I was recently blown away by Hebrews 1.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
There are a ton of amazing things in that passage. Two in particular jumped out. It said Jesus upholds the universe and that He made purification for sin. The thing that blew me away was the fact that there is no indication Jesus stopped upholding the universe when He made purification. It gives us every indication that as Jesus walked in Judea, as He was scourged and as He hung on a cross and died, He was at the same time upholding the universe by the word of His power.
As Jesus sweat in Gethsemane and as He cried out on the cross “Why have You forsaken me?” and when he yielded up His spirit, He was upholding the universe by the word of His power.
How about this, Psalm 8
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
It says God has crowned man with glory and honor and established strength from the mouth of babes. You wanna talk about strength from the mouth of babes? In Bethlahem there was once a baby who upheld the universe by the word of His power.
Or how about this, as He was being killed by the Romans and praying for their forgiveness, He was upholding His murderers by the word of His power as part of His universe. As Peter denied Him, Peter was upheld by Him.
Let’s bring this home. As you were impatient with your wife this morning or as you were looking at porn this afternoon, Jesus upheld you by the word of His power. What would it look like for us to live our lives like Jesus upheld the universe by the word of His power, or if we read the stories of His life in an awareness that He upholds the universe.
