Was Jesus Created First?
BY WAYNE JACKSON

“A friend, who is a Jehovah’s Witness, says that Jesus Christ was the first creature made by God the Father. He cites Colossians 1:15, where Jesus is said to be the ‘firstborn of all creation’ as proof. Can you comment on this?”

The Watchtower dogma, that Jesus was the first being created by the Father and, therefore, he is not eternal in his nature, is a totally false teaching. The following points indisputably refute the “Witness” claim.

Firstborn: Preeminence
The Greek word for “firstborn” is prototokos, a term with roots in the Old Testament. When the word is used literally, it can denote the first that comes from the womb, whether of man or beast (cf. Ex. 13:2).

Frequently, however, “firstborn” is an expression of rank, or preeminence, and the original linguistic components (“first” and “born”) “no longer play any role in the meaning (e.g., Ex. 4:22)” (Verbrugee, p. 1114).

A clear example of this is seen in Jeremiah 31:9, where “Ephraim” (a symbol for the kingdom of Israel) is called the Lord’s “firstborn,” although literally Manasseh, Ephraim’s older brother, was the “firstborn” (Gen. 48:14).

In this context “firstborn” is employed as a designation for primacy (cf. Gen. 48:19).

The renowned Hebraist, Adam Clarke, observed that the Israelite people even referred to Jehovah as becoro sheloam, “the firstborn of all the world,” or of “all creation,” which expression signified the Lord’s role as the creator of all things (Vol. IV, p. 516).

In Psalm 89, God said regarding David (though ultimately the reference is to David’s illustrious offspring; see Kirkpatrick, p. 538), “Also I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (v. 27; cf. Rev. 1:5).

The fact that this kingly One is to be appointed (future tense) as a “firstborn” is conclusive evidence that a point of origin is not in view.

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