The Evangelist having said that every creature was made by the Word, lest perchance any one might think that His will was changeable, as though He willed on a sudden to make a creature, which from eternity he had not made; he took care to shew that, though a creature was made in time, in the Wisdom of the Creator it had been from eternity arranged what and when He should create.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).
Also cites: in 1 Joh.