Christ Holds It All Together, Including You (Colossians 1:15-20).Thursday October 1, 2026
This amazing passage brings to our attention the incarnation and the hypostatic union.
Incarnation (“in the flesh”): The incarnation is the act in which the eternal Son of God, without ceasing to be God, took a complete human nature into personal union with himself, so that from then on he is one person in two natures.
Text:
Col 1:15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created,
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together
Col 1:18 the firstborn from the dead,
Col 1:20 through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross
The paradoxes heap one upon another.
Hypostatic Union
Hypostatic union: The incarnate Son as one person in two natures, fully God and fully man, the natures unmixed and unseparated, so that Jesus Christ is the single Mediator who can represent God to us and us to God.
He always acts as one Person and often, paradoxically.
1Co 2:8 for if they had understood it they would not have crucified [human] the Lord of glory [divine]
Rom 9:5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Christ at center of every part of your life: Your spiritual life (i.e. life from God).
The human condition ultimately craves what only God can give.
What people truly crave is: to be loved, to belong, to have purpose, to know truth, and to outlast death.
Mankind desires the presence of God (just as we were created). This is why the incarnation matters so much. God came down to meet that need.
Joh 6:35 “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
Augustine put it as the restless heart: "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
This is your spiritual life, and it never forsakes you. Everything else people chase — love, significance, security, meaning, even transcendence — is a substitute for the presence of God.
That's why the incarnation matters so much. God came down to meet it.
Do we have to wait till the end, or till death, to have our restless hearts experience Him? There is a hinge in the middle of this poem:
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Between Beginning and End: the alpha and omega (and everything in between)
Held together in a rebellious world:
“Hold together” (sunistemi) = continue, endure, exist, hold together. Despite all the wrong, the Lord holds all together until He will make it new.
Christ created and brought together everything - chemistry, physics, mathematics, and life (animal, vegetable, angels, and people) and put them all in their appropriate place or relationship.
Therefore, to try and destroy the proper orders, places, and relationships of things He has made is to go directly against Him.
In the rebellion, Satan, from (so it seems) the reason of pride no longer stayed in his place and order.
Eze 28:13, 15 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; … Until unrighteousness was found in you.”
Isa 14:13 “But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God,”
When we ate the fruit, we did the same thing.
Despite it all, the Lord Jesus continues to hold it together.
Now, all believers in Christ are in Him.
Conclusion:
What people truly crave is to be loved unconditionally, to be able to share that love, to have a purpose that is good and fulfilling, and to have a community to be a meaningful part of; to have the truth of things, to not have death end everything, to experience awe.
In a world that seeks all of these, Christ gave you a spiritual life when He sustains every day.
Despite the broken world, and the broken you that still sins and gets selfish, still pulls an old idol out of the closet to worship - You are always in Him. He is holding you together.
Psa 145:14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down.
He loves you unconditionally: He is your Husband who will present you without spot or wrinkle.
He is always in you and you in Him. You will always belong to Him.
His plan for you will never change. You always have a purpose in Him and are forgiven of everything, so forget what lies behind.
His truth is always before you. He will never take His word from you.
Eternal life is yours. You cannot lose your life in Him. You have been transferred into His kingdom.
He will always surprise you if you are following Him.
Christ holds all things together - your spiritual life is always in His hands - not yours.
David wrote: “Do not fret; it leads only to evil doing.” (Psa 37:8). |