“By Him All Things Consist”
By Uriah Smith
ANYTHING which exalts the Saviour is precious to all his followers. And we recall no scripture which in its descriptions of the work, power, and position of the Son of God more strikingly transcends all others than do a few verses in the first chapter of Colossians. In his antecedent conditions of glory, Christ antedates all created beings. This is set forth in the work “Looking Unto Jesus.” The reader will pardon the quotation of a few lines from that book:— “In Rev. 3:14 Christ calls himself by a title which the translators have rendered ‘the beginning of the creation of God,’ and which some hold to mean that the work of creation was begun, not by, but with him, thus degrading him to the level of a created being; whereas the meaning of the word would suggest rather the idea of ‘headship,’ and present him, not as the beginning, but as the beginner, of the creation of God; and the demands of harmony with other scriptures hold us imperatively to this construction. No work of creation was accomplished till after Christ became an active agent upon the scene; for all this work was wrought through him. John says, ‘All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ John 1:1, 3. Paul to the Hebrews corroborates these words of John. He says that God hath appointed his Son ‘heir of all things,’ that he is ‘the express image of his person,’ the ‘brightness of his glory,’ and that by him ‘he made the worlds.’ Heb. 1:2, 3. But to the Colossians he bears a still more definite testimony. In chapter 1:15–17, he says of Christ, ‘Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 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: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist,’ ‘stand together,’ or ‘are firmly established.’”—Page 12. In glorious harmony with this, chimes in the doxology of the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, when they fall down before him that sitteth upon the throne, and cast their crowns before the throne, and pour forth, in their celestial voices, the ecstatic anthem: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:10, 11. J. Vaughan, in his “Fifty Sermons,” 8th Series, page 261, says on Col. 1:18: “Living as we do far down the stream of time, when long ago the name of Christ has associated itself to all that is most classical in literature, the most refined in art, the most exquisite in poetry, the most generous in chivalry, and the most advanced in civilization, when the cross, no more the word of shame, or the brand of ignominy, has become the banner of progress, the crest of honor, it is difficult for us to throw ourselves enough into the spirit of the age of St. Paul to estimate the grandeur of thought and the strangeness with which his words must have burst upon the world; that Christ, the Nazarene, Christ, the crucified, should in all things have the pre-eminence. And yet the whole expansion of the world’s history is but the fulfillment of that vision of Saint Paul, which his spiritual eye saw when he contemplated Christ and the resurrection, when he said that in all things he should have the pre-eminence.” On the influence of Christ and his religion on the expansion and elevation of the mind in a literary sense, Timothy Dwight says: “I feel sure that no one who has been an accurate observer of life has failed to notice the elevating and purifying influence of true religion, whenever it is received. Has it never occurred to you in life, to know some mind of a rude, coarse texture, brought under the power of the simple faith of the Lord Jesus? You have perhaps watched the wonderful transformation. That intellect, once the dullest, has gone up, if not to the very first class, yet certainly far beyond itself, and above the ordinary rank. And that heart has taken a delicacy such as the best secular education rarely succeeds in giving. Christ is in him; and Christ rising, raises the man, to show that wherever Christ is, even in the poorest, lowest, darkest, and most miserable sinner’s heart, he will have the pre-eminence.” “Many persons are looking a great deal into their own hearts, as if they would find peace by looking down there. The way to find peace is to examine Christ, to magnify Christ, to take grand views of Christ; to find your evidences in Christ. An uplifted Christ is the sinner’s rest.” “The Creation of Angels.—What sublime views does this subject, the creation of angels, furnish us of the greatness of Christ. By him, says the apostle, were all these illustrious beings created, together with all their attributes, importance, and dignity. The character of every workman is seen, of course, in the nature of his work. If this be insignificant and worthless, it exhibits nothing but the insignificance and worthlessness of the maker. If curious and excellent, if sublime and wonderful, it unfolds wonderfully his greatness, wisdom, and glory. Of what intelligence, purity, loveliness, power, and elevation of mind are the angels possessed! What, then, must be the perfection of him who planned and formed them, who with a word brought them into being; who preserves, informs, directs, controls, and blesses them forever! How amazing, then, must be the perfection of his character! How great, how wise, how good!” As all things were created by him, and are upheld by the word of his power, Jesus is the clew of the universe, its center and explanation. All things are to be seen in the light of the cross. And all things reflect light on the cross. Let us join the choir above, and exclaim that “for thy pleasure” all these worlds, intelligences, dominions, principalities, and powers, and even mortal men, who without thy sustaining power are worthless and helpless, “were created.” It is clear, then, that in the end Christ must triumph gloriously. The work of creation and redemption is all moving on prosperously. The buds of his promises are dilating to the flower. Let us “comfort one another with these words.” U. S.