"The firstborn over all creation" Colossians 1:15

[Alfred Persson]

As a former Jehovah's Witnesses who once quoted "He is...firstborn over all creation" to prove Christ is the "first created", I want to share the context I never saw when I did that.

Lets see what Paul is really saying about Christ:


15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Col. 1:15-17 NKJ)

Paul says Christ created all things, that He existed before they did, and that IN HIM "all things consist".

You saw the movie the Matrix. Reality was generated by computers. Our reality is like a matrix, it is generated by the Mind of God. By the power of God's thought, all things "hold together, consist".

Christ created all things by verbalizing God's thought, He is the Word of God. When God wants something to exist, the Word of God gives it concrete existence, IN HIS MIND. He "speaks it into being", actualizing it.

Then it exists.

"for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,`For we are also His offspring.' (Acts 17:28 NKJ)

That is how Christ is the "firstborn heir of what the Father had Him create, the " πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, (Col. 1:15 BGT)

Therefore, I as a Jehovah's Witnesses was wrong. It is NOT saying Christ is created.

I publicly regret my error.

As the Son of the Father, Jesus is the Firstborn Heir of all God creates.

 

[tigger 2]

prototokos + (genitive)' is not an idiom for "firstborn (or 'ruler') over..." in scripture.

If "Firstborn OVER all creation were a possibility at Col. 1:15, all trinitarian Bibles would surely use it!! Instead, most trinitarian Bibles render it as "firstborn of all creation," e.g., NASB; NRSV; RSV; ASV; NAB; NJB; JB; KJV; MLB; GodsWord; Rotherham; Darby; Young; etc.

The highly regarded BAGD, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by

Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt (Translator), F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (Editor), has been revised as the BDAG. On page 138, the interpretation of Rev 3:14 that ‘ARXH [arche] of creation’ means that Christ was created has been upgraded from poss. [possible] to prob. [probable].

http://examiningthetrinity.blogspot.com/2011/02/bwf.html

 

[Alfred Persson]

prototokos + (genitive)' is not an idiom for "firstborn (or 'ruler') over..." in scripture.

If "Firstborn OVER all creation were a possibility at Col. 1:15, all trinitarian Bibles would surely use it!! Instead, most trinitarian Bibles render it as "firstborn of all creation," e.g., NASB; NRSV; RSV; ASV; NAB; NJB; JB; KJV; MLB; GodsWord; Rotherham; Darby; Young; etc.

The highly regarded BAGD, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by

Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt (Translator), F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (Editor), has been revised as the BDAG. On page 138, the interpretation of Rev 3:14 that ‘ARXH [arche] of creation’ means that Christ was created has been upgraded from poss. [possible] to prob. [probable].

http://examiningthetrinity.blogspot.com/2011/02/bwf.html

Yes, you are right about "of all", but wrong in how you interpret this.

As the Firstborn He is the Heir of all creation, the Only Begotten Son of the Father. Jesus created all things FOR His Father, but as the Father's Only begotten Son, He is the Heir OF ALL πάσης (genitive of PAS) creation:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Col. 1:15-17 NKJ)

This context contradicts the idea Christ is created so badly, the Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation inserts the word "other" into the text four times , to escape the literal meaning of the Greek Text:

"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. Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.-NWT Col. 1:15-17

"Other" is does not appear in their interlinear of this context, only their English Translation.

Moreover, the KIT refutes their mistranslation that tries to HIDE the fact not only do all things Exist because of Christ, they are HELD TOGETHER in Him!

If Christ "changed His Mind, all things would dissolve!"

καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν,
and/ the/ all(things)/ in/ him/ it has stood together-Kingdom Interlinear Translation

“and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.-New World Translation

As all things exist and are held together IN the Infinite Mind of Christ, AS He is generating the Matrix we exist in, then He cannot be a creature.

God the Word gives concrete expression to the Thought of God, He verbalizes God's Thought actualizing it.

As in the movie the Matrix, people in it exercise their free will and act on their own, but it is the Word of God who generates the Matrix:

"for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,`For we are also His offspring.' (Acts 17:28 NKJ)

No creature can do this, ONLY the Almighty Son of God:

7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Rev. 1:7-8 NKJ)

This shows Christ was speaking literally when He said:

20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,`Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matt. 17:20 NKJ)

Of course all things must be asked in Christ's Name, that is, must be according to the will of God. God won't let us cast literal mountains into the sea, it would cause a Tsunami and kill people...