For by him were all things created
This is a reason proving Christ to be before all creatures, to be
the common Parent of them, and to have the government over them,
since he is the Creator of them. The creation of all things, by
him, is not to be understood of the new creation, for whenever
that is spoken of, the word "new" is generally used, or what is
equivalent to it, or some clause or phrase added, which
determines the sense, and is not the case here: besides, all
things that are in heaven are said to be created here: which, to
say nothing of the sun, moon, and stars, which are not capable
subjects of the new creation, to restrain them to angels, cannot
be true of them; for as for those who were once in heaven, but
kept not their first estate, and quitted their habitation, these
find no place there any more; they never were, nor will be
renewed and restored by Christ; and as for the good angels, since
they never sinned, they stand in no need of renovation. Moreover,
all things that are on earth are also said to be created by him,
and are, but not anew: for to confine these only to men, all men
are not renewed in the spirit of their minds; all have not faith,
nor a good hope through grace, nor love to God and Christ, the
greater part of the world lies in open wickedness; and all that
profess religion are not new creatures, these are a chosen
generation, and a peculiar people: wherefore these words must be
understood, not metaphorically, but literally; in which sense all
things are created by Christ, not by him as an instrument, but as
the efficient cause; for the preposition "by" does not always
signify the former; but sometimes the latter; see ( 1
Corinthians 1:9 ) ( Galatians
1:1 ) ; nor to the exclusion of the Father and Spirit, who,
with the Son, were jointly concerned in the creating of all
things out of nothing: and these "all things" can only refer to
the things that are made: eternal things can never be said to be
created; this is a contradiction in terms; the Father is not
created by him, nor he himself as the Son of God, nor the Spirit;
but everything that is made is created by him: hence it follows,
that he himself is no creature, otherwise he must create himself,
which also is a contradiction, since every creature is made by
him; and consequently he must be God, for he that made and built
all things is God. These are divided as to the subject of them,
or place where they are, into things
that are in heaven, and that are in earth.
The things that are in heaven, are the things that are in the
airy and starry heavens, and in the heaven of heavens. The things
in the airy heavens, the fowls thereof, were on the fifth day
created by him; and the things in the starry heaven, the sun,
moon, and stars, were on the fourth day ordained by him; and the
inhabitants of the third heaven, the angels, were made by him, (
Hebrews 1:7 )
; and, as the Jewish writers F9 say, on the second day of the
creation, though some say on the fifth. The earth comprehends the
whole terraqueous globe, consisting of land and sea; and the
things in it are all that are in the seas, the fishes and other
things in it; and all that are in the bowels of the earth, as
well as on the surface of it, all metals and minerals, all
plants, herbs, and trees, every beast of the forest, the cattle
on a thousand hills, the fowls on the mountains, and the wild
beasts of the field, and all human creatures. Again, these all
things are, as to the quality of them, distributed into
visible and invisible,
both in heaven and in earth: the visible things in heaven are the
fowls that fly in the airy heaven, the sun, and moon, and stars
in the starry heaven, and the bodies of those saints that have
been either translated, or raised, in the third heaven; the
visible things in the earth are all creatures, animate and
inanimate, rational and irrational, all bodies, all corporeal and
material beings: the invisible things in earth are not only those
that are in the innermost parts of it, but the spirits or souls
of men; and those in heaven are not the invisible God, Father,
Son, and Spirit, but the angels, who are incorporeal and
immaterial spirits, and so invisible: and which,
whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers,
are all made by him; by these some understand civil magistrates
among men, and the various degrees and orders of them. By
"thrones" they think kings, or monarchs, are meant, who sit on
thrones; and by "dominions", little petty kings, or lords, dukes,
and earls; and by "principalities", governors of provinces and
cities; and by "powers", interior magistrates; and indeed,
political governors are sometimes called dominions, dignities,
principalities, and powers; and there are different orders of
them, the king as supreme, and governors under him; see (
Jude 1:8 ) (
Titus 3:1 ) (
1 Peter
2:13 1 Peter 2:14
) . But since these seem rather to be said of the invisible
things in heaven, and to be an explanation of them, angels may
rather be thought to be intended; and are so called, not as
denoting different orders and degrees among them, which some have
rashly ventured to describe, but because of the use that God
makes of them in the government of the world, and the executions
of the various affairs of Providence relating to particular
persons and kingdoms; though these several names are not so much
such as the apostle chose to call them by, as what they were
called by others; the three latter are indeed elsewhere used by
himself, ( Ephesians
1:21 ) ( 3:10 ) (
Colossians 2:10 ) ; but
not the former, "thrones", which yet are used by Jewish writers,
and given to angels. Thus, in a book of theirs, which they esteem
very ancient, and ascribe to the patriarch Abraham, it is said
F11,
``there is no angel in which the name Jehovah is not found, which is everywhere, as the soul is in every member; wherefore men ought to allow Jehovah to reign in all the members, (Nyork lkbw) , "and in all the thrones", and in all the angels, and in every member of men.''And elsewhere, speaking of the garments of God,
``by these (say they F12) (Nyyork "hbq arb) , "the holy blessed God created the thrones", and the angels, and the living creatures, and the "seraphim", and the heavens, and the earth, and all that he created.''And the thrones in ( Daniel 7:9 ) ; are interpreted F13, of
``the superior princes, (Myynxwr Mykalml) , "the spiritual angels", who sit first in the kingdom; and they are called in the words of the Rabbins, "the throne of glory"; for so is the way of kings, that their princes sit before them, everyone on his throne, according to their dignity.''Now the apostle's sense is, that the angels, the invisible inhabitants of the upper world, are all created by Christ, let them be called by what names they will, that the Jews, or the false teachers, or any sort of heretics of those times thought fit to give them, whether they called them thrones or dominions And so the Arabic version, rather interpreting than translating the words, renders them thus, "whether you say thrones, or whether you mention dominions, or whether you understand princes, or whether you say powers"; speak of them under what title or appellation you please, they are all the creatures of the Son of God. The apostle seems to have in view, and to oppose some notions of some heretics of his time, the followers of Simon Magus, who held, that the angels were created by his Helena; or, as others, by what they call "Ennea", and that these angels created the world, and are to be worshipped; but he here affirms, that
all things were created by him,
by Christ, even all the angels; and therefore he, and not they,
are to be worshipped, a notion he afterwards takes notice of in
the following chapter: and as all things are affirmed to be
created by him, which demonstrates the dignity and deity of his
person, so likewise
for him;
that is, for his pleasure, that he may take delight and
complacency in them, and in his own perfections displayed by
them; and for his service and use, as the angels, to worship him
and minister to him and for others, he sends them to: elect men
are made to serve and glorify him with their bodies and spirits,
which are his; and even the non-elect are made to subserve his
mediatorial kingdom and interest; yea, the whole world is built
and kept in being purely on his account, until he has finished
the great affair of the salvation of his people, in the
application of it to each of them, as he has completed the
impetration of it; and then he will dissolve the heavens, and
burn up the earth and all the works that are therein: all are
made for his glory, and that end is, and will be answered by them
in one way or another.
F9 Targum Jon. in Gen. i. 26. Bereshit Rabba, fol. 1. 1. & 3. 3. Menass. ben Israel, Conciliator in Gen. Qu. 12.
F11 Sepher Jetzira, p. 17, Ed. Rittangel.
F12 Tikkune Zohar in ib. p. 127, 128. & Zohar in Exod. fol. 18. 2. & in Lev. fol. 39. 1. & 47. 2.
F13 Abarbinel in Dan. fol. 45. 4. & 46. 4.