Who/What Is The Firstborn?

[WebersHome]

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†. Col 1:15 . . He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation.

Some belief systems use that verse to prove that God's beloved son was the
first thing that God ever created. However, the Greek word for first-created
is different than the word for firstborn. First-created is protoktistos while the
word for firstborn is prototokos. The two words are not synonymous. The
first means born first, and the second means created first.

The rank of firstborn is a position; viz: it can indicate both a birth order and
a hierarchical order. In the case of a hierarchical order, the position of the
firstborn is transferable to a younger sibling; e.g. from Esau to Jacob (Gen
25:23) from Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4, 1Chr 5:1) and from Manasseh
to Ephraim (Gen 48:13-14). This situation can lead to some interesting
ramifications; for example:

†. Matt 22:41-46 . . Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them a question; saying: What do you think about the Christ, whose
son is He? They said to Him: The son of David. He said to them: Then how
does David in the Spirit call Him "Lord" saying: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit
at My right hand until I put thine enemies beneath thy feet. If David then
calls Him "Lord" how is He his son?

Jesus referenced Psalm 110:1, where there are two distinct Hebrew words
for "lord". The first is yhvh, a name reserved exclusively for God. The second
is 'adown, which is a very common word in the Old Testament used to
simply indicate a superior. Sarah labeled Abraham her 'adown (Gen 18:12)
Rachel addressed her dad by 'adown (Gen 31:5) and Jacob addressed his
brother Esau by 'adown (Gen 33:8).

So then; Psalm 110:1 could be translated like this:

"Yhvh said unto my superior: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool."

Well; let me tell you something: anybody who knew the Old Testament in
Jesus' day knew good and well from Ps 89:27 that David has no superiors
but God because he holds the rank of God's firstborn; viz: no king that you
might name is David's superior other than Yhvh: the king of all kings.

So Psalm 110:1 suggests that David's position as God's firstborn has been
transferred to another man; and seeing as how Jesus' opponents agreed
that the other man is David's son, then the position has been transferred not
to one of David's siblings; but to one of his own posterity; so that now David
has to bow and scrape to one of his own grandchildren, which up to that
time was not only unheard of; but just wasn't done.

†. Matt 22:46 . . And no one was able to answer him a word

Well; no surprise there. This was something not only strange to their Jewish
way of thinking; but entirely new, yet there it was in black and white in their
own scriptures; and they had somehow failed to catch its significance until
Jesus drew their attention to it.

Now; here's something else that I'm 110% positive crossed the minds of
Jesus' learned opposition. To their way of thinking, David's position as God's
firstborn as per Ps 89:27 is irrevocable. Well; seeing as how there is no
intermediate rank between the firstborn position and the paterfamilias
position, that means David's son, about whom he spoke in Ps 110:1, is equal
in power and rank to God; which is a blasphemous suggestion to say the
least. (chuckle) Those poor know-it-all Pharisees were utterly baffled beyond
words.

======================

 

[4enlightment]

-
†. Col 1:15 . . He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation.

Some belief systems use that verse to prove that God's beloved son was the
first thing that God ever created. However, the Greek word for first-created
is different than the word for firstborn. First-created is protoktistos while the
word for firstborn is prototokos. The two words are not synonymous. The
first means born first, and the second means created first.

The rank of firstborn is a position; viz: it can indicate both a birth order and
a hierarchical order. In the case of a hierarchical order, the position of the
firstborn is transferable to a younger sibling; e.g. from Esau to Jacob (Gen
25:23) from Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4, 1Chr 5:1) and from Manasseh
to Ephraim (Gen 48:13-14). This situation can lead to some interesting
ramifications; for example:

†. Matt 22:41-46 . . Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them a question; saying: What do you think about the Christ, whose
son is He? They said to Him: The son of David. He said to them: Then how
does David in the Spirit call Him "Lord" saying: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit
at My right hand until I put thine enemies beneath thy feet. If David then
calls Him "Lord" how is He his son?

Jesus referenced Psalm 110:1, where there are two distinct Hebrew words
for "lord". The first is yhvh, a name reserved exclusively for God. The second
is 'adown, which is a very common word in the Old Testament used to
simply indicate a superior. Sarah labeled Abraham her 'adown (Gen 18:12)
Rachel addressed her dad by 'adown (Gen 31:5) and Jacob addressed his
brother Esau by 'adown (Gen 33:8).

So then; Psalm 110:1 could be translated like this:

"Yhvh said unto my superior: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool."

Well; let me tell you something: anybody who knew the Old Testament in
Jesus' day knew good and well from Ps 89:27 that David has no superiors
but God because he holds the rank of God's firstborn; viz: no king that you
might name is David's superior other than Yhvh: the king of all kings.

So Psalm 110:1 suggests that David's position as God's firstborn has been
transferred to another man; and seeing as how Jesus' opponents agreed
that the other man is David's son, then the position has been transferred not
to one of David's siblings; but to one of his own posterity; so that now David
has to bow and scrape to one of his own grandchildren, which up to that
time was not only unheard of; but just wasn't done.

†. Matt 22:46 . . And no one was able to answer him a word

Well; no surprise there. This was something not only strange to their Jewish
way of thinking; but entirely new, yet there it was in black and white in their
own scriptures; and they had somehow failed to catch its significance until
Jesus drew their attention to it.

Now; here's something else that I'm 110% positive crossed the minds of
Jesus' learned opposition. To their way of thinking, David's position as God's
firstborn as per Ps 89:27 is irrevocable. Well; seeing as how there is no
intermediate rank between the firstborn position and the paterfamilias
position, that means David's son, about whom he spoke in Ps 110:1, is equal
in power and rank to God; which is a blasphemous suggestion to say the
least. (chuckle) Those poor know-it-all Pharisees were utterly baffled beyond
words.

======================

First born is the first that was born by the flesh and that is Adam, and the first born that was born of the spirit while in the flesh is David and which he had acknowledge whom God is; he didn't challenged God when God cursed him like Saul had did, because he know better than that. He knew that you cannot challenge or even try to test Him, because he know that He is the Almighty, but the others in the past had did; but David had died but didn't resurrected until Jesus had resurrected and which it makes Jesus the first that was born into or ascended back to the Father, and after Him, Jesus has resurrected the others that had died but had resurrected while they were in the flesh, the Righteous.

Exalted
1 Samuel 18:10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

Humbled
2 Samuel 12:22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’

 

[BehindBlueEyes]

I'm not so sure about the idea of David being considered God's firstborn, though he was obviously given the rank of firstborn among his brothers when he was chosen and anointed as king. I find that similar things happened with Levi, when his descendants were chosen to be the priestly tribe, rather than either of of his elder brothers. (Reuben or Simeon)

In Psalm 110, there's another verse that makes me consider the superiority of Christ as firstborn more than the first does.
Psalm 110:4 says, "The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'"

While some would use this as evidence for Melchizedek being a pre-incarnate Christ, that is not my intention. Rather I see Melchizedek as a type that leads us to understand Christ and the position He holds. Hebrews 7 goes into detail about what this priesthood is, and I believe we can see evidence of what it is in other places of scripture, not just Genesis 14. In reading Job, as the eldest male of his family, Job played a priestly role to his family. We see a similar incident with Noah, as he built an altar after exiting the ark.

Christ's position as first born exceeds what we can imagine, because the position he holds far exceeds any firstborn position that could be found on earth. This is because, as firstborn of creation, he is given the position of high priest over all creation, as well as being the one to receive the initial inheritance from his Father in heaven, of which the rest of us have been made co-heirs. Christ's firstborn position is really the entire reason that he could do what he did, not because he was a created being, but because he was indeed the very first thing that God bore, in speaking the Word of God forth in order to make creation existent. It's something that really makes one wonder when they study it, but without Christ having the position of firstborn of creation, there would be none to follow him in righteousness.