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

Colossians 1:17 

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 

Job 38:4 

Job asked a lot of questions during the days of his suffering. These were, from our human perspective, natural questions considering all he was enduring. By the time Job and all his friends had ended their speeches it was God’s turn. He spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, just as He had spoken to Moses out of the burning bush. Therefore when we read the words of God in these chapters, we should understand that it is Christ speaking. Our text is the first question He asks Job. He says, ‘Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?’ This further confirms that Christ is speaking based on what the rest of Scripture says about Christ’s role in creation. His question to Job is a challenge. Job has questioned God. Now God asks the questions. He is not seeking information, but rather asking these questions to bring forth facts about His Own sovereignty. What He says about Himself underscores the first part of our text that He is before all things and in Him all things consist. Chapters 38 through 41 of Job are full of examples all of which lend weight to the categorical statement of Colossians 1:17. If we want an extremely detailed declaration of exactly what that verse means, we have only to read what God says to Job. This puts all these things into perspective.  

Our Creating, Upholding God, 
we rejoice that You know all that we do not know. 
We praise You that You can do all the things that we cannot. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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

Colossians 1:17  

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind… 

Job 38:1 

Christ holds everything together. This first portion of our text declares that, ‘in Him all things consist,’ or hang together. Hebrews 1 says that He upholds all things by the word of His power. We conclude from these phrases that Christ is indeed, holding everything together. The second portion of our text is the beginning of a lengthy speech by God in which He delineates His relationship to all that exists. What is important for our purpose of seeking Christ in the Scriptures is that He speaks to Job out of the whirlwind just as certainly as He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. As the incident at the burning bush was a Christophany, a preincarnate appearance of Christ, so also is this occasion of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind. What follows is a veritable litany of situations in which Christ describes, with various details, His control over all that is. We have no other occasion in Scripture where Christ so clearly and at such length articulates His relationship to all creation. It outlines specifically how it is that in Him all things consist. Therefore as we consider what He said out of the whirlwind we understand that this is not what someone has said about Christ. Rather it is what He Himself has said. In Him all things consist.

Our Great and Sovereign God, 
we rejoice that You rule over all. 
We praise You that nothing exists without You.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  

Revelation 1:8 

Christ never equivocates about His identity or His eternity. John wrote, ‘the Revelation of Jesus Christ.’ One of his introductory remarks is, ‘Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come…and from Jesus Christ.’ Thus we understand he is referring to the Father as a Person distinct from Christ. When John writes the first words of Christ in the verse which serves as our text, Christ speaks of Himself and says, ‘I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ Christ speaks of Himself using the same exact phraseology as John used in referring to the Father. Thus Christ is claiming equality with His Father specifically with regard to His eternity. He seals His declaration with ‘the Almighty.’ As we often say, the words of Christ Himself are the end of all controversy for us. When He makes a categorical statement, as in our text, we accept it as certainly as He states it clearly. Christ is just as eternal as the Father. He ‘is and was and is to come, the Almighty.’ If we accept His verification regarding this, we have every reason to accept everything else He declares Himself to be. He claims to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He says no one comes to the Father except through Him.  

Our Glorious, Eternal Savior, 
we rejoice that You are the same substance as the Father. 
We praise You that You are equal in power and glory. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for you loved Me before the foundation of the world.  

John 17:24 

Christ has had an eternal relationship with His Father. He refers to it in His High Priestly prayer from which our text derives. He says, ‘You loved me before the foundation of the world.’ Thus when we speak of God, we must include Christ as one of those who are from eternity. Other passages lead us to include the Holy Spirit. For example, Genesis indicates the Holy Spirit was at work in creation. John 1 speaks of Christ, the Word, as creating all that is. Hebrews 1 tells us it was God Who employed His Son in creation. When we add together all the Scripture says about these three, we have good reason to believe in the Trinity. This means when we hear Christ speak of the love His Father had for Him, ‘before the foundation of the world,’ it is entirely consistent with everything else we know about Him as the essential, eternal Son of God. Our faith does not rest in some recent addition to the Trinity. Rather, from what Christ says, as well as from the rest of the Scripture, we conclude that as the Father is eternal, so also is the Son. The more convinced we are of the truth, the more willing we are to confess, as Thomas did, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ The longer we gaze upon Christ, the more worthy He appears to our wondering eyes.  

Our Holy, Triune God, 
we rejoice in every Person of the Trinity. 
We praise You that all of You are eternal. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:  but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Proverbs 1:7 

Within the heart of humanity there is the insatiable thirst for knowledge.  Throughout the course of history, the pursuit of knowledge has consumed the time, attention, and energy of a vast multitude.  If we trace history back to the origin of humanity, we find that there are indications of this thirst in our first parents.  When the serpent appealed to Eve, his selling point was that if she and Adam would eat of the tree they would become, ‘like God, knowing good and evil.’  The desire for knowledge was innate and Satan merely exploited it for his own ends.  If we are to achieve knowledge, where shall we start?  Our text for today provides us with the answer.  ‘The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.’  This is not ‘fear’ in the sense of craven terror, but rather, reverence, respect, and regard for God.  If we would truly achieve knowledge, here is where it begins.  This beginning will lead us inevitably to Christ.  It is by Christ that God has spoken to us.  He is ‘the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person.’  He ‘upholds all things by the word of His power.’  To honor and reverence God is to honor and reverence Christ.  Therefore, if we are to know, we must come to know God, and that means we must know Christ. 

Our Great and All-knowing God, 
we rejoice that You are willing to make Yourself known to us. 
We praise You, that as we seek Your Face, 
in reverence, You will by Your Holy Spirit, 
show us Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning