Firstborn of all Creation???

[Tinkerbell222222]

What does it mean in Colossians 1:13-15 when it calls Jesus the "firstborn of all creation"? Isn't He God, and thus, uncreated? And, doesn't John 1 make Him out to be creator?

Colossians 1:13-15:

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."


John 1:1-3:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

So, is Christ Creator or Creation?

 

[andy153]

What does it mean in Colossians 1:13-15 when it calls Jesus the "firstborn of all creation"? Isn't He God, and thus, uncreated? And, doesn't John 1 make Him out to be creator?

Colossians 1:13-15:

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."


John 1:1-3:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

So, is Christ Creator or Creation?

Great question, it actually means 2 things.

First Jesus is the only way to the father all that are saved are born through his sacrifice into eternal life. Jesus as the first to be raised is the firstborn of the resurrected.

As far as John 1:1-3 is concerned it means something else and points us towards the real identity of Christ.

So, is Christ Creator or Creation?

he is both

with love and respect, andy153

 

[thaiv]

As God He is the Creator. As a man He is a creature. Jesus is the God-man.

 

[Glenn316]

Our Sunday school class is studying Colossians and we looked at this passage.

1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

1:18 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.

Firstborn (prototokos) can either denote priority in time, or supremacy in rank; this probably has both ideas in mind, with Christ being before all created things, and of a supremely different order than all created things


i. Firstborn is also used of Jesus in Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:29, Hebrews 1:6 and Revelation 1:15 from David Guzik's study of colossians found on the blueletterbible site.

I think the key of the intended meaning is in v.18 that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.

 

[thaiv]

Glenn316 hit the mark. Christ is First in all things. He is the preeminent, all-inclusive One! Praise Him!

 

[truthcounsellor]

What does it mean in Colossians 1:13-15 when it calls Jesus the "firstborn of all creation"? Isn't He God, and thus, uncreated?

Well then, have you considered what all it might mean if he weren't God?

TC

 

[The Perennial Student]

What does it mean in Colossians 1:13-15 when it calls Jesus the "firstborn of all creation"? Isn't He God, and thus, uncreated? And, doesn't John 1 make Him out to be creator?

Colossians 1:13-15:

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."


John 1:1-3:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

So, is Christ Creator or Creation?

The Early Church Fathers worked this out in detail in the first three Ecumenical Councils. Discussion of the Holy Trinity is very difficult and cannot be done without misstatements and misunderstandings. The Father = The Son = The Holy Spirit. The Father eternally begets the Son and the Holy Spirit emanates from both the Father and the Son. Christ is the Son and the Word of the Father. Christ is the Pantocrator. Pantocrator is one of the appellations of God. In Orthodox art, Pantocrator is the name of the fresco decorating the center of the dome, depicting Christ as the almighty God and Lord of the Universe. God is One in Trinity. So you can't discuss Christ apart from God the Father unless you are talking about His earthly life, and you can't discuss the Holy Spirit apart from Christ and the Father for He emanated from Them both. And yet, the Three are One and the One is Three. This is a great mystery, and, like many mysteries, in the final analysis usually must be accepted without truly understanding the whole thing.

Blessings

The Perennial Student

 

[theywhosowintears]

Jesus. How awesome is He!

The funny thing about God is that we can't understand Him.
The funny thing about men is that we can't stop trying.

lol

Anyway... I am of the "Begoten not created" doctrine... Jesus is God, He is eternal, He was at creation with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was born of a virgin and lived life as a man, died and rose again...
simple really...

Peace

 

[VioletAngel]

Usually people try to over-analyze things of the Bible, and then get head over heels in trouble with that. I do try to take the Bible verses at face value, most of the time, and leave it at that. I'm too tired of arguments over things that cannot be proved one way or the other outside of Scripture.

 

[theywhosowintears]

Christ is creator.

He was begotten not created... -IE He is part of God. also He was physically Born as a man. however He was in existencce in a non-bodily(preincarnate) form before His physical birth.

Think of it like this... He was always there, but He also came and was born and lived as a human for 33 years on this earth. The "Firstborn" is a title not a description (in this case) the firstborn son is the child who owns everything once their father passes on. It describes Jesus 'ownership' over all creation rather then anythign to do with His birth/being.

Peace

 

[mythbuster]

Jesus was both fully God and and fully man. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead and He was God manifested in the flesh. He was the great uncreated infinite God who entered into finite time and became a genuine, normal, man. Not only that but by the Spirit and with the Father, he became small and entered into the womb of a normal woman. And thus became a creature. The creator became a creature. he is not a part of God, but God.