“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…”

I brush my teeth with poison.  No, really, I do.  No, it’s not arsenic or rat poison or anything like that.  I use hydrogen peroxide.  It’s a great cleaner for teeth and gums.  “Debriding agent” is the technical term.  But the stuff will kill you if you swallow it, or at least enough of it.  They have this warning label on the bottle: “For external use only.”  Then it proceeds to say how to use it in your mouth.  Well, that means you have to put it in your mouth, not external to it.  Never could figure that one out.

Anyway, sometimes what is good for us can also harm us, and that perfectly leads us to our focus for today: firstborn over all creation, found in Colossians 1:15.  To appreciate this phrase, it is helpful if we first examine the word firstborn.  It is mentioned in about 23 books of the Bible.  In many places — the context making it unmistakable — it means, “the one who is born first”, or chronologically first.  But there are other places — again, clearly determined by the context — it could not possibly mean that.  For example, in Exodus 4:22, Moses writes that God said, “Israel is my firstborn son”.  Moses was to declare this to Pharaoh, who had his own literal firstborn son, popularly assumed to be divine like his father.  But God’s “firstborn” isn’t like Pharaoh’s.  Israel never was close to being the first ethnic group or tribe predating all the other nations of the world.  So firstborn, as it is used of Israel, meant something different than the first literal offspring of God the Father, something else it couldn’t possibly mean.

Before we go to what it means, let’s muse a little bit on the practical implications of a man who becomes the father of his firstborn son.  What does that son do for him?  How does he impact his father’s life?  Well, first, consider the fact that this man was a boy, growing up in the community, probably a town or village.  All the locals knew him, the little kid with the dribbly nose that scraped his knees and did various other things.  But he grew up and took a bride, and now he’s a dad!  He has morphed into a real man.  No longer a kid, he has adult responsibilities.  He has a job to do, a family to provide for, bills to pay, and he represents his family’s concerns down at the city gate, where he is now welcomed.  Having your firstborn means you were now seen as a functioning, responsible and contributing adult in the community.  You were recognized as a family head, a leader whose voice should be respected, even if you didn’t agree with everything he said.  Moses wrote of Israel in Deuteronomy 14:1, “You are the children of the Lord your God”.  Because of that, in Israel’s eyes God morphed from a distant God of the patriarchs into a God who was responsible for them as their father.  True, the picture wasn’t clear in all respects, but the average Jew now knew that God could not be ignored or trifled with.  In a strongly male dominated society as Israel’s, the comparison couldn’t be missed.  Their status as firstborn meant God was personally involved.

By virtue of their birth order, firstborn sons had priority in their Father’s eyes.  Returning to our text in Colossians, Paul tells us very clearly what firstborn means: “supremacy” (1:18), or “preeminence” in the NKJV.  Beginning in verse 15, everything written in that paragraph before his conclusion showcases that definition.  Those people trapped in cults try to keep the literal meaning here, saying he is simply the chronological firstborn.  The idea is the creation had a beginning, and if Christ is the firstborn, then he too had a literal beginning/creation.  However, for that to be true, we would have to have the passage read this way: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things, except himself, were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things, except himself, were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, except God the Father, and in him all things, except himself, hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in almost everything he might have the supremacy” (vs. 15-18).  It is clear that the necessary exception clauses turn the text on its head and totally invalidates the idea of supremacy, Paul’s driving point.  No, Paul does not write in circles, and neither is Christ someone to fool around with.  He is image of God, he is supreme over creation, physical and spiritual, and he is the judge of those who refuse to recognize, honor and trust him.  Similar to the hydrogen peroxide I use on my teeth, Christ can both cleanse the soul, replace your old heart with a new one, and execute justice if you ignore his offer of salvation for eternal spiritual cleansing.

Has the Firstborn over all creation cleansed your soul?  Can those around you tell you’re clean?