He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Colossians 1:15 ESV
Jesus is described here as the firstborn of all creation. This passage, along with John 3:16 (only begotten Son) and Hebrews 1:6 (God brought his firstborn into the world), challenges our understanding of who Jesus is. Is he indeed an eternal part of the triune Godhead? Or did he have a beginning as the firstborn of God?
This issue has been debated and fought over throughout much of church history. The Nicene Creed, adopted in 325 and updated in 381, was developed largely in response to the claim of Arius and his followers (the Arians) that Jesus did have a beginning, that he was God’s first creation. And Jesus, in turn, was responsible for the rest of creation.
It would be easy to derive that given the language of firstborn. The vast majority of the time, this expression deals with first in time—the firstborn, whether human or animal, is the first child born. But not always.
First in Priority
In 1 Chronicles 5:2, the rights of the firstborn are given to Joseph, even though he was the eleventh son of Jacob. Firstborn here did not mean to the first child born. Rather, it referred to the first in priority. This typically belonged to the first son, but, in this case, Reuben forfeited that right, and it passed to Joseph.
A second example of firstborn referring to position rather than birth order comes from Psalm 89:27, where it is said of David that God had appointed him to be his firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. Firstborn here clearly does not refer to first in time. Since David was neither the first king of Israel nor the first king of the nations. Rather, God had given him a position higher than any other king.
So here, in Colossians 1:15, Jesus, as the firstborn, does not refer to the time of his birth. Instead, it refers to his preeminence over the creation. He is over all of creation and is, in fact, the creator of all that has been created (Col. 1:16).
