Jesus: End, Agent, Sustainer
In May of this year, an article published on science.org reveals that data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile has been used to confirm Newton’s law of gravity by measuring forces and positions of galaxy clusters 5 to 7 billion light years away from Earth. Galaxy clusters, the largest structures in the universe, can contain hundreds of galaxies, weigh a quadrillion times as much as the sun, and span tens of millions of light years. And yet, these structures hold together with the same gravitational force we experience here on Earth.
For the past couple months, we have been looking at Jesus in Colossians 1. In verse 15, we’re told that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” and “the firstborn over all creation”. Now the Apostle Paul continues in verses 16-17: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (NKJV)
Before we focus on what these verses tell us about Jesus, let us begin by noting how they speak of God’s creation in its entirety. Paul begins by using a figure of speech known as a merism to indicate everything in between two ends of a spectrum. This is not a reference to only two parts of creation (heaven and earth), but to the totality of the created universe. In addition, Paul mentions what is visible and invisible, which are also two opposites meant to cover the whole of God's creation. By visible, he has in mind things like trees and mountains, as well as people and animals. And, by invisible, he has in mind things like the human soul, heaven itself, and the spiritual beings. In fact, when Paul goes on to speak of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, it’s the spiritual beings he has in mind. These are words he uses in Ephesians 6:12 to describe the invisible forces of evil that wage war against the church, and here he uses them to describe the invisible angels whom the Colossians were tempted to worship (see Colossians 2:18). Paul puts before us everything from the tiniest molecule to the most colossal star, the physical and the spiritual world, the worm in the ground and the angelic beings in heaven, because he wants us to know that Jesus is the end, the agent, and the sustainer of all creation. This should cause us to worship and trust in Him as the supreme and all-sufficient One.
First, Jesus is the end of, or reason for, all creation. The NKJV says “by Him all things were created”, and that's true. But, in the original Greek, it says "in Him all things were created", which is significant. This is Paul's favorite way to describe the Christian. In his letters, he tells the church frequently that we are “in Christ” because our salvation is found in reference to Christ and in union with Christ (see Romans 8:1). In a similar way, he tells us here that all things were made in Christ, meaning God had Christ in mind when He said “Let there be light” in the beginning. When God created the heavens and the earth, He did so with reference to Christ, Paul tells us, because the purpose for all creation is Christ. This point is clarified for us at the end of verse 16, where Paul says of Jesus that “all things were created…for Him”. This is what makes Jesus so special: He is the reason for each and every thing that has been created. Since Jesus is the end of all creation, everything exists for the goal of glorifying Him. This was the Father's gift to the Son. He did not have to make the world, but He did so out of deep affection for His only begotten, so that the world would be the arena of His redemption and the place from which He is lovingly served by those He saved.
Second, Jesus is the agent of all creation. Paul expands on Christ’s role in creation, “All things were created through Him”. Jesus is the One through whom God made the world. In Genesis 1, God spoke and things came into existence, and Jesus is that Creative Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1–3 NKJV). Jesus is not only the reason for creation, He is also the origin of creation. Since He is “before all things” (v. 17), He was not made like everything else. He did not come to exist at a particular moment in time. Because He existed before the created universe, He is outside the created universe. He is the Creator God, and His authority is complete.
Third, Jesus is the sustainer of all creation. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (v. 17). In other words, “in Him all things hold together” (ESV). Paul does not mean that all things are made up of Jesus, but that all things are upheld by Jesus. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). Jesus is not only the end of all creation and the agent of all creation, He is the sustainer of all creation. To put it differently, without Jesus, everything falls apart. He's the One who keeps the sun shining and the Earth revolving around it. He's the One balancing planets and restraining them to their orbital paths. Things we take for granted—the breath in our lungs and the blood coursing through our bodies; the rain replenishing plant life and the gravity that holds the entire universe together—these things happen only because Jesus actively sustains all of creation.
Jesus is the reason for all creation, the One who exists outside of the created order, and the authoritative power upholding even galaxies that are so far away we’ve only recently discovered their existence. He is enough to fill your heart with peace, and provide help in your moment of need. Don’t elevate anything inside of creation above the One who exists before and outside of it. Look to Him in faith and trust that He is enough, so that you worship and trust the One who alone is supreme and all-sufficient.
