07.13.13_Food For Thought “…the firstborn…” (One of the MOST MISUNDERSTOOD words in the Bible). Colossians 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:” By Dr. M.H. Salahshurian, Ph. D What a Blessed Promise; what a Blessed Hope! But, as we shall soon see, how sadly this one single word, the “firstborn”, leads many to the way of Cults and ultimate damnation! Today is Saturday, the day most likely the Cults will appear at your door. They open their Bible and put their finger on this one single word and say, see “…the firstborn of every creature.” Then they try to translate it for you, doing so wrongly, by asking, “How can He be God Incarnate when, at one point, He was born like every one of us?” They focus on this single verse and this single word without even considering, as we shall soon see, the verses (16-18) that follows verse 15. The word, “firstborn” in Greek (Pro-tot-ok’-os), DOES NOT have time connotation, but positional connotation. The word simply DOES NOT denote that He was created at one time, but rather that He became (transformed). Jesus was transformed from one state of Deity to another! Thus, this (Positional role) speaks of His “Right to Rule”, “His Sovereignty”, “His Preeminence”, over the whole world which we shall be seeing in Colossians 1: 16-18. In Philippians 2:5-11, in Verse-7, we also read of this transformation from one state of Deity to another! 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The attributes we just read in Philippians 2:10-11, are the exact attributes given to God the Father in Isaiah 45:23. Now, let’s go back to Colossians 1:15, the verse in question, mentioning the “firstborn”. We know it is Christ being referred to from the previous verse verse-14, Colossians 1:15 is simply saying that Christ is the manifestation of God, Christ is the exact “Image”, the exact duplicate, a photo-copy of the invisible God; who became visible, so man could see Him! Now, in reading Colossians 1:16-18, we see an additional way of viewing the word “firstborn” reading verse-15. Colossians 1:16-18, V-16 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: V-17- And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. V-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.” The above verses clearly state that “For by Him [Christ], were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth…” Verse-18 is the key and at the same time, it is this verse that creates much confusion for the Cults. Verse-18 “…the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” What Verse-18 is saying is this: Since Christ is God, He is also supreme in rank over all creation! He is NOT only the transcendent Deity who created all creation, including man (us), He is also the One who died on our behalf and was subsequently raised from the dead. Therefore, he is also the “firstborn” from the dead, the first one who was born, died and experienced the true Resurrection! Now, one might ask, He was not the first one or the only one who rose from the dead. There were others, including Lazarus, whom He, Jesus, Himself raised from the dead. YES, that’s true, but they all died again. Jesus was the only one to rise from the dead who NEVER died again! So, we can sum up Colossian 1:15 and the word “firstborn” by saying Christ was born, submitted His life, died in our place for our sin making Him the first to be born, to die and to rise NEVER to die again. NO mere man could have done this, except the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ! More under Tracts & Pamphlets, in the “Tracts and Pamphlets” in the: theswordandshield
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:32:15 +0000
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