You asked

how does the old testament's view of god as creator relate to this idea of 'holding all things together'?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Colossians 1:17

“He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”

This verse is part of a hymn-like passage in Paul's letter to the Colossians, written from prison around 60-62 CE. Paul is emphasizing the supreme position and universal significance of Jesus Christ for both creation and redemption, addressing some philosophical and spiritual currents in Colossae that might have diminished Christ's role.

What does it mean for you to consider the universe, including its vastness and its intricacies, as being held together by a personal presence rather than by impersonal forces?

Then — the setting

Paul wrote this letter to the church in Colossae, a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), likely while imprisoned in Rome. The Colossian church was facing challenges from certain teachings that emphasized asceticism, angel worship, and a complex hierarchy of spiritual powers, which seemed to diminish the centrality of Christ. Paul's soaring language here asserts Christ's absolute preeminence over all creation and all spiritual forces, grounding the Colossians' faith in him alone. This passage draws on Jewish wisdom traditions that personified God's wisdom in creation.

Across the Testaments

The Old Testament firmly establishes God as the sole Creator, bringing the universe into being through his word (Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6, Isaiah 45:12). While it doesn't explicitly mention a distinct 'person' holding things together in the same way Colossians 1:17 does with Christ, it does speak of God's active presence and power sustaining creation (Psalm 104:27-30) and personifies 'Wisdom' as being present with God at creation (Proverbs 8). The New Testament, particularly in passages like Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3, develops this by identifying Christ as the agent through whom creation was made and by whom it is now actively sustained, thereby connecting the Old Testament's monotheistic Creator God directly with Jesus.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Genesis 1:1
Establishes God as the singular origin of all creation.
Hebrews 1:3
Describes Christ as sustaining the universe by his powerful word.
Nehemiah 9:6
Attributes the ongoing sustenance of all things to God alone.

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