Colossians 1:15-17

Scripture:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Devotion:

Psalm 90 opens with God as the dwelling place of every generation, existing before the mountains and beyond every measure of time. Isaiah 40 echoes it, declaring that human life fades but the word of God stands forever. And now Paul, writing to a church in Colossae from a prison cell, tells us exactly who that eternal God is. He is Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the one through whom and for whom all things were made, and the one in whom all things hold together. 

That final phrase of verse 17 is the one worth sitting with the longest. "In him all things hold together." The Greek word is synistemi, a word that carries the sense of things being maintained, cohered, kept from flying apart. Paul is saying that the reason the created order is not collapsing in on itself, the reason there is still structure and rhythm and morning following night, is Jesus, who is actively sustaining it. 

Bring that back to Moses. When he asked, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations," he was praying to the one Paul is now naming. When he pleaded for steadfast love in the morning and for the work of his hands to be established, he was asking the God who holds all things together to do what only He can do. Psalm 90 is a prayer addressed to the eternal God, and Colossians 1 shows us that the eternal God has a face. He walked into history, bore the weight of every fading day, and rose from the grave to prove that the word of God does indeed stand forever. 

HEAR about it:

Explain:

How does Colossians 1:15-17 change the way you read Psalm 90? What does it mean for your daily life that Jesus is the one in whom all things hold together?

Prayer and Reflection:

Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.

Lord Jesus, You are the one Moses was praying to before he had a name for You, and You are the one holding together everything that would otherwise be flying apart right now, including me. I want to live today with the weight of that actually on me. You are before all things, and in You I have a dwelling place that does not fade. Let that be more than a doctrine. Let it be the ground I actually stand on. Amen. 

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