Let us now examine some more texts which support the fact that our Lord was indeed a created being. Our first text comes from one we mentioned in our precious post, Col 1:15
“…who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
What does the word born mean?
The dictionary defines the word “born” as: brought forth by birth. In our common translation it is rendered: beget, conceive, begotten, as well as born, delivered, bear.
What does brought forth mean?
“Bring forth”: to give rise to; produce. To give birth to (young).
What does the word birth mean?
“Birth”: an act or instance of being born: the day of his birth. The act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition: the process of bringing forth young.
We need not define the word “first” as that is self-evident so then what have we deduced from this text? We conclude that our Lord was the “firstborn”, the first created being to be begotten or brought forth by God, the firstborn of all creation.
Rather plain and straight forward we believe. Let us move on to our next text. It is found in John 1:14.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only BEGOTTEN of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
What does it mean to be begotten?
The dictionary defines the word “begotten” as the past participle of beget: (especially of a male parent) to procreate or generate (offspring). To cause; produce as an effect.
The word “begotten” in the Greek is: gennao, and represents the same thought as our two words, beget and born, and in our common translation it is rendered, beget; conceived; begotten; as well as born; delivered; and bear.
Here we understand our Lord to have been the only DIRECT creation produced or begotten of God. All other created beings both angels and men were likewise begotten (created) by the Father, but through the Son.
Now some will argue with the statement to the fact that our Lord was “produced” i.e. created by God, but reason supports this fact, for whom else was there besides God?
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me… I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isa 45:5, 6)
We should not be compelled to force human propagation on God; he did not produce the Son by means of copulation with another, he simply spoke and it was so. So it was likewise with regards to the angelic host with the exception that he accomplished this work through his Son. While angels are sons of God they were not directly begotten by God but were created by our Lord Jesus.
“When God began the work of creation he first made our Lord Jesus. He was not called Jesus then, neither was he a man. He was made in the highest order of created beings that we have any knowledge of. He is called "The Archangel." We do not know that there was any other "Archangel," though there were other "Princes" among the angels. The word “Archangel” means the first or chief angel. He was both the first created and the first or highest in rank. Just as Adam was pre-eminent among men by being the first, and therefore the life-giver to all the others, so this Archangel was pre-eminent overall and the life-giver to "all creation."
He was, as he himself says, "THE BEGINNING of the creation of God." (Rev. 3:14) But he was more. God, having created him, evidently used him as his instrument in the further work of creation. That is, God did not continue to create things himself, but he told this "Firstborn" what to do and he did it. Now, as God created all things through Jesus Christ, God was the Creator, and his Firstborn was also the Creator; but you see that the Son was not the Creator in the same way in which his Father was. God gave him the necessary wisdom and power to do all these things, "For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." (Col. 1:19) Fullness here means unlimited or complete power, etc.--John 3:34-35.
This Firstborn then became the fountain from whence flowed out the life and power which both created and continues to sustain all things. Behind the Fountain was the great inexhaustible Reservoir, God.” (R1064)
Our next text is Rev 1:17, 18
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
“The first and the last” This statement carries several meanings all of which are true:
“This verse not only informs us that our Lord was the FIRST of God’s creation (“the firstborn of all creation”; the first to be “brought forth”), and that all other things that have been created were made by him, but likewise that He is “the first and last”, as respects THE NEW CREATION, in that he is the FIRST-born from the dead of many sons.
This last point is confirmed for us in Verse 18 where it tells us that he was dead and that now he is alive.”
“There is however some uncertainty about the proper rendering of this text. In most translations, the commonly used text is, Eberhard Nestle’s Novum Testamentum Graece, which has Jesus saying that he is the first and the last.
In the Alexandrian manuscript, he does not say that he is the first and the last, but rather that he is “the firstborn”. This difference is true in both Rev 1:17 and in Rev 2:8. Both places are rendered, “the firstborn” in the Alexandrian manuscript. Even though Nestle’s is based on older manuscripts, it might be argued that the Alexandrian manuscript is less corrupted in regard to things related to the trinity doctrine. The reason would be that it was an Eastern Empire text, which held out against the trinity doctrine, much longer than did the Western Roman Empire.
The title firstborn also makes more sense in the context of what he is telling John. He is talking about the fact that he was dead and that he is now alive, and that he has the keys to death and Hades. By telling John that he is the firstborn, he is reminding him that he is the firstborn of the new creation, the first of many to be resurrected from the dead, and that there is no fear of death anymore.” (Revelation Notes: Southern Wisconsin)
Another notable way in which our Lord is the first and the last is in the fact that He was the first to die, and to be resurrected a new creature. Everyone else will be resurrected through Christ, so he is also the last in regards to those whom the Father directly resurrects.
Lastly our Lord is “the first and the last” the ABSOLUTE! —The first and final authority on all doctrine and practice.
“…who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
What does the word born mean?
The dictionary defines the word “born” as: brought forth by birth. In our common translation it is rendered: beget, conceive, begotten, as well as born, delivered, bear.
What does brought forth mean?
“Bring forth”: to give rise to; produce. To give birth to (young).
What does the word birth mean?
“Birth”: an act or instance of being born: the day of his birth. The act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition: the process of bringing forth young.
We need not define the word “first” as that is self-evident so then what have we deduced from this text? We conclude that our Lord was the “firstborn”, the first created being to be begotten or brought forth by God, the firstborn of all creation.
Rather plain and straight forward we believe. Let us move on to our next text. It is found in John 1:14.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only BEGOTTEN of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
What does it mean to be begotten?
The dictionary defines the word “begotten” as the past participle of beget: (especially of a male parent) to procreate or generate (offspring). To cause; produce as an effect.
The word “begotten” in the Greek is: gennao, and represents the same thought as our two words, beget and born, and in our common translation it is rendered, beget; conceived; begotten; as well as born; delivered; and bear.
Here we understand our Lord to have been the only DIRECT creation produced or begotten of God. All other created beings both angels and men were likewise begotten (created) by the Father, but through the Son.
Now some will argue with the statement to the fact that our Lord was “produced” i.e. created by God, but reason supports this fact, for whom else was there besides God?
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me… I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isa 45:5, 6)
We should not be compelled to force human propagation on God; he did not produce the Son by means of copulation with another, he simply spoke and it was so. So it was likewise with regards to the angelic host with the exception that he accomplished this work through his Son. While angels are sons of God they were not directly begotten by God but were created by our Lord Jesus.
“When God began the work of creation he first made our Lord Jesus. He was not called Jesus then, neither was he a man. He was made in the highest order of created beings that we have any knowledge of. He is called "The Archangel." We do not know that there was any other "Archangel," though there were other "Princes" among the angels. The word “Archangel” means the first or chief angel. He was both the first created and the first or highest in rank. Just as Adam was pre-eminent among men by being the first, and therefore the life-giver to all the others, so this Archangel was pre-eminent overall and the life-giver to "all creation."
He was, as he himself says, "THE BEGINNING of the creation of God." (Rev. 3:14) But he was more. God, having created him, evidently used him as his instrument in the further work of creation. That is, God did not continue to create things himself, but he told this "Firstborn" what to do and he did it. Now, as God created all things through Jesus Christ, God was the Creator, and his Firstborn was also the Creator; but you see that the Son was not the Creator in the same way in which his Father was. God gave him the necessary wisdom and power to do all these things, "For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." (Col. 1:19) Fullness here means unlimited or complete power, etc.--John 3:34-35.
This Firstborn then became the fountain from whence flowed out the life and power which both created and continues to sustain all things. Behind the Fountain was the great inexhaustible Reservoir, God.” (R1064)
Our next text is Rev 1:17, 18
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
“The first and the last” This statement carries several meanings all of which are true:
“This verse not only informs us that our Lord was the FIRST of God’s creation (“the firstborn of all creation”; the first to be “brought forth”), and that all other things that have been created were made by him, but likewise that He is “the first and last”, as respects THE NEW CREATION, in that he is the FIRST-born from the dead of many sons.
This last point is confirmed for us in Verse 18 where it tells us that he was dead and that now he is alive.”
“There is however some uncertainty about the proper rendering of this text. In most translations, the commonly used text is, Eberhard Nestle’s Novum Testamentum Graece, which has Jesus saying that he is the first and the last.
In the Alexandrian manuscript, he does not say that he is the first and the last, but rather that he is “the firstborn”. This difference is true in both Rev 1:17 and in Rev 2:8. Both places are rendered, “the firstborn” in the Alexandrian manuscript. Even though Nestle’s is based on older manuscripts, it might be argued that the Alexandrian manuscript is less corrupted in regard to things related to the trinity doctrine. The reason would be that it was an Eastern Empire text, which held out against the trinity doctrine, much longer than did the Western Roman Empire.
The title firstborn also makes more sense in the context of what he is telling John. He is talking about the fact that he was dead and that he is now alive, and that he has the keys to death and Hades. By telling John that he is the firstborn, he is reminding him that he is the firstborn of the new creation, the first of many to be resurrected from the dead, and that there is no fear of death anymore.” (Revelation Notes: Southern Wisconsin)
Another notable way in which our Lord is the first and the last is in the fact that He was the first to die, and to be resurrected a new creature. Everyone else will be resurrected through Christ, so he is also the last in regards to those whom the Father directly resurrects.
Lastly our Lord is “the first and the last” the ABSOLUTE! —The first and final authority on all doctrine and practice.
