Creator and Sustainer

…all things were created through him and for him… and in him all things hold together
(Colossians 1:16-17 – ESV)

These verses by Paul point to a number of profound truths. Let’s explore some of these.

John 1:3 – Jesus created all things, not Himself, He is eternally existent. It isn’t that Jesus was created and then created all the other things, as the ancient Arius and modern JW teach, for we see here that there is nothing that was created that wasn’t created by Jesus, and that would have to include Himself. He created everything, not everything else, as so therefore He is uncreated.

Jesus is above all thrones, powers, etc. – Jesus is not just a master of a realm He is master of all. Ephesians 1:20-23 / Ephesians 6:12 / Hebrews 2:7-8 – all things are under His feet, and we are in Him, yet we still wrestle because the kingdom has not come in fullness yet, but we can achieve a measure of this (Romans 16:19-20). The kingdom not in consummation is not the kingdom in crisis it is the kingdom in constant motion, and nothing can stop God’s plan (Psalm 2).

He is the creator and sustainer yet He also answers to His Father. 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 – functional subordination – Jesus is equal to the Father, He is God of very God, and yet He is subject to the Father in role. This is also borne out by Philippians 2:6-11.

Romans 11:36 (Hebrews 2:10) – Paul is showing that Christ is not just someone who rose to prominence and attained godlike power, but had all power to begin with, came to earth in the form of a man to bring sons to God, and now is preeminent among them, the king of the redeemed as well as the king of the universe.

John 8:58, 17:5 – Paul expands on what he is saying in verse 16. He isn’t just the most powerful being in the universe He is GOD. We need to understand the concept of God more fully if we can even begin to grasp this. He doesn’t just have dominion over everything; He is the only thing that keeps any of it in existence. As Sustainer, he doesn’t just mean that Jesus could wipe anything and everything out, Paul is saying that Jesus is the only life support anything has, not that things are created and then they have life by themselves, not in an eternal sense, but that Christ continues to give life to anything and everything. Consider this well. Paul is really hammering home the truth here, not leaving any room for debate at all (Acts 17:28). This dismisses with pantheism, but also contrasts with panentheism. It is not that everything is Him, or that everything has Him in it, but that everything is maintained by Him, or it ceases to exist.