Message from Scripture: 9/29/2020

Our message from Scripture today is Col. 1:17. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

 

In this passage from God’s word, Paul is emphasizing to the church in Colossae that Christ is first, His supremacy is over all creation, and that He should have priority in their lives. He uses two concepts to convey this meaning to them. First, He is described as being before all things, which emphasizes His eternal nature. Before anything was made, Christ was, as He is deity, and was God’s agent of creation. Not only this, but He also holds all things together.

The phrase “all things hold together” emphasizes how creation exists and functions in Him, in the sphere of His control and influence. Creation is held together, meaning to be joined together into a whole, to comprise as a unit, to exist. This verb is in the perfect tense, and could be translated having been held together. It refers to an action in the past that continues in the present. When creation was brought into being, it has a cohesion that gives it harmony and unity. Creation is maintained as such for our benefit even to this point in time, and will until Christ returns, when it will be destroyed and eternity becomes our new realm of existence. The effort it takes to maintain it for us is an ongoing process, overseen by the Father through the Son, and we are the beneficiaries of that effort.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to take life for granted, for the processes that are ongoing for us to have not only our physical existence, but the quality of life we possess. Jesus said it is through the Father’s supervision that causes the sun to rise on the evil and good, and rain on the just and unjust, and rain on the righteous and unrighteous (Matt. 5:45). Without this happening, we could not exist. We truly are totally dependent on God and Christ for both our physical and spiritual sustenance.

Today, let’s give thanks to God for making everything possible for us that is good, for life today, and life eternal. Realizing our reliance on Him, let’s put Him first in our lives, and find even greater blessings for us, each and every day. We can have a great day today because God makes it all possible

Robert