Sustaining the Universe - Devotional

Gracetoyou.org ^ | 1997 | John Macarthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“[Christ] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

The eternal Christ sustains His creation.

When the universe began, Christ already existed. The apostle John spoke of Christ’s eternal existence this way: “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 came into being through Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1-3). Christ Himself testified of the same truth when He told the Jews, “Before Abraham was born, I AM” (John 8:58). He was saying that He is Yahweh, the eternally existing God. The prophet Micah said of Him, “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2). Revelation 22:13 describes Him as “the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Christ has preeminence over all creation because He “is before all things” (Col. 1:17). He already existed when the universe began because He is the eternal God.

Having created the universe, Christ sustains all He has created (v. 17). He maintains the delicate balance necessary to life’s existence. He is the power behind every consistency in the universe and the One who keeps all the entities in space in their motion. He is the energy behind the universe.

Christ, however, will not always sustain our present universe. One day in the future He will dissolve the heavens and earth. The apostle Peter describes that day, when “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). Until that time, we can be thankful that Christ continues to sustain it.

How encouraging to know that the eternal God who sustains the entire universe is also watching over you. No detail of your life is too small for His concern; no circumstance is too big for His sovereign control.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for caring for the details of your life while He controls the universe.

For Further Study

According to Hebrews 1:3, what does God uphold? How?

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word Ping

[Psalm 73]

This is awesome - thank you for posting this, although I think I sort of jumped the gun with yesterday's comment.

But knowing God's word, this would be the next logical step in the discussion.

Like Dr. Lockeridge says: "That's my King"!

[MHGinTN]

John 14: Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

The place where we can see The Father is where He is in our 4D limits well ... as Jesus. And Jesus NOW is in a glorified Body which is greater than our 4D, so John tells us in 1 John 3:2 That when He appears to take us to The Father's House where are many rooms, we shall see Him as He is NOW for when He appears we shall be like Him, in greater variable bodies / glorified bodies fit for eternal living.