SUSTAINER

But how? How does this "work"? What holds it together? Think, for example, about the existence of man. What is he composed of? Atoms and molecules (I guess)--but what holds them together. I remember from biology (or maybe it was physics) of three types of bonds--polar, ionic, covalent. But how do they bond?

Now think about what constitutes man. Depending on how you define terms, man is either bipartite (consisting of two parts--body and spirit, ala Genesis 2) or tripartite (consisting of three parts--body, soul, and spirit, ala 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Either way, how are the parts connected?

In some way which I cannot explain, this is part of what Jesus does. According to Paul in our Colossians passage, "in him all things hold together." Hebrews 1:3 echoes this, saying of Jesus that he sustains all things by his powerful word."

When Jesus returns, however, creation will be dissolved, consumed, purged, completely remade--his word that created ("Let there be ..., and it was) and currently sustains, will remove the bonds that holds it all together, so it can be refashioned into the glorious place that he promised to those who love him.