Divine Sustenance in Exercising Judgment

Colossians 1:16-17 says, "For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him [Jesus] and for Him [Jesus]. He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him [Jesus] all things hold together."

This key word "all" is mentioned four separate times within these two verses and has the idea of the total value. All means all, and that's all, all means! It is all-inclusive. It represents the whole amount. There is nothing existing, besides God, which is outside of this meaning. In fact, the only thing that is not made out of anything would be God Himself, because He is not an invention.

Now let me ask you the question, what is held together by God? Everything! This includes the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, even their hosts'. In all reality, even in discussing the very nature of God, I personally believe that from a logical conclusion it would be utterly inconceivable, improbable, and absolutely impossible for God to have ever in all of eternity create an object in which He was not sustaining and holding together its very existence.

I know what you are probably thinking, however, in no way does this belief limit God. In actual terms it brings the highest glory to God because the focus is not on something He can't do. The emphasis is on His greatness and full supremacy in holding together what He has made. By His very nature God is the only self-sustaining being in existence. Everything else is held in His hand.

Throughout scripture we find many things that God cannot do, however, they are always character issues. God in very essence of nature cannot create someone higher than or equal to Him. He cannot lie nor can He tempt. He also, by no means, can create something that sustains itself.

For the very existence of a product proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that something or someone is sustaining and maintaining it. If there was to be such an item that was not held together by the sovereign hand of the Most High God, then this particular device would have no time nor place to run to because it would flee itself into nothingness faster than the twinkling of an eye.

A thought came across my mind the other day. I began having an image of the Noahic Flood. As this was an incredible judgment, I began trying to imagine God working up and moving in such a way that His power was causing the floodgates of heaven to rain upon the earth and destroy it. I immediately thought to myself that God doesn't have to work up or put forth any effort to bring chaos into creation. All He has to do is simply loosen His grasp on holding it together. If He removes His sustaining hand, then you and I are done for.

However, there is also another way He can exercise wrath and that is upon the unbelieving. He can, as we just talked about, remove His hand, or He can grab ahold of you fiercely and directly by His hand and push wrath upon you while sustaining you to live through the pain (Hell).

The human soul was created and formed by God. We were made in His image. Therefore, as humans we will never in all of eternity cease to exist. Some will inherit eternal life and live forever with God, while many will perish into everlasting destruction. So which group of people is being held together by God? The answer is "yes!" For all of eternity, whether you spend it in heaven or hell, God will be sustaining you through that.

Can you imagine the sinner in hell having divine assistance? However, this God-given assistance is only there in order that the sinner will justly pay for his crimes forever. If God would let the sinner out of His hand and refused to sustain him, then the wicked would be in fact burned up in the wrath of Almighty God and would in fact become an object of nonexistence.

Therefore, what we see from Scripture is that there are two forms of divine judgment that God has and will distribute:

1. God can simply remove His sustaining hand and let go of the object, thus making it cease to exist (Revelation 20:11) and/or slightly loosen His grip in that as it is still within His control, it is despairing and imploding upon itself.
2. God can also hold the object in a tight squeeze not allowing for them to ever have the opportunity to break loose and at the same time He is actively pouring wrath upon them in furious anger (This is His dealings with the sinner in hell).