CHRIST – THE PRE-EMINENT ONE(5)
“He existed before everything and holds everything together” (Colossians 1:17, God’s Word).
Knowing Jesus is the heart of Christianity. The best part of that knowledge has to do with understanding what the Bible reveals about Him as God. It is very easy for the human mind to understand the humanity of Jesus but His divinity tends to pose some difficulties at times. The difficulty associated with the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus did not start with us; even some of His associates while on earth struggled with it also. Recall that Thomas could not believe the testimony of his colleagues that Jesus had risen from the dead and had appeared to them, saying, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25 NKJV). Our Lord seemed to have understood the limitations of the human mind in grasping some of the sublime truths about His person. Hence, He repeated His visit to the apostles when Thomas was around just to help Him believe. He has similar concerns about some of us today who are also finding it difficult to understand and accept Him as God. Paul wrote the book of Colossians partly to help believers come to terms with the deity of Christ. He was bold to declare concerning Jesus, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9 NKJV). In none of his other writings is Paul more explicit in his teaching on the deity of Christ as in Colossians – it is the climax of Paul’s Christology. When in our text he declared that Christ existed before everything, he was only extrapolating on his already established position that Jesus is God who “created all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” (Colossians 1:16). Whoever is credited with the creation of all things in heaven and on earth, both the visible and the invisible, must have existed before everything in heaven and on earth. The performer of an action, as a matter of necessity, must be prior to the action He performed. To say that Jesus existed before everything is therefore a bold affirmation of His deity for only as God could He do that.
Jesus existed before everything and holds everything together! He’s the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Word of God who spoke it into being
The second part of our text is as mind boggling as the first, He “holds everything together.” Whatever the power of God puts together, the power of God holds together. All the forces of nature that science claims are holding our universe together are nothing but human understanding of aspects of the supernatural power of God. Their permanence, universality, and unfailing efficiency are all testimonies of the omnipotence of God which cannot fail. Jesus is both the Creator and the Sustainer of the entire universe. The galaxies are held in their places in the orbit according to their subsisting order and arrangement by the sustaining power of Jesus. The oceans are held in place and have not overflowed the earth by the restraining power of Jesus. The constellations of the stars observe their courses consistently by the power of Jesus. The moon and the sun faithfully observe their routine responsibilities by the power of Jesus. It therefore makes great sense when the Bible asserts, “…He holds everything together with his powerful word…” (Hebrew 1:3 NKJV). The Word that spoke creation into being is the power that holds it together. The Psalmist celebrating the efficiency and efficacy of the Word of God says, “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9 NKJV). Everything that exists in heaven, on earth, and under the earth are brought into being and sustained by Jesus – the Word of God. Without Him, reality as we know it will fall apart. Anything that is not upheld by Christ will simply collapse into nothingness for nothing can have life or existence outside His power.
Our Lord provoked the wrath of the Jewish leaders when in a conversation with them one day, He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58, NKJV). Such a simple and innocent statement was not taken lightly by His audience, in that on hearing Him, they picked up stones to kill Him. Why would they respond the way they did? Simply because they understood what He meant. By that statement, Jesus meant that Abraham was and is no more. In other words, Abraham had a beginning and an end; but as for Him, “I am.” This is what He meant: “Abraham existed, but I am existence! Abraham lived, but I am Life!” When they heard Jesus describe Himself as “I AM,” their mind must have gone back to Moses’ encounter with God in Exodus where God introduced Himself as “I AM,” and “I AM that I AM” (Exodus 3:14 NKJV). They understood that whoever ascribes that title to Himself must be laying claim to divinity, and they were right for Christ is God! What a joy to know that He who existed before everything and who holds everything together is the same Person who lives in me! For this very reason He commands pre-eminent place in my life and I hope in yours also. May this understanding give you strength and courage to serve Him more in Jesus name.
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