"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb 1:3)
I want to focus on two points from this amazing verse:
The Greek word translated "upholds" is "phero." It means to bear up; to carry forward. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, used this verb to translate Moses complaining to the Lord in Numbers 11:14, that he was unable to bear the burden of God's people in the wilderness.
Jesus Christ is the true Titan, bearing the weight of creation upon His shoulders.
But the verb includes "carrying things forward," which He does by the word of His power. From the swirling activity of living cells to the sweeping dance of galaxies, the dynamism of creation is sustained by the continuous exertion of Christ.
Our verse states creation is not in motion merely because of a mighty initial jolt, but because of a continuous animating upwelling. The Christ of God is a stupendous artesian well, watering reality. He is the true headwaters flowing out of Eden, forming the rivers of life from which we all drink.
But notice how this great truth runs counter to the truth of God resting after finishing His work of creation. "My Father works to this very day, and I also." Creation wasn't only created; it is continuously maintained.
"Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name. By the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing." (Is 40:26)
The universe is the garden of God. He who planted it now waters and tends it.
Yet my second point from Hebrews 1:3 is the declaration that Christ did sit down to rest after working a great work. A point the epistle fully develops later to great effect!
Notice how the work of redemption aligns with the initial work of creation. God through Christ labored to create the world in the beginning and God through Christ labored to redeem that world in "these last days." He rested after each. These great labors of love sit as matching bookends.
I dare say creation was redemptive, even as redemption is creative. See how creative redemption is:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away; behold, new things have come!" (2Co 5:17)
Yet this description of redemption better matches creation than most realize. The second verse of the bible informs us the Spirit of God was brooding over ruin. The scene is not of a blank slate, but of one shattered and thrown down. A few verses later, we're even told of a flood of water inundating all the world.
But then God through Christ stirred and spoke. He created and fashioned and built. He labored until dead, dark chaos had been transformed into ordered beauty, teeming with life and basking in light. Having accomplished His great task, the Triune God then rested.
Hebrews 1:3 declares the same thing: God in Christ accomplished the great work of redemption, creating new life and hope out of ashes of despair. Naked and ruined humanity, once thrashing about, harming and being harmed, even throwing off the chains of the Law meant to at least restrain him, can now sit peacefully in his right mind at the feet of Christ, fully clothed in His great salvation.
Christ now sits at the right hand of God, resting after accomplishing His great work of life and love. Yet as He reposes there, He sustains His accomplishment from moment to moment by His muscular mercy. We teeming millions who have washed our robes clean in the blood of the Lamb are being carried forward by a coursing torrent of life welling up and out of our Savior.
Perhaps those holes in his hands and feet and that open wound in His side are not there just as reminders of what He has accomplished but are the very openings from which the river of life continues to pour forth.
- Matt Schilling
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