Jesus Christ: The Riches Of The Glory Of This MysterySample

The Cosmological Christ 

To talk of Christ in His ultimate reality is one thing. To talk of Christ in His relation to the reality of the universe or cosmos is another. Christian theism is, on the one hand, different from pantheism. Pantheism identifies God with the universe or believes that the universe and its parts are manifestations of God. However, for Christianity, the universe is a creation of God; it is not God. On the other, Christian theism differs from deism. Deism believes that God does not directly relate or engage with the world in any way. The Christian belief is that God continually sustains and engages with the universe. 

Paul says in verse 16 that it is through Christ that God created the world: “For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible . . . all things were created through him.” He also says that it is through Christ that the world is sustained and continues to exist: “in him all things hold together” (v. 17). The reality and being of the universe is intimately connected to Christ. Everything in the universe depends hopelessly on Him for their origin and their sustenance. 

To say this is not to deny that there are natural laws – physical, chemical, biological, mathematical, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise – involved in the reality and the running of the universe. There are natural mechanisms in the universe. But to discover and understand what these natural laws and their processes are, and how they operate in the world, and to then dismiss the existence of and need for God is faulty reasoning. It confuses and conflates mechanism with agency. 

Consider the following example: A computer is created by assembling several parts and running it through innumerable scientifically intricate processes, both in the hardware and the software. These are the “whats” and “hows” of the computer. Understanding these parts and processes would be wonderful and enriching. But to then go on and dismiss the “whos” that create and run the computer would be foolish. The machinery and mechanics of the computer are the “whats” and “hows.” The men and women behind the computer (the industrial product designers and scientists) and in front of the computer (you and me) are the “whos.” Intelligent agents ultimately create and run computers. There are agents behind and beyond mechanisms. In the same way, “God-in-and-through-Christ” is the ultimate “Who” – the ultimate supernatural agent behind and beyond the natural mechanisms of the universe.