The Firstborn Of All Creation isn’t a Birth Announcement
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Alright, so if you were trying to wrap your mind around the Trinity this week, you might think there is a curve-ball in this opening verse:
The firstborn of all creation
If Jesus is God, then He has always existed. He wasn’t created because He has always been, so how can Jesus, who is equal to God (or as some theologians say ‘co-equal’) then how can He be born even if He’s the first-born?
Well, this isn’t a birth announcement or a description of biology. This is a statement of authority.
In Jewish culture, the first born son was unlike every other kid in the family. Every kid would be brought into the world with some offerings and sacrifices, but the firstborn required more. Every child in the family would receive an inheritance, but the firstborn son got his first. Not only that, but the firstborn son got half of the entire inheritance and then the other kids, even if there were 8–12 of them, would divide up the other half.
The power of the firstborn son is represented in the Passover, when the tenth plague killed every firstborn son in Egypt. That was the strength and trust that Pharaoh was putting his hope in. That represented his legacy and longevity on beyond his own life.
Even Israel is called God’s firstborn in a few spots, to show the preeminence of them as a nation and as a people in God’s eyes.
So Jesus, the firstborn, is preeminent, authority, master, and ruler over all creation. He is the boss of the house, and the most loved of all creation by God the Father.
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