“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
I have quoted this verse many times in personal conversations as well as in sermons and Bible studies. It is my “go to” verse when I want to show the power of Jesus. I see in this verse a good portrait of Jesus. It tells us a lot about Him. Perhaps most of you reading this, already know these things about Jesus, but it is good to go back and take a look at the uniqueness of our Savior. The text says that Jesus is “Before all things.” One can read this, move on and never see how profound it is. A further explanation of this is in John 1:1-2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God.” (The “Word” is Jesus.) John and Paul both knew of the eternality of Jesus Christ. Since He was before all things, we can say with integrity that Jesus is God the Son. John wrote that the “Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Our Lord Jesus Christ has always existed. He is from “everlasting to everlasting.” We have the testimony of Jesus Himself about this truth in a conversation with Jewish leaders in John 8:56-58: “Your Father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. 57. So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them ‘Truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was I am.” It is difficult to argue against the deity of Jesus when we have His own testimony. If you claim to believe the New Testament, you have to believe that Jesus has always existed. Jesus is indeed “before all things.” He existed in eternity with the Father and the Spirit before the universe was created. I can’t explain this anymore than I can explain a lot of other things in the Bible. By faith, I believe that Jesus Christ is eternal. Another thing that we could miss in this text if we didn’t read it carefully is “in Him.” This says a lot about Jesus. We can say that if we do not believe in Him we cannot be saved. The Bible tells us that “Whosever believes in Him Should not perish but have everlasting life.” It is “in Him,” that we can be saved. It is only “in Him” that we can be saved. In a conversation with Thomas Jesus shared this truth. Part of this conversation is given in John 14:5-6: “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? 6. Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” I don’t know how Jesus could have made this any plainer. Throughout the Bible, we are told that there is only one way to God. The very first commandment tells us, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Christians need to be settled in this truth. There is a big argument going on about this in the world, and, unfortunately in some Christian denominations. According to Jesus and the entirety of the New Testament, there is no argument. It is “in Him,” in Jesus, that we find salvation and fulfillment in this life. We could even miss this point if we didn’t stop and look at it and meditate on it: “and in Him all things hold together.” According to this, it is in Him, in Jesus, that the hope of the world, indeed, the whole universe, that all things are held together. (In the KJV, the word for “held together” is “consists.”) This is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before you; and shall say ‘destroy them’” Notice that it says “all things are held together.” This means that the whole universe is held together by our Lord and Savior. He exists with the Father and the Spirit in the Godhead, and we can depend on him to hold it all together until it is time to take it apart and create the “new heaven” and the “new earth.” He is in control. History was in His hands and the future is in His hands. It is still true that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” Doesn’t it stand to reason that if Jesus can hold the universe together, He can hold your life together? Think about that for a while! Colossians 1:17 is one of the many portraits of our Lord in the Bible. Believe it! Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
8/26/2015 04:02:42 am
What a wonderful verse. Thanks for pointing it out.
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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