HEBREWS 1.3-4: He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (4) having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (ESV)
I have written in previous posts regarding the power of Jesus to speak the word and it comes to pass. He spoke for the winds and waves to be still and they became calm. He commanded authority over demons by His spoken word. He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead by His spoken word, as recorded in Luke 8.54-56.
The expression in verse 3 above “by the word of his power” utilizes the word for “word” that most emphasizes the “spoken” word. So the action of Jesus upholding the universe is by the power of His spoken word. This is in keeping with the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis wherein God spoke and His work of creation came to pass.
The idea of “upholding” uses the word which literally means “bearing” or “carrying” the universe. So the weight of the universe is carried by Jesus, figuratively on His shoulders.
A closely related idea of how the the universe relates to Jesus is written by the Apostle Paul in his letter of the Colossians. In Colossians 1.17 he writes that Jesus is “before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (ESV). The word translated “hold together” also has built within it the ideas of “continue, endure, exist”.
So Jesus by His spoken word carries, upholds, and holds the universe together. And because of these truths, it is in Jesus that we have our very lives. In Paul’s speech to the Athenians, speaking about God as Creator, he said in Acts 17.28: “for in him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.'” (ESV). Since God created the universe through Jesus, it is through Jesus that “we live and move and have our being”.