He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
8 sermons cite this verse
… All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him, all things consist. Remarkable. no scientific individual has yet to come to being able to answer the end of verse 17. By Jesus Christ, who spoke the word of God in existence, somebody might say, well, that's religion. Hang on a second. According to the Bible, all things consist because of him. What does that mean? All things that exist are held together. And to this moment, in the scientific world, in the 21st century, scientists do not know what holds an atom together. Did you know an atom functions much like a little solar system? They do not know tonight what keeps it glued together. Guess who? I don't know how he does it. I don't care about how he does it. I know who did it. I know who does it. The Bible says Christ holds it together. That ought to drive some of you that are taking physics crazy. …
… for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. In Colossians 1, Christ is before all things and in him all things hold together. Christ is the head of the body, the church, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. So Christ is the head of the body, the church. We say together as Presbyterians that Christ is the head of our church. We're not looking to a human vision only. We're looking also to this vision that we get from the love of Christ and from Christ's life and ministry in the world so this is this is sounding pretty clear you know I'm the way the truth and the life no one can get to the Father except through me this these are very clear scriptures but how does Christ alone challenge us what does this image remind us of what's happening in this image up here a concert worship How do you know? …
… the second word is maintenance God keeps the universe that he created going Paul in the book of Colossians says in him that is in Christ all things consist he is before all things and by him all things consist or are held together he holds the universe together He maintains what he has created. And so there are seasons. There are, there's like a steady program, predictable program of rotation of the earth and the moon and the sun. And that enables people like astronauts to go to the far side of the moon and back. because they know that there's a predictability in the universe that is being maintained by God. So appearance, maintenance. The third word is interference. Sometimes God will interpose himself miraculously in human affairs. Not always, not even often, but sometimes. So there is natural law in maintaining the universe that God has created, but sometimes God supersedes natural law by a miracle. So dead people usually don't get back up. Once they're dead, we bury them. …
… our submission to establish that fact. He is the Lord. We could cite numerous reasons. I'll share just four very briefly. First, he is before all things, Colossians 1.17. Before and apart from anything else, he is God. There are no rivals to him, to his eternal being, his eternal power, his eternal person. He is the Lord. He is before all things. Second, all things are made through him. Colossians 1.16, Hebrews 1.2, John 1.3. All things were made through him, including us, and shall what was made say anything back to the one who made it? Romans 9. No, he is the maker of all things, and that makes him the master of all things. Over all things, he is the Lord. All things are made through him. He sustains all things. Colossians 1.17, Hebrews 1.3. Not only did he make all things, but he actively holds it all together. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. He created and he continues. If he were to withdraw his actively sustaining, life-giving, molecule-securing power for even one millisecond, then everything that exists would cease to be. …
… Preeminent. The Apostle Paul framed it this way. Jesus is before all things. And in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body. The church. He is the beginning. The firstborn from the dead. that in everything he might be preeminent. Preeminent. The Greek word for preeminent means to be first in rank, to be first in influence. In other words, Jesus has peerless power, authority, and position, supreme and exalted. He is preeminent in the universe. Is he preeminent in your life? give that question some careful thought is Christ preeminent in your life Many people would say that Christ has a place. in their life. I could say that about Mount Everest. I own a book about Mount Everest. I can honestly say Mount Everest has a place in my life. I don't know where that book is. And right now I cannot remember what it's about or who wrote it. But I do believe that Mount Everest is the highest summit that we humans on earth could ever hope to ascend. …
… That's within Christ. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. So, since the pre-incarnate Christ is unbound by time, he could do what we cannot even fathom. He could complete his mission prior to the dawn of time. And he did just that. He needed not wait to do what he came to do. He did it before he came to do it. And what did he come to do? Well, at the top of the list is this. He died for our sins. He is the lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. the horizontal beam of the cross extends before and after creation. It became visible on a hill outside of Jerusalem in 30 AD. It became effectual in the deepest of heavens, in the throne room of God, in a timeless eternity. on the cross Jesus said it is finished he could have just as easily said it is finished when he was a boy in Nazareth as he was teaching in Jerusalem because he was born crucified it was and already has and always will be finished. …
… Christ. Over in Colossians, listen, it says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body. He is the beginning and the firstborn, that in all things, he might have the supremacy. And through him, God is going to reconcile to himself all things, whether in earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. In Colossians, we're told that because Jesus is king, God has a plan to bring all things back together under the lordship of Christ. In Ephesians, the great plan is he's going to reunite all things under the lordship of Christ. What does this mean? it means this. Number one, you need a king. Without a king, your lives fall apart. Now, before I go on to number two, let's explain that a little bit. The legends of all branches of the human family are full of legends of great kings from the past. …
And I'm going to begin reading in verse 17. I think there's not a better commentary on what our Lord has to say than Colossians chapter 1 and verse 17. It speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what the apostle Paul says of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. That means everything hangs together by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's, he's the glue of the galaxies. By him all things consist. Now listen to verse 18. And he, that is Jesus, is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now, that ought to be underscored in your Bible. That's one of the key, key secrets of Christian living, that in all things Jesus Christ would have the preeminence. Now, notice verse 19, for it pleased the Father, it pleased the Father, that in him, in Jesus, should all fullness dwell. …