1:17a

He is before all things: This means that Christ existed before anything was created.

all things: Notice that Paul used the phrase all things twice in this verse. He had also used this same phrase twice in 1:16. He wanted to emphasize that Christ is important and central. He is supreme over all things. He created all things, is the goal of all things, existed before all things, and holds all things together.

1:17b

in Him all things hold together: This is a difficult clause to translate. It means that after everything was created, Jesus is the one who causes everything to continue to exist and to work together the way God planned. Hebrews 1:3 says something similar:

sustaining all things by his powerful word

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