16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
The previous verse stated that Jesus is over all Creation. This verse explains those specifics in relationship to creation itself. The first thing said is that Jesus was the one who actually did the work of creating all the “things” of the universe. Notice he states this twice. All things were created by Jesus. To create means to make something out of nothing. He didn’t take preexisting materials and fashion them into something new, like a modern sculptor who makes art out of recycled trash. If it is a “thing” Jesus made it out of nothing. All things that you can think of, things in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, even any imagined powers that might exist, Jesus made them all. But that is not all. Jesus existed prior to all things. If He is before all things, then He is not at “thing” that was created. He existed before the “let it be” of creation. Before there was creation itself, Jesus existed. But He is more than simply involved in the past history of creation. He currently keeps it all together. He is the glue of the universe. Scientists now realize that there has to be some other “something” that keeps the universe from falling apart. They keep looking for the hidden physics that explain how everything doesn’t fall apart. They sometimes name it dark matter because they can’t see it. They know it is there, because if it isn’t there, then the physical properties of the matter they can see would not stay together. It would literally fall apart. Jesus is in charge of that holding together of the universe. Each of the thoughts that Paul records here were aimed at the false teaching of his day. They also hit the false teachings about Jesus that exist today.
The Arnold Journey 