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The Firstborn Over All Creation

By Adam Niess - Posted at Gentle Reformation:

In the United Kingdom, the order of succession to the throne does not follow the sequence you might expect. Unsurprisingly, the first in line is Prince William, the son of King Charles III. But, surprisingly, the second in line is not Prince Harry, the other son of King Charles III. It’s Prince George, followed by Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, the three children of Prince William. Only after them does Prince Harry find his place in the order of succession. He may be one of the King’s two sons, but he is the fifth in line to the King’s throne. It’s not what you expect, but there is a reason for it. It’s because Prince Harry is not the firstborn son of the King, and that matters. Prince William is the firstborn, and to be the firstborn is to be preeminent within the British royal family. The same is true with the firstborn in Holy Scripture.

According to Colossians 1:15, Jesus is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (NKJV). In the 4th Century, a man named Arius took this to mean that Jesus was the first to be born in all creation. He was not the God-Man, in other words, but the first man among God’s creatures. If this sounds familiar to you, it may be because Jehovah’s Witnesses believe (and promote) the same thing today. But it’s a misinterpretation of the Bible. While you could possibly make this argument from the second half of verse 15 alone, it falls to the ground in light of the first half where Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. As I explained in a previous post, to say that Jesus is the image of the invisible God is the same as saying that He is God. It’s because Jesus is one with the Father, and equal with Him in power and glory, that Jesus can reveal God to us in His person and works. Therefore, Jesus cannot be the image of God and the first creation of God because the two are mutually exclusive. This is why the Counsel of Nicea in 325 B.C. responded to Arius by clarifying in its Creed that Jesus is “the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made”. If Jesus is the image of God (because He is God), then He cannot be the first creation of God. This is not what Paul means when he says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. Jesus is both fully God and fully man in one person.

But Arius did not only fail to consider the context of Paul’s statement, he also failed to consider the biblical use of the word “firstborn”. While the word is certainly used to speak of the first to be born (such as, Esau, the firstborn son of Jacob), it is also used to speak of rank and privilege. For instance, Deuteronomy 21:17 says, “But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.” (NKJV) Since the firstborn is in a higher position than others, he has the right to receive more than others. Let me give you some further examples.



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