16 “All things,” then, brethren, “all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” But how were all things made by Him? “That, which was made, in Him is life.” It can also be read thus: “That, which was made in Him, is life;” and if we so read it, everything is life. For what is there that was not made in Him? For He is the Wisdom of God, and it is said in the Psalm, “In Wisdom have You made all things.” If, then, Christ is the Wisdom of God, and the Psalm says, “In Wisdom have You made all things:” as all things were made by Him, so all things were made in Him.
If, then, all things were made in Him, dearly beloved brethren, and that, which was made in Him, is life, both the earth is life and wood is life. We do indeed say wood is life, but in the sense of the wood of the cross, whence we have received life. A stone, then, is life. It is not seemly so to understand the passage, as the same most vile sect of the Manichæans creep stealthily on us again, and say that a stone has life, that a wall has a soul, and a cord has a soul, and wool, and clothing.
For so they are accustomed to talk in their raving; and when they have been driven back and refuted, they in some sort bring forward Scripture, saying, “Why is it said, 'That, which was made in Him, is life'?” For if all things were made in Him, all things are life. Be not carried away by them; read thus “That which was made;” here make a short pause, and then go on, “in Him is life.” What is the meaning of this? The earth was made, but the very earth that was made is not life; but there exists spiritually in the Wisdom itself a certain reason by which the earth was made: this is life.
Source: Tractates on the Gospel of John (New Advent)