Colossians 1:15- says Jesus is the First Born of All Creation?

Question

Some say, this means Jesus is not God. Please Explain the meaning of this scripture.

Do you disagree that God the Father Made Jesus?

Rev. 3:14 says the same

Also Read Isaiah 43:10

Adam and Eve were not the first of all Creation, Creation doesn't mean people. Anything...Sun, Moon, Earth, etc...God made everything

Answer 1

Jesus acknowledged that he had a superior God when he said to his disciples: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.” John 20:17.

Jesus mentioned God’s superiority when the mother of two of the disciples asked that her sons sit one at the right and the other at the left of Jesus when he came into his Kingdom. He answered: “This sitting down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give.” If Jesus had been almighty God, it would have been his to give. But it was not. It was his Father’s to give. Similarly, when relating his prophecy about the end of this system of things, Jesus stated: “Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32) Had Jesus been God Almighty, he would have known that day and the hour. But he did not know because he was not the All-knowing God. He was God’s Son and did not know everything that his Father knew.

When Jesus was about to die, he showed subjection to his Father in praying: “Father, if you wish, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, let, not my will, but yours take place.” To whom was Jesus praying? To himself? No, he was praying to his Father in heaven. This is clearly shown by his saying: “Let, not my will, but yours take place.” And then, at his death, Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) To whom was Jesus crying out? To himself? No, he was crying out to his Father who was in heaven.

After Jesus died, he was in the tomb for about three days. Who resurrected him? Since he was dead, he could not resurrect himself. And if he was not really dead, then he could not have paid the ransom for Adam’s sin. But he did die, and was nonexistent for about three days. The apostle Peter tells us who resurrected Jesus: “God resurrected him by loosing the pangs of death.” (Acts 2:24) The superior, God Almighty, raised the lesser one, his beloved Son, Jesus, from the dead. To illustrate: When Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, who was superior? Jesus was superior, since he could bring Lazarus back from the dead. (John 11:41-44) It was the same when God resurrected Jesus. God was superior, since he could bring Jesus back from the dead.

Jesus could not possibly be God himself, for Jesus was created by God. Note how Benjamin Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott renders Apocalypse (Revelation) chapter 3, verse 14:

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God" King James Bible -- Emphatic Diaglott is the same.

Colossians 1:15, 16 says of Jesus: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth . . . All other things have been created through him and for him.” So in heaven almighty God directly created his Son and then “by means of him,” or “through him,” created other things, much as a skilled workman might have a trained employee do work for him. Those things created “by means of him” did not include Jesus himself, for God had already created him. Thus, he is called the “firstborn,” the “only-begotten.” When a child is the firstborn, the only-begotten, it never means that the child is the same as the father. It always means that there are two different personalities involved, father and child.

Answer 2

6 [15-20] As the poetic arrangement indicates, these lines are probably an early Christian hymn, known to the Colossians and taken up into the letter from liturgical use (cf Philippians 2:6-11; 1 Tim 3:16). They present Christ as the mediator of creation (Col 1:15-18a) and of redemption (Col 1:18b-20). There is a parallelism between firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) and firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18). While many of the phrases were at home in Greek philosophical use and even in gnosticism, the basic ideas also reflect Old Testament themes about Wisdom found in Proverb 8:22-31; Wisdom 7:22-8:1; and Sirach 1:4. See also the notes on what is possibly a hymn in John 1:1-18.

7 [15] Image: cf Genesis 1:27. Whereas the man and the woman were originally created in the image and likeness of God (see also Genesis 1:26), Christ as image (2 Cor 4:4) of the invisible God (John 1:18) now shares this new nature in baptism with those redeemed (cf Col 3:10-11).

8 [16-17] Christ (though not mentioned by name) is preeminent and supreme as God's agent in the creation of all things (cf John 1:3), as prior to all things (Col 1:17; cf Hebrews 1:3).

Answer 3

Really this is a great question, but naturally it would lead to other questions such as, does Jesus have another mother? If Jesus had a beginning, does he then have an end. I wish that I could bring out the Greek NT because I'm sure that that might clear it up.

I think that all of our concerns about there being a time when Jesus was not would be and are put to rest as we read John chapter 1.

He is the Logos.

Plus a creature can't take all the sin. Only a God could do that and nobody can call a created thing God, the fact that it is created makes it a lesser power than that created.

Answer 4

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

Image (in the ancient Greek "eikon") expresses two ideas. First, likeness, as in the image on a coin or the reflection in a mirror. Second, manifestation, with the sense that God is fully revealed in Jesus. Jesus = God. If Jesus was merely similar to the Father, or a created being, Paul would have used the Greek word "homoioma", which speaks of similar appearance.

Answer 5

Jesus is not God. He never claimed to be God. The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the [Trinity] idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognised the . . . Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One."—The Paganism in Our Christianity.

"At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the N[ew] T[estament] and other early Christian writings."—Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics.

"The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. . . . Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective."—New Catholic Encyclopedia.

Jesus is indeed the first of God's creation. All else was brought into existence through God's only begotten Son, Jesus.

Answer 6

Does the Bible teach that all who are said to be part of the Trinity are eternal, none having a beginning?

Col. 1:15, 16, RS: “He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth.” In what sense is Jesus Christ “the first-born of all creation”? (1) Trinitarians say that “first-born” here means prime, most excellent, most distinguished; thus Christ would be understood to be, not part of creation, but the most distinguished in relation to those who were created. If that is so, and if the Trinity doctrine is true, why are the Father and the holy spirit not also said to be the firstborn of all creation? But the Bible applies this expression only to the Son. According to the customary meaning of “firstborn,” it indicates that Jesus is the eldest in Jehovah’s family of sons. (2) Before Colossians 1:15, the expression “the firstborn of” occurs upwards of 30 times in the Bible, and in each instance that it is applied to living creatures the same meaning applies—the firstborn is part of the group. “The firstborn of Israel” is one of the sons of Israel; “the firstborn of Pharaoh” is one of Pharaoh’s family; “the firstborn of beast” are themselves animals. What, then, causes some to ascribe a different meaning to it at Colossians 1:15? Is it Bible usage or is it a belief to which they already hold and for which they seek proof? (3) Does Colossians 1:16, 17 (RS) exclude Jesus from having been created, when it says “in him all things were created . . . all things were created through him and for him”? The Greek word here rendered “all things” is pan´ta, an inflected form of pas. At Luke 13:2, RS renders this “all . . . other”; JB reads “any other”; NE says “anyone else.” (See also Luke 21:29 in NE and Philippians 2:21 in JB.) In harmony with everything else that the Bible says regarding the Son, NW assigns the same meaning to pan´ta at Colossians 1:16, 17 so that it reads, in part, “by means of him all other things were created . . . All other things have been created through him and for him.” Thus he is shown to be a created being, part of the creation produced by God.

Answer 7

The whole Bible must be taken into account when dealing with difficult or unclear verses. The term firstborn here refers to preeminence and not origin. The divinity of Jesus Christ is shown clearly in the New Testament in places like John 1, John 8:58, and all through the book of Revelation.

Answer 8

Jesus is the first born of all creation because his father, Jehovah created Jesus.
Jesus was given a poriton of Jehovah's Holy Spirit to create everything else.

Answer 9

He's the first born of all creation because, of His ressurection and glorification, God has glorified the human body, and creation moans to see the rest of the children of God glorified in body and soul. The Father has through the Son and the Holy Spirit recreated everything and is recreating it still, saving and glorifying it.

Answer 10

I believe it means that he is the firstborn meaning the first to be in Gods presence. That he experienced what saved believers are going to experience after we are resurrected.

We already know Jesus is God and there are people that deny that truth. If Jesus wasnt God then he shouldve stopped the disciples dead in their tracks when they worshipped him. To accept worship and not be God is unforgivable blasphemy because one is attempting to take the place of God. For Jesus, that WAS his place because he and the Father are 1.