In Christ All Things Hold Together

I think about God's creation quite frequently this time of year.

The trees are aflame, the air is crisp and cool, and we are watching our farmer neighbors harvesting the fields.

I've also been thinking about Colossians 1: 

For by him (Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

I've especially been thinking about that last phrase: in Him all things hold together.


I look up the verb for "hold together" in my Strong's and find that it is "sunistao" or " sunistemi" which has connotations of "strengthened...to set together...to stand with". 


It is a present tense verb: Christ is currently and actively holding all things together.


I am intrigued and try to consider this idea more thoroughly.


I tend to view creation as neutral, as separate from heaven. I often see creation as something that points to God but not as something that participates with God. 


I think that many people see creation as having been made or set into motion by God but now is on its own. 


In Him all things hold together.


I often hear people talk about having a Christian perspective on creation, especially when conversing about the need to care for the earth. Even that sort of language implies that creation is neutral and needs for Christ-followers to imbue it with godly meaning.


Yet if Christ is right now holding all things together, then perhaps that means that there is something deeper, something sacred behind all created things.


According to Hans Boersma in a recent Mars Hill Audio Journal interview, that is certainly what Christians believed for more than a millennium after Christ:  Just as you wouldn't simply read the text of the Bible without seeking something deeper, something sacred behind the words, you shouldn't simply look at creation without seeking something sacred behind the created thing. 

Just as Christ is the logos, the Word of God, that is behind the Holy Words of Scripture, so, according to Colossians 1, Christ is also behind the created world, holding all things together.


I am only a stay-at-home mommy. I don't pretend to know a whole lot. 


I do know that modernity has enlightened us to many realities about the world around us. 


Perhaps, just perhaps, it has blinded us to some of the deeper realities as well.


Would you continue the conversation in the comments below? What do you think? Is there something deeper and sacred behind created things or is creation now neutral, only pointing to God rather than right now participating with God in its renewal?