The Works of God

Dianne was reading Dr. Grudem’s Systematic Theology and shared another insight about how the paralyzed man in Luke 5 points us to Jesus as God (paragraph formatting and emphases in bold are mine; all others are by the author):

God keeps all created things existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them.

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is “upholding the universe by his word of power.” The Greek word translated “upholding” is phero, “carry, bear.” This is commonly used in the New Testament for carrying something from one place to another, such as bringing a paralyzed man on a bed to Jesus (Luke 5:18). . .

It does not mean simply “sustain,” but has the sense of active, purposeful control over the thing being carried from one place to another. In Hebrews 1:3, the use of the present participle indicates that Jesus is “continually carrying all things” in the universe by the word of power.

Christ is actively involved in the work of providence.

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 316.