What is the means whereby the Son beareth or upholdeth all things? His hands made the heavens; His feet shall

have all things placed beneath them; His body bore our sins. It is His Word, however, that upholds all things.

Rhema (word) differs from logos (word) in that it indicates a spoken word or command, e.g., `by every word that

proceedeth out of the mouth of God'. We find rhema in Hebrews as follows:

`The word of His power' (1:3).

`Tasted the good word of God' (6:5).

`The worlds (ages) were framed by the word of God' (11:3).

`The voice of words' (12:19).

The Word that framed the ages is the Word that upholds all things, the Word that called them into being will

surely prevail over all opposition and bring all to perfection. It is `the word of His power'. In the Greek this is

usually exousia or dunamis. He was crucified in weakness, but He liveth by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4). He

was marked off the Son of God with power, by the resurrection (Rom. 1:4). As the risen One He said, `all power is

given unto Me in heaven and in earth' (Matt. 28:18). This word `power' is rendered by `miracle' in Hebrews 2:4,

and is linked with rhema in 6:5, `the good Word of God, and the powers of the coming age'. The HighPriesthood of

Christ differs from that of Aaron in that it is `according to the power of an endless life' (7:16); and in 11:11,34 it

again occurs. It is the power of the risen Christ that makes His Word effective; He will destroy him that has the

power of death, that is the devil. As the risen One He holds the keys of Hades and of death. He is the Son of God

with almighty power.

Let us turn for a moment to the records of His life on earth, for there we shall find, even in His humiliation, that

His word was with power. When He said to the two fishers, `Follow Me', there was no hesitation, `they straightway

left their nets, and followed him' (Matt. 4:19,20); when the Lord had finished the `Sermon on the Mount' we are

told, `the people were astonished at His doctrine, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes'

(7:28,29). A leper came and worshipped Him, saying, `Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus

put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed'

(8:2,3). This miracle is followed by one that even more clearly testifies to the power of His spoken word. A

centurion who sought the Lord on behalf of his sick servant said, `Speak the word only, and my servant shall be

healed ... and his servant was healed in the self-same hour' (8:5-13). Shortly after this the Lord and His disciples are

found in a ship, and upon a great tempest arising, the disciples call upon the Lord to save them; He rebuked the

waves and a great calm followed, `but the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds

and the sea obey Him?' (8:24-27).

The miracle of the healing of the man sick of the palsy is a definite demonstration of the power of the Lord's

Word. He had said, `son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee', and, answering the thought of those who

heard these words, said, `for whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk ? But

that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy),

Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house' (9:1-8). So the record continues, His word then was most certainly

with power.

If this is the character of His Word while in the form of a Servant, what shall be the character of His word as the

risen Son of God with power? So Hebrews 12:25,26 admonishes:

`See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much

more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the

earth: but now He hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven'.

Although primarily this passage goes back to the giving of the law at Sinai, the Old Testament furnishes

illustration of the Lord's Word of power, `and God said, Light be, and light was' (Gen. 1:3); `By the Word of the

Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth'; `For He spake, and it was done,

He commanded, and it stood fast' (Psa. 33: 6,9). Shall we not say that Psalm 29, the Psalm of the `Voice', looks

forward to that happy day when the Son of God shall have brought or carried all things on to the reign of peace?

`The LORD will bless His people with peace' (Psa. 29:11).