He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence. Col. 1:15-18
Those who contest the divinity of Jesus Christ are quick to lean on Col. 1:15 to make a case for their arguments. But we must ask, does this verse exactly imply that Jesus is a created being? To answer to the objection raised by those who see in this verse proof of their arguments that Jesus is not a divine personality, it will be necessary to reason along with them and for the sake of fairness, and assume that they are right about Col 1:15. But in doing so, we must also hold them to be consistent in applying a literal interpretation to every similar verse of the bible. This will mean that each time the bible talks about a firstborn, it must be interpreted literally.
So let us proceed and consider some instances in the bible where firstborn is mentioned, and apply a literal interpretation to them, and judge how reasonable it will be to do so. If we discover that there are instances where firstborn cannot be interpreted literally, then it will become necessary to seek a contextual interpretation of each mention. First, let us look at Exodus 4:22 "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn." In this verse God calls Israel His firstborn. The question we must ask is, in what sense is Israel the firstborn of God?
Also, let's look at Psalms 89:27 "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." Here, speaking of David, God says that He will make him His firstborn. We must then ask, in what sense is God going to make David His firstborn? Finally, in Jeremiah 31:9, God said of Ephraim, "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
So we see God refer to Israel, Ephraim and David as His firstborn, if it is convenient to take Col. 1:15 literally, then the rule of consistency will require that all of these verses be also given literal interpretation. The unreasonableness of doing this clearly reveals the absurdity of taking a verse of the bible out of the context of a passage. Each time a passage of scripture is taken out of context, it says whatever you want it to say.
Now that we have seen the absurdity of taking a passage of scripture out of context, we must then return to our original passage in Col. 1:15 and examine its context in order to know what is being said. But before we do this, it's important that we know how the firstborn is variously used in scripture. There are two different ways that firstborn is used in scripture, the first is with regard to the birth position of a person. So in this regard, Jesus Christ was the firstborn child of Mary in the same way that Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and Esau was the firstborn of Isaac.
The second use of the word, firstborn, is often in regard to pre-eminence. This is the sense in which the word is used to address Israel, Ephraim, and David in the passages mentioned earlier, and it is the sense in which it is used in Col. 1:15. When the general context of the epistle of Colossians is taken into account, one cannot fail to see that it is in regard to the pre-eminence of Christ over all creation that the word firstborn is used and not in regard to natural birth position.
Toni
Those who contest the divinity of Jesus Christ are quick to lean on Col. 1:15 to make a case for their arguments. But we must ask, does this verse exactly imply that Jesus is a created being? To answer to the objection raised by those who see in this verse proof of their arguments that Jesus is not a divine personality, it will be necessary to reason along with them and for the sake of fairness, and assume that they are right about Col 1:15. But in doing so, we must also hold them to be consistent in applying a literal interpretation to every similar verse of the bible. This will mean that each time the bible talks about a firstborn, it must be interpreted literally.
So let us proceed and consider some instances in the bible where firstborn is mentioned, and apply a literal interpretation to them, and judge how reasonable it will be to do so. If we discover that there are instances where firstborn cannot be interpreted literally, then it will become necessary to seek a contextual interpretation of each mention. First, let us look at Exodus 4:22 "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn." In this verse God calls Israel His firstborn. The question we must ask is, in what sense is Israel the firstborn of God?
Also, let's look at Psalms 89:27 "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." Here, speaking of David, God says that He will make him His firstborn. We must then ask, in what sense is God going to make David His firstborn? Finally, in Jeremiah 31:9, God said of Ephraim, "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."
So we see God refer to Israel, Ephraim and David as His firstborn, if it is convenient to take Col. 1:15 literally, then the rule of consistency will require that all of these verses be also given literal interpretation. The unreasonableness of doing this clearly reveals the absurdity of taking a verse of the bible out of the context of a passage. Each time a passage of scripture is taken out of context, it says whatever you want it to say.
Now that we have seen the absurdity of taking a passage of scripture out of context, we must then return to our original passage in Col. 1:15 and examine its context in order to know what is being said. But before we do this, it's important that we know how the firstborn is variously used in scripture. There are two different ways that firstborn is used in scripture, the first is with regard to the birth position of a person. So in this regard, Jesus Christ was the firstborn child of Mary in the same way that Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and Esau was the firstborn of Isaac.
The second use of the word, firstborn, is often in regard to pre-eminence. This is the sense in which the word is used to address Israel, Ephraim, and David in the passages mentioned earlier, and it is the sense in which it is used in Col. 1:15. When the general context of the epistle of Colossians is taken into account, one cannot fail to see that it is in regard to the pre-eminence of Christ over all creation that the word firstborn is used and not in regard to natural birth position.
Toni
