Jesus Christ: The Source of All Things

“He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation. For by Him 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 and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

(Colossians 1:15-17 NASB).

If Christ were naught, then there would be naught. What this means is that if Jesus Christ was a nonexistent meaningless nothing, then there would be absolutely nothing and nobody would ever know it.

Before we really get into talking about Christ being the source of everything, we must first look beyond the temporary and created order of things and focus our attention on the One whom is eternal and has no beginning. Our God exists eternally in a triune state of being. He is three yet He is one. If any one of these select persons were taken out of the way, then there would be no God; thus if Jesus Christ had been nonexistent for all of eternity then there would be no one with the ability of bringing Him into being for two reasons:

1. There would be no possible way to create an infinite God.
2. There would be no God at all to somehow create another.

The point is that Jesus not only holds together and is the source of all the created order, but He is also one of the three in the Godhead who is sustaining the eternal God (Himself). Without Christ there would be neither Father nor Holy Spirit, and vice versa. Jesus Christ is the source of all things because “in Him all things hold together.” If there was no Him, then there would be no “all things” and nothing would be held together because nothing would be “in Him” and thus nothing would be. Nothing exists that is not sustained by Jesus Christ, and if He is not sustained Himself by Himself, then there would be no possibility for anything to exist, even God Himself, because there is no divine sustenance being the source and the strength of all things.

When we say Christ is our source of everything, what we are really meaning is that apart from Him there is nothing. This statement is true in both the eternal and the temporal. The eternal we have already seen and the temporal we will now look at. The only reason we have life is because He had it first. Think about it: None of us have created anything out of nothing. We as human beings do not and will never have the ability of speaking things into existence. Even if we could, however, what would be sustaining that thing? You see, it is not merely enough to just be able to speak something into existence out of absolutely nothing, but God demonstrates His power in actually keeping that which He spoke and holds it there in order that it may continue to exist.

The reason why we as humans will never be capable of creating from nothing is because we ourselves are being sustained by God. We do not sustain anything and because of this we will never be the ultimate source of anything. In order to create something out of nothing, that same one must first be sustaining Himself as ultimately supreme having no need for any other. Second, they must not just be sustaining themselves, but they must be capable of holding other things together even if it is for a moment. We can do none of these things, yet God can and does them all so perfectly.

It is interesting when you look at Christ coming down to earth and placing Himself in a somewhat limited estate in the sense of Him choosing not to exercise certain key attributes to their fullest extent. In imagining Him as a man and even as a baby and a child, it blows my mind that even while Christ was lying in the manger asleep on the hey, He never broke a sweat as He Himself held together the full universe and all of its splendor. Not only this, but He was fully working with the Father and the Spirit in divinely sustaining the eternal God while sleeping in His birth mothers arms.

This is because the life of the universe was not based on His baby hand-like grip. The life of the universe, every beating heart, and all that exists is in Him. Paul uses four different terms in explaining the fullest effect of His being the source. Not only was the universe created by Him, but it was also created for Him and through Him. He is the source of all things and not only this, but all things are actually said to be in Him. They are in His reach and in His power and in His grasp. Everything in all of creation, whether saved or unsaved, corrupted or uncorrupted, all things are held together literally in God! Nothing can exist outside of the Godhead and thus all things are sourced in Christ!