Colossians 1:15–17
Paul says all things were created through Jesus and for him
Study it word by word15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,
16because in him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17And he is before all things, and all things hold together in him.
In its context
13He rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,
14in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
…
18And he is the head of the body, the assembly. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may come to be first in all things,
19because God was pleased for all the fullness to dwell in him,
Its words in the original
- ἐστινestin· be
Be, exist.
- εἰκὼνeikōn· image
Image, likeness.
- θεοῦtheou· God, god
God. In the plural or in another sense, "gods".
- ἀοράτουaoratou· invisible
Invisible: what cannot be seen.
- πρωτότοκοςprōtotokos· firstborn
Firstborn.
- κτίσεωςktiseōs· creation
Creation; what has been created.
- ἐκτίσθηektisthē· create
Create.
- οὐρανοῖςouranois· heaven, sky
Heaven: the sky and, above all, the place of God. "The heavens" is sometimes a respectful way of saying "God".
- γῆςgēs· earth, land
Earth: the ground, a country, or the whole world.
- ὁρατὰhorata· visible
Visible, able to be seen.
- εἴτεeite· whether, or
"Whether ... or", "if".
- θρόνοιthronoi· throne
Throne: the seat of a king or a judge; hence royal power.
- κυριότητεςkyriotētes· lordship, dominion
Lordship, dominion; also a rank of spiritual powers.
- ἀρχαὶarchai· beginning
Beginning, start; also authority, rule.
- ἐξουσίαιexousiai· authority
Authority, the power to act or command.
- συνέστηκενsynestēken· commend, show
Commend, recommend; show, prove; also stand with, or hold together.