Jesus the firstborn
If Jesus didn’t exist prior to his
birth (Apart from his being in the foreknowledge of God),
How can the Bible say:
Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature:
Jesus is firstborn in two senses.
He is the first of all God’s
creation to have died and been raised to immortality:
Elijah and Enoch were translated
that they should not see death. Other individuals such as Lazarus and Jairus’
daughter died and were raised again, only to subsequently die.
Jesus alone can say:
Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death.
For that reason the Bible also
describes him as:
Revelation 1:5
And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood,
To view the scripture in it’s
context, you need only read on to the next verse to see what is meant by Jesus’
being the firstborn:
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things he might have the preeminence.
But there is another meaning of
firstborn brought out in this passage:
Jesus
is the firstborn in terms of his pre-eminence.
In the Jewish culture of the Bible
being the firstborn was not merely an issue of chronology- that is to say
timing.
Being the firstborn in a royal
house meant inheriting the throne and hence the pre-eminent position in the
kingdom.
Although Jesus was the ‘last Adam’
and the ‘second man’ in terms of this timing of his birth (See link: Did Jesus
Pre-exist?), he was nevertheless David’s firstborn son in terms of his
inheriting the throne of David.
Is there a scriptural precedent for
this?
David passed his throne on to his
immediate son, Solomon whom he had begotten by Bathsheba.
Although Solomon inherited the
firstborn’s position he was not the first-born chronologically.
At the time when David was rebuked
for his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband,
she had already born him a son. In judgement on David’s sin Nathan the prophet declared:
2 Samuel 12:14
Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast
given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also
that is born unto thee shall surely die.
It was after that the Bible says:
2 Samuel 12:24
And David comforted Bathsheba his wife,
and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called
his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
So the firstborn in terms of
pre-eminence was not the first one to be born.
Out of the whole line of patriarchs-
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob not one of them passed the inheritance of the firtborn
on to the first of their children to be born:
Abraham passed it to Isaac, not Ishmael- though Ishmael was born
first.
Isaac passed it on to Jacob not Esau though Esau was born first.
About Jacob it was said:
Genesis 25:23
And the LORD said unto her,
Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from
thy bowels;
and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
and the elder shall serve the younger.
Genesis 37:9
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said,
Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and
the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
And we all know how that story
goes!
Even between Joseph’s own two sons,
the Bible says:
Genesis 48:14
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who
was the younger,
and his left hand upon Manasseh's head,
guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
I rest my case. Jesus is both the
Son of David and the Abraham’s seed. Yet neither David nor any of the
patriarchs passed the firstborn’s inheritance to their first son.
Instead, just like Jesus it passed
on the chosen of God- that they might receive the pre-eminence.
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1. Introduction |
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10. Seen! |
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17. Jesus- a Godsend |
18. 1 Creator |
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20. The firstborn |
21. The name of God |
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