THE FIRSTBORN

I had a family joke a couple of decades ago. I promised my son that, if I had it long enough, I would will him my 1987 Subaru wagon--later, known as a Legacy. So I would say that I am leaving my son a legacy!

There was something about the firstborn in Old Testament history. If memory serves, he would inherit a double portion of the family possessions. It was his, left to him by his father.

The Colossians passage describes Jesus as the firstborn "of all creation." What does this mean? Certainly not, as today's Jehovah's Witnesses and ancient Arians taught, that Jesus was a created being (the context of this passage clearly states that this is wrong, as does the balance of the New Testament teaching). To try to prove this, the Witnesses say that, by him, all "other" things were created, implying that Jesus was created and therefore not God.

I wonder if Proverbs sheds some light on this. In Proverbs 8, wisdom is personified; we find in verses 22-26 that it was "brought forth as the first of his works" even before creation was called into being. Comparing this with the Colossians passage (by him, all things were created) and 1 Corinthians 1:25 (Christ, the wisdom of God), I imply that the idea of him being firstborn was this--that all of creation is his by inheritance! Psalm 2:8 echoes this too. His dad gave it to him.

Jesus was also the firstborn of all the children of God. Whereas Jesus was begotten, not made, through him we have the right to become children of God (John 1:12-13) by being born again/anew/from above (John 3:3). We as his new creation are his by inheritance too.