Skip to main content

Meditations on the Glory of Christ: He Upholds All Things by the Word of His Power

Image
By
In Hebrews 1:2-4, the author makes seven claims about Jesus that when taken together greatly exalt his glory. The fifth claim the author makes about the Son is that he upholds all things by the word of his power. The word “upholds” literally means “to bear up or to carry,” and so the idea here is not just that Jesus is bearing the physical weight of creation but that he is continually exercising his sovereign power over all things at all times, as only God can do, and that he is bearing all things toward their appointed end. Jesus is in ultimate control of the existence and purpose of all things, and he exercises this control by nothing more than the words of his mouth!

Now, the ESV translates this phrase, “and he upholds the universe by the word of his power,” but if you have another translation—really, any other major translation—you’ll see that they translate this phrase “and he upholds all things by the word of his power,” or something along those lines. The translators of the ESV have reasons for rendering the verse the way they do, but I must say that I think the other translations are correct and here’s why this matters.

The words “all things” draw upon the previous truth that the Son has become the heir of “all things,” so that the meaning of this claim is that Jesus is exercising control over everything in creation and all the promises of God. He is personally sustaining everything, and he is personally guiding everything toward its appointed end in accordance with the will of the Father. To say that Jesus is upholding the universe focuses our attention too narrowly on the physical aspects of creation and ignores or minimizes the fact that he is always exercising all power over all things that are outside of the Father himself.

And how does Jesus exercise such great control? By nothing more than “the word of his power.” The Father speaks and the Son hears with perfect understanding and delight; the Son then speaks and all that the Father wills comes to pass. Now that is some serious power!

And, Beloved, this is no theoretical claim: Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power, and carries them along to their appointed end! Think about how great he must be in light of this truth. Think about how exalted a position he must hold in light of this truth. Indeed, Jesus is highly exalted and he alone is worthy of our praise, our allegiance, our souls, our lives, our all. Let us worship him accordingly!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable
Post a Comment
Read more

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

By Anonymous
“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative ,       [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n
Post a Comment
Read more