And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, – Hebrews 1:3 NASB

Word of His Power.

This is a tricky one.

I had a conversation with a man once. He believes God and studies the Word with diligence. He holds to reformed theology. There are many areas where our theology lines up perfectly. But we had some disagreement right here, on this phrase.

My reading of the Bible has the eternal Son, through whom Father created all things, laying aside His divine abilities for thirty-three years as he took on flesh. I’m not, by any means, or in any way, saying Jesus ever stopped being God. But I believe everything He did on earth, He did with the same set of tools and abilities we have.

When He fed the 5,000, He was showing us what a man connected with the Holy Spirit and His eyes on the Father can do. He said it Himself, about casting out demons.

“But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. – Luke 11:20 NASB

And of His works in general:

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. – John 5:19 NASB

I hold to this position for many reasons. One stands above the rest. We’ll see in chapter 4 that Jesus faced every temptation we do, without sin. If He did it as God with His Omni-sin-resister, it gives me no basis for identification, and I am without hope of ever resisting sin. But if He faced temptation as a man, and stood strong, I can believe that His command is not unreasonable or unkeepable. If He, full of the Spirit and eyes on the Father can say no, I can too. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me. (Romans 8:11) The same Father that spoke to Him speaks to me. Truly I can do all things through Christ who is my strength! (Philippians 4:13)

The controversy with my reformed brother was in this idea that Jesus had to hold onto His deity because He was, and constantly is, holding all things together by the word of His power.

So what do you do with that, Ben?

Let me say this. I totally believe it’s true. But there is something significant about His word that we need to understand.

The Word of God spoken in creation, like “light be,” once spoken continues to work and expand and grow, today, and every day. It’s not like God has to hold out one long “LIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTT” through all eternity to keep the lights on. When He said “light be,” they didn’t flicker on and then immediately cut out again like some overly-Christmased house with breaker issues.

The ideas and plans of the Father, such as the laws of physics, or the law of sowing and reaping, spoken into being by the Word (the Son,) work today, without being “respoken” daily, or moment by moment.

His word is eternal. If it’s a word of holding together, it’s going to hold together, until He speaks a word breaking it apart.

So then, Jesus did not have to hold on to omnipotence while he walked on water just to keep things held together. They (all things) are presently held together by the Word of Jesus spoken in creation.

Thanks for coming by.

Walk in that LLLLLIIGGGHHHT!

Ben

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