Colossians 1:16

For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him and unto him.

If indeed, as generally supposed, the Colossians were being drawn away into various philosophies and speculations involving the worship of angels, spirits, demons, and the supposition that certain emanations from God were responsible for the creation itself, this verse was the divine thunderbolt that cleared the atmosphere and let the light of God shine in. Hayes' quotation of Farrar regarding what Paul did in this passage is as follows?[36]

To / Paul opposed:

A cumbersome ritualism -- A spiritual service

Inflating speculations -- A sublime reality

Hampering ordinances -- A manly self-discipline

Esoteric exclusiveness -- A universal gospel

Theological cliques -- An equal brotherhood

Barren systems -- A new life

All their problems -- Christ as the answer

This verse affirms the deity of Christ as effectively as any in the New Testament. As the Creator of all things, how could he be anything less?

By this the apostle declares that the invisible beings of the world above us, however lofty their names or mighty their powers, are Christ's creatures as much as the lowliest objects within our sight.[37]

Lightfoot was of the opinion that Paul here made no affirmation regarding the actual existence of such beings as angels; but, whether that is correct or not, Christ taught of their existence; and the Christians who lived contemporaneously with the apostles believed that every Christian had a guardian angel. See my discussion of Angels in my Commentary on Hebrews, Hebrews 1:14. Charles Hodge declared flatly that "Angels are a distinct creation being neither God, human nor animal";[38] and with this view full agreement is felt. Paul's failure to make this clear in this verse was probably due to the fact that the Colossians believed in a great many other supernatural beings (other than angels) and that their belief in such beings was totally false.

As Lipscomb said, "This certainly means that Christ created the whole universe,"[39] leaving absolutely no room whatever for the worship or adoration of any lesser beings whatever; and, as Hendriksen put it, "That was Paul's main theme over against the teachers of error who were disturbing the church at Colossae."[40]

A. S. Peake stressed the thought that the words Paul used here "denote angels ... These angels, Paul insists, so far from being superior or equal to Christ, were as inferior to him as the creature is to the Creator."[41] Agreement is felt with this, to the effect that Paul was speaking about angels as actually existing, and that the reference is not to earthly dignitaries, which would be irrelevant to the polemical purpose of this passage.

[36] D. A. Hayes, op. cit., p. 358.

[37] G. G. Findlay, op. cit., p. 9.

[38] Charles B. Hodge, Angels (Nashville: The Christian Teacher, Inc., 1977), p. 4.

[39] David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 259.

[40] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 72.

[41] A. S. Peake, Expositor's Greek Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 504.