they could not "hold together;" their harmony, nay more, their very existeuce, would cease; for in him all things live and more and have their being. Dut "My Father worketh even until now, and I work" (John v. 17, 19; x. 30). All these truths respecting the glory of Christ remind us of the supreme claims over each one of us of that Divine Son who created us for his own glory and redeemed us by his own precious blood, that he mig,Lt reign over us for 0111· salvation (Acls v. 31; Rom. xiv. 7-9).-E. S. P. Vers. 18-20.-Tli.e mpremaey of (Jhrist in the moral unii:erse. So supreme is the glory of Cli ri,t, tLat l,e cccupies a similar position in the morn! as he docs in thu err. 1. 1-20.J THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 71