In this short teaching, Harry Pitts reads Colossians 1:17 and highlights the Greek word sunistema, which translates to an active, continuous cohesion. He argues that God’s spoken word not only created the universe but also continuously sustains it moment‑by‑moment. Creation is therefore portrayed as a living system that remains in a perpetual, dynamic relationship with the divine word, rather than a static collection of matter that was set in motion and left alone.
God's voice speaks everything into existence. Everything was formed by his word. Everything. It says, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Ah, let me read that again. And he— that's Colossians chapter 1, verse 17. If you can't find it, somebody say, help me, Jesus. If you still can't find it, somebody say, Lord have mercy. I'm gonna read it for you, and it says in Colossians chapter 1, verse 17, and he is before all things, and in him all things— listen— all things hold together. The Greek word is the word sunistema. Sunistema. You spell it S-U-N-I-S-T-E-M-A. E-M-I. It means active, continuous cohesion. Creation is not a static collection of matter that God wound up and left running. Creation is a living system being actively sustained moment by moment by the same word that spoke it into existence. This means creation exists in perpetual living relationship with the word of God. It was made by the word. It held together by the word. Amen.
