Col 1.15-20

Psg: Col 1.15-20 (http://biblia.com/bible/gs-netbible/Col1.15)
Date: 4/13/12

Read

1:15* He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn* over all creation,*

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions,* whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together* in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn* from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.*

1:19 For God* was pleased to have all his*fullness dwell* in the Son*

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him,* whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Record

All things are held together in him.

Reflect

• LN: 63.6 συνίστημιc or συνιστάνω: to bring together or hold together something in its proper or appropriate place or relationship—‘to hold together.’ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν ‘in him all things hold together’Col 1:17. In Col 1:17 it may not be easy to indicate clearly the relationship of the phrase ‘in him’ to the rest of the expression, namely, ‘all things hold together.’ Some translations have expanded the expression ‘in him’ to ‘in union with him’ or ‘in view of the fact that we are joined together with him.’ It is also possible to understand ἐν αὐτῷ as indicating agent, so that this expression in Col 1:17may mean ‘by means of him all things hold together.’

• NET: 31 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
• The universe is not a wound-up watch or a complex Rube-Goldberg machine. It is continually held together “in Christ.”
• LN asks the question about what “in Christ” means here. What does it mean?
• By his action?
• Because of him?
• By his existence?
• By his incarnation and/or salvific work in particular?
• WBC: He is the sustainer of the universe and the unifying principle of its life. Apart from hiscontinuous sustaining activity (note the perfect tenseσυνέστηκεν) all would disintegrate.
• All the great things that scientists discover, they are “dis-covering” - seeing what is already true. They are observing the ongoing work of Christ. What they report is a laundry list of his work. Do you want evidence of Christ’s existence - few are better at giving it than scientists (especially when you segregate reporting the data and interpreting the data).
• Some do so denying his existence and work. They are sustained by his ongoing work, which they then use to deny his existence, even attempting to disprove his existence and work.
• Such is the nature of common grace. How much more is the grace of salvation, to rescue us from this denial?
• What about the laws of nature that seem to reliably govern the universe without the need of any micromanagement?
• Who set the laws? (cf. Job 38. 11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?)
• Who gave the universe its beginning mass and energy?
• What realities are there beyond the physical?
• Are the laws the continual command of the Lord?
• We are to get the impression that if Christ were to halt his attention, the universe would disorganize into chaos.
• Every step that relies on gravity, every breath of air that oxygenates the blood, every visual impulse, every season, every sunrise, each one is an effect of Christ’s work/command.
• When the Bible talks about the Lord telling the mountains to go there or the sun to rise or whatever picturesque description there is, the description is more true than we tend to give (crediting it to “mere” poetry). The laws that govern these realities are the word of Christ. God “speaking” commands to creation is more literal than we often realize.
• The universe bears evidence of God (Rom 1; Psa 8).

Respond

• Every physical reality about me, that I often set in opposition to the “real” work of Christ, is a result of his continual activity.
• Therefore, every sinful act of the flesh is an affront to not only the moral commands of Scripture, but the sustaining physical work of Christ. It is blasphemous not only because we were created in the image of God, but also because we are physically sustained by the active work of Christ.
• Give me the respect of the universe’s (including my own) physicality and laws as the product of Christ’s work, rather than a pure dualistic mentality. Also help me to properly enjoy it.
• Thank you for the way that our physicality can be used to convey spiritual reality.