And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Colossians 1:17 

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.   

Job 42:2

What did Job learn from hearing all Christ had to say in the previous chapters? He learned that Christ is able to do everything. Christ had spoken to him out of the whirlwind and detailed for him His relationship to all that is. As He did so, He was explicit regarding His actions to create and to uphold everything. Job’s conclusion was, ‘I know that You can do everything.’ This should be our conclusion as well. This gives us a clear understanding of Christ’s hold upon the creation and upon us within that creation. It gives us an abundance of security within what often appears to be a world in chaos. In contrast to what appears to be disorder, Christ upholds all that is and goes so far as to overrule all events for His Own glory. This enables us to bow before Him with a peaceful heart, knowing He can do everything. As we look to Him first, we can afterward look around us and know that all is under His control. We need not know all things as long as we know Him Who does know all things and Who holds everything together This gives us a sense of peace that carries us through all the circumstances we encounter.  

Our Good and Almighty God, 
we rejoice that You can do everything. 
We praise You that You do all for our good. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Colossians 1:17 

Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty.  

Job 40:10 

What is it like to see Christ in His glory? Our text is a challenge. Christ is declaring to Job exactly who He is and how He relates to all that is. He has asked Job if he has an arm like God or can thunder with his voice as God does. He goes on to challenge Job to adorn himself with majesty and splendor and array himself with glory and beauty. We see glimpses of this in Scripture. On various occasions Christ has appeared in His glory. Isaiah saw Him, high and lifted up. The disciples saw Him on the mount of transfiguration. John saw Him glorified throughout His revelation. These are a few occasions when Christ has appeared with majesty, splendor, glory, and beauty. Thus Christ, according to His purpose, appears to us in glorious, majestic ways so that we realize exactly who He is. If we do see Him adorned with majesty and splendor we react in profound ways. Isaiah said, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ A clear sight of Christ in all His glory humbles us greatly. We recognize what a wide distance exists between Him and us. We marvel at His condescension to even speak to us, let alone to become one of us; to live perfectly and die sacrificially for us. Our regard for Christ increases exponentially when we behold Him in the majesty and splendor which is His natural garb.   

Great God of wonders, 
we rejoice at how you present Yourself to us. 
We praise You that as we see You, 
it brings us to worship You as the Living God. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Colossians 1:17 

Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? 

Job 40:9 

God is not ashamed to be God. Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, is not ashamed to be God. When Christ said to His enemies, ‘before Abraham was, I AM,’ He was articulating a sober fact. It is not arrogance to articulate truth. In the second portion of our text, Christ, in per-incarnate form, is speaking truth about Himself. He is speaking to Job about His relationship to all that is. As Colossian 1:17 says, ‘in Him all things consist,’ or hang together. Thus when Christ asks the rhetorical question, ‘Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?’ He is contrasting Himself and His power to all who may think themselves to be strong and their voice authoritative. Christ describes Himself in the most God-like terms. As was true of His I AM utterance in John, so here Christ is simply articulating truth about Himself. He is not ashamed to be God. While we rejoice in the gentle, compassionate Christ of the New Testament with His kind interactions with the weak, helpless people He encountered, we also rejoice in the Christ of the mighty arm and thundering voice. This is the God Who has real power and genuine authority. He captivates us and commands our respect, loyalty, and allegiance. He is no limpid Christ, but every whit the Almighty God.  

High King of heaven, 
we rejoice that You are strong. 
We praise You that You exercise  
Your strength on behalf of Your people. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Colossians 1:17  

Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified. 

Job 40:8 

Does God have the right to render judgment? Christ is explaining to Job how it is that He upholds all things. Job, the quintessential sufferer, has questioned God and His ways. He has particularly questioned why God has allowed him to endure all he has endured. The losses he suffered included his property, livelihood, all his children, and his health. God speaks with Job and elaborates upon His sovereignty over all things because He has regard for Job and his integrity. God did not have to explain Himself to Job, but He did because He highly regarded him. Having said that, Christ is quite direct in what He says to Job. One of the questions He asks is, ‘Would you indeed annul my judgment?’ What He is asking, in a pointed way, is if Job has the right to accuse God of being faulty in His exercise of justice. He is asking if Job thinks he is in the position to say that God does not do right in His rendering of judgment. Job has questioned what God has done. Now God, having detailed all the things He does, asks Job if he is in the position to call God into account for how He has done. This is a raw moment. We may feel as Job felt. We may have some of the same questions. Do we have the right to call God to account? When we encounter Christ in person it changes our perspective.  

Our Good and All-powerful God, 
we rejoice that You teach us Your ways. 
We praise You that You are patient as we learn. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Colossians 1:17 

Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait? Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food? 

Job 38:39-41 

Christ holds the created animal kingdom together. Our text is the beginning of His discussion of how He upholds all the animals we encounter in the world. He begins with the lion, the king of beasts. He then lists, with commentary, the ravens, mountain goats, wild donkeys, wild ox, ostrich, horse, hawk, and eagle. For each of these He provides a commentary on how He upholds them, providing for their sustenance and survival. Some of His remarks are quite detailed. He goes so far as to delve into why He has created these animals with the nature they have; why they act and react as they do. We learn from this how thoroughly and intimately Christ involves Himself with these animals He has created. Our experience of these animals is vastly different that His. We marvel at these creatures, but have no control over the vast majority of them. We may attempt to tame them, or exercise dominion over them, but for the most part we have relatively little influence over them and cannot alter their basic nature at all. Christ alone has this power and control over all these whom He has created. He consistently upholds them, providing for them what is necessary to maintain their place in the earth. When we hear Him delineate all He does, we stand in awe and wonder.  

Our Glorious, Living God, 
we rejoice that You uphold all that You have created. 
We praise You that as we observe all these things, 
they testify of You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning