By the word of his power
And upholding all things by the word of his power. Hebrews 1:3
Jesus our Lord upholds all things. He is sovereign in creation, and he is sovereign in providence. I’m so thankful for this reality. Paul put it this way: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist [hold together, ESV]” (Col. 1:16-17). Our Lord, God’s Son, is not the god of the deists. He didn’t wind the world up and let it go to spin out its future on its own. He not only created it, but he upholds it every moment and down to the last atom. You and I can’t even walk out of this room apart from Christ giving us the breath to do so. The reality is that man is not the captain of his soul, he is not the master of his fate. God is sovereign, not man. And thank God for that. It is for this reason that I believe that all things work together for the good of those who are called according to God’s purpose (Rom. 8:28). Not just some things, but all things!
We can have supreme confidence in Jesus as our Savior because he is sovereign over all things. If even one thing were out of his control, we would have just cause to be anxious about the future. But we need not fear. He is in control. As the hymn puts it: “Have faith in God, he’s on his throne.” Things are not going to spin out of control because he holds all things in his powerful hand. Rest in that and trust in him!
And think about it: how does he exercise his sovereignty? He does so by his word. By his word he created and called all things into existence. And by his word he upholds them in being. Here is someone who is not like us! The disciples began to realize this when they were in the boat in the middle of this terrific storm, and Jesus stood up in the boat and simply spoke a word and calmed the storm. I love the response of the apostles: “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mk. 4:41). He could do it because he is not just a man: he is the eternal Son of God.