And he is before all things, and by him all things are held together.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Now we come to that laughable method, attempted by some, of showing a difference of power to subsist between Father and Son…. It is urged that no small difference in degree of divine majesty is signified in the affirmation that all things are “of” the Father and “through” the Son. Whereas nothing is clearer than that here a plain reason is given of the omnipotence of the Son, inasmuch as while all things are “of” the Father, nonetheless are they all “through” the Son. The Father is not “among” all things, for to him it is confessed that “all things serve Thee.” Nor is the Son reckoned “among” all things, for “all things were made by him,” and “all things exist together in him, and he is above all the heavens.” The Son, therefore, exists not “among” but above all things. Indeed, after the flesh, he is of the people, the Jews. Yet at the same time he is God over all, blessed forever, having a name which is above every name, it being said of him, “You have put all things in subjection und...
For after making mention of the creation, he naturally speaks of the Framer’s power as seen in it, which power, I say, is the Word of God, by whom all things have been made. If indeed the creation is sufficient of itself alone, without the Son, to make God known, see that you don’t err in thinking that without the Son it has come to be. For if through the Son it has come to be, and “in him all things consist,” it must follow that he who contemplates the creation rightly is contemplating also the Word who framed it, and through him begins to apprehend the Father. .
And He is before all things, he says. This is befitting God. Where is Paul of Samosata? And in Him all things consist, that is, they are created into Him. He repeats these expressions in close sequence; with their close succession, as it were with rapid strokes, tearing up the deadly doctrine by the roots. For, if even when such great things had been declared, still after so long a time Paul of Samosata sprung up, how much more [would such have been the case], had not these things been said before? And in Him, he says, all things consist. How consist in one who was not? So that the things also done through Angels are of Him.
For God knows all things beforehand, both past and present at once, and everything which is going to happen in the future up to the end of the world. He sees them as already present, because in and through Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). Indeed, just as today the emperor takes in with a glance those who race and who wrestle in the area, but does not thereby make himself responsible for the victory of the winners or the failure of the losers–the zeal, or in other cases the slackness, of the contestants being cause of their victory or defeat–understand with me that it is just so with God Himself. When He endowed us with free will, giving commandments to teach us instead how we must oppose our adversaries, He left it to the free choice of each either to oppose and vanquish the enemy, or to relax and be miserably defeated by him. Nor does He leave us entirely to ourselves–for He knows the weakness of human nature–but rather is present Himself with us and, indeed, allies Him...
