Who are Christ's "brothers"? They are the same ones whom God calls his "sons"....so can Jesus be both 'Father' and 'brother' to the same persons?
In the illustration of the "sheep and the goats", Jesus refers to those who are his "brothers" as well as to those who support them....there are two separate groups who are both Christians, but Christ's "brothers" are his "elect".....those who support his brothers in their trials, worship the same God and serve the same "Lord".....
1 Corinthians 1:2...
" To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours".
There are two different groups of Christians.....one group "elected" to heaven ("saints"), and the others supporting them here on earth.
So how is Jesus "firstborn" among them? He was the first human to a die a mortal death and be raised as a spirit. Just like his "brothers" who were "baptized into his death" were to rise in the same way...."born again" in a new spirit body as a "new creation".
Since Jesus as "the Word" was "with God" "in the beginning"...what is this the "beginning" of?
An immortal and infinite God has no beginning or end.
As "the only begotten son of God" the very fact that he is...
1) a "son"...and
2) a "firstborn" and "only begotten" can mean only one thing......the Father as his 'begetter' had to have existed first in order to bring him into existence. Revelation 3:14 acknowledges this fact.....this is Jesus himself declaring that he is "the firstborn of all creation"......the very first and only direct creation of his God and Father. The son then had the privilege of constructing all things, which were made "through him and for him". That makes absolutely no sense if Jesus is God. Did he make creation 'through himself and for himself'.....?
As has already been shown to you many times....Proverbs 8:22-26; 30-31....is "wisdom personified" which is readily acknowledged by scholars as referring to the pre-human Jesus....(1 Corinthians 1:24, 30)
If this is speaking about actual wisdom, then being "brought forth" or "born" cannot apply, since God has always been wise.....it is not something acquired but something he always had.
“The Lord created me as the firstborn of his ways,
before the oldest of his works.
23 I was established in the earliest times,
at the beginning, before the earth.
24 I was brought forth when there were no ocean depths,
when there were no springs overflowing with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 when he had not yet made the earth and the fields
or the mass of the world’s soil. . . . .
30 then I was beside him as a master craftsman,
and I was his delight day after day,
exulting in his presence continually,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of men."
No, Aunty Jane, you avoided a post God had me present to you, so I want to continue on this point.
Truly, Lord Jesus Christ says "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58).
Jesus says I AM, and He did not say "I was created".
So, one week before Abraham was born Jesus' words of I AM ring true.
And, two weeks before Abraham was born Jesus' words of I AM resound true.
And, three weeks before Abraham was born Jesus' words of I AM are true.
And, the minute prior to the minute any of all the angels were created Jesus' words of I AM trumpet true.
And, the week prior to any of the angels being created Jesus' words of I AM harmonize truthfully.
No matter when in time one seeks before Abraham was born, Jesus Christ's words of I AM remain absolutely true.
Going back in time, Jesus is always I AM, never created, He is always I AM.
Going back in time, anytime in all eternity because Jesus says "before Abraham" with no exceptions, Jesus Being.
Behold, Going back in time, Jesus Being.
JESUS IS EVERLASTING going back in time.
Jesus says "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
The angel Gabriel declared to Mary about Jesus "He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:33).
Behold, Going forward in time, Jesus Being.
JESUS IS EVERLASTING going forward in time.
GOD is exclusively the One that IS EVERLASTING going back in time and going forward in time.
God is everlasting.
Jesus is everlasting.
No one except God is everlasting.
Everlasting YHWH God is Lord Jesus Christ for He declares "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58).
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8, see also Revelation 21:6 and Revelation 22:13), thus says He Who is coming on the clouds!
"I am YHWH, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5).
"Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me" (Isaiah 43:10).
Jesus Christ is truly Man (Luke 1:26-33) - the Son of Man, and Jesus Christ is truly God (Luke 1:34-35, John 8:58, John 20:28) - the Son of God.
All people that think Jesus Christ was created hold to news that is not the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:6-7), so you have no gospel at all.