Barely Holding it Together (Not)

SCRIPTURE: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17 NIV

THOUGHT: In the final, climactic words of Scripture, a resurrected Jesus testifies, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 22:13 NIV).” It is not a new claim – it is as old as the opening story of Scripture: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…. (Gen. 1:26).’” Jesus was there, creating alongside the Father.

Sandwiched between the beginning and end, you have the testimony of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (Jn. 1:1-3 NIV).”

And there’s Paul in the passage today claiming everything is created through Jesus and for Jesus – then he takes it a step further, promising: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Over the years, I have marveled at that promise: Jesus is holding it all together, and not just barely. He understands the laws of physics because he created them. When Isaiah writes, “All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine (Is. 34:4 NIV, also in Rev. 6:13-14),” I have less trouble imagining it. The same one who plugged it in – the first and last Word, through whom all things were created, to whom all power was given (Jn. 13:3) – is the same one who will someday pull the plug.

PRAYER: When I consider your power and position, Jesus, I am even more in awe of your attention and kindness. Help me grow in both the grace and the knowledge of you (2 Pet. 3:18).