I have been showing you the awesome Identity of the Lord Jesus Christ as presented by the Writer to the Hebrews, which is part of God’s holy, inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word. So far we have seen from chapter 1:2-3 that:
Heb 1:2 his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being
We saw Lordship … Jesus the heir of everything that exists; Jesus as Creator, having co-created with the Father and the Spirit; Jesus is the true Light for He is the exact radiance of the glory of God and Jesus is the identical image (print) of the Father … to see the Father is to see the Son and to see the Son is to see the Father. We cannot get away from the glorious reality and truth that Jesus is God and God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Remember we started off referring to the Seven Wonders of the World. Well there are a few of these. Yet …
Looking at Jesus … today we see the Fifth Wonder of Jesus … He is the Maintainer … or if you like the Sustainer of everything that exists!
Heb 1:3 sustaining all things by his powerful word
The word “sustain” means “to uphold” … but not is the sense of the fictional cartoon characters such as Atlas, holding the dead weight of the world in his out stretched hands or Captain Marvel or the so called “immortal elders” such as Hercules, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury who are all supposed in their fictional world to enjoy superhuman strength, speed, flight and many other abilities. Jesus is not fictional … nor is He controlled by the academic theories of evolution. He is Almighty God! When speaking of Jesus we need to remember that there is no other God but Yahweh.
The word “sustaining” or “upholder” is given in the passive sense like the lintel over the window or door frame. This lintel carries the weight of all the bricks and roof rafters and roofing so that the building … at least, that section of the building over the lintel does not collapse because of the weight. But … included in the “upholding” or “sustaining” is the idea of movement. The sustaining or maintaining is holding together something that is in constant movement! You see, the universes and galaxies with all their planets and suns and moons and with all the various forces and pressures and winds and storms and volcanic interruptions that happens throughout “space” (creation) … together with all the changes in the universes that has occurred throughout all the ages past, present and in the future … are controlled and sustained and upheld (kept together) by Jesus who is the sustainer or upholder of all things! There is nothing outside of His reach that He does not have mastery over. He sustains the weight of the universes and galaxies. He maintains its coherence … that everything works and functions as it needs to. Scientists might speak of forces such as gravity … but these are God controlled. Jesus ensures the progressive development of all creation. He guides everything in the universes towards a definite predetermined end. Jesus keeps all things together in their proper relation to each other … all the planets … all the forces … all the orbits … all the universes … all the galaxies, all suns and moons … on the earth … the oceans and the fish … the tides, the rivers always running towards the sea, the sea never getting over filled or under empty, the clouds and the rain, the noises and the lights throughout all galaxies … how phenomenal … and Jesus holds it all together! As God spoke and creation came forth out of nothing … so God’s Word sustains the universes … He speaks and creation obeys and keeps its functionality … even when scientists say things are out of sync! He speaks … His Word maintains and sustains!
Now, many speak against miracles as they are mentioned in the Bible. They will even go as far as to say these are stories to make the reading more exciting and perhaps even believable. Yet … if Jesus the Creator, who has Lordship over all can through His “word” maintain perfect harmony throughout all creation, why could He not, when on earth as God Incarnate, speak and people were healed, speak and the storms or winds ceased, speak and demons were exorcised, speak and the dead were raised? Surely as the Creator He is able to sustain and maintain His creation … how much more what happens on this earth, especially to deal with the effects of sin in mankind.
But there is far more … even greater than sustaining creation … and this is profound for it is “the speaking of Gospel to the dead soul, causing faith and repentance, bringing deadness to life as the benefits and merits of Jesus’ sacrificial death are applied”. The Word of God that sustains all creation, whether read in the Bible, whether heard in a church service or whether seen in a video message is powerful. When Paul writes, saying:
Ro 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile
He is saying that the Gospel … God’s Word is powerful because it saves. It raises the dead … as if Jesus was right there speaking as He did to dead Lazarus! He speaks and the spiritual dead come alive. How awesome is the Word of God! How powerful beyond human understanding!
Dear Lord Jesus, help me never to underestimate who You are and what You do. In all Your indescribable, unfathomable greatness, sovereign Lordship and God-ness … the greater purpose of all creation is man, the pinnacle of it all … how we bow in submission and humility before Your Throne of grace and mercy, cherishing Your love for us Your blood washed saints. Mercifully help us to live up to whom we are in Christ our Lord. Amen.