The Firstborn

INTRO

We are continuing to look at Paul’s letters, with his letter to the Colossians, who were so named as inhabitants of the city of Colosse. There is a good chance Paul never visited Colosse. This letter was to be read to the church in Colosse and by the neighboring church in Laodicea (Colossians 4:16). Paul wrote Colossians and Philemon in AD 60–62 when he was a prisoner in Rome (Colossians 4:3, 10, 18; Philemon 1, 9, 10, 23).¹ Colossians and Philemon mention the same people: Timothy, Aristarchus, Archippus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke, Onesimus, and Demas,² the people Paul both ministered and surrounded himself with.

The city of Colosse was located in what is now modern-day Turkey. MacArthur wrote, “Colosse was about 100 miles east of Ephesus in the region of the seven churches of Revelation 1—3.”³ The city lay alongside the Lycus River surrounded by valleys and mountains. Colosse was a thriving city in the fifth century as a manufacturer of black wool and dyes and a main junction on the trade routes. During Paul’s day Gentiles primarily populated the main route through Laodicea and the surrounding settlement area. This is important to note because with a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles there was a greater opportunity for heresy to arise. There would have been a temptation to intermix Jewish legalism and pagan mysticism with new teachings of Christianity.⁴

The church at Colosse was started during Paul’s three-year missionary journey in Ephesus. The church was not founded by Paul but rather Epaphras (Colossians 1:5–7), who had accepted Christ when Paul was teaching in Ephesus. Several years after the church was founded, a heresy arose that threatened the church. The main heresy spreading through the church was Gnosticism, the belief “God is good, but matter is evil, that Jesus Christ was merely one of a series of emanations descending from God and being less than God (a belief that led them to deny His true humanity), and that a secret, higher knowledge above Scripture was necessary for enlightenment and salvation.”⁵

The church in Colosse also incorporated Jewish legalism into their fundamental beliefs. MacArthur wrote that the Colossians had embraced “the necessity of circumcision for salvation, observance of the ceremonial rituals of the OT law (dietary laws, festivals, Sabbaths), and rigid asceticism.”⁶ The Colossians also worshipped angels and mystical events. Epaphras found the direction of the Colossian church so upsetting that he journeyed to Rome to seek instruction and counsel from Paul. This is a cool picture of submission and discipleship.

Colossians, along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon, are referred to as prison epistles because Paul wrote them during his imprisonment in Rome. Colossians was written as a warning against the heresy they faced. Epaphras did not return the letter; rather, Tychicus and Onesimus returned it. Onesimus was a runaway slave who was being returned to his master Philemon, who was a member of the Colossian church.⁷

We always have one word that we use for each book. The word we are using for Colossians is Firstborn.

TEACHING

Colossians 1:1-14: : I am not going to teach on the first 14 verses. Paul’s greeting is in the first few verses. Then in verses 3–8 Paul expressed thankfulness and was very complimentary to the church. In verses 9–14 Paul had a prayer. These verses were to serve as an edifying word and encouragement. Then there comes a transition into addressing heresy in the rest of the chapter.

Colossians 1:15–23: These verses are about the deity of Christ. The Colossians questioned whether or not Jesus was really God. Remember, Gnosticism denies the deity of Christ. But Jesus is God. The meaning of the word “image” (v. 15) used here in the Greek also means copy or likeness. MacArthur wrote, “Jesus Christ is the perfect image—the exact likeness—of God and is in the very form of God (John 1:14; 14:9; Philippians 2:6, cf.), and had been so from all eternity. . . Paul emphasizes that [Jesus] is both the representation and manifestation of God . . . He is fully God in every way”⁸

I really want us to focus on the word Firstborn used in verse 15. MacArthur wrote, “The Greek word for firstborn can refer to one who was born first chronologically but most often refers to preeminence in position or rank.”⁹ In the Greek and Jewish culture Paul was writing to, the “firstborn” was the son who was left an inheritance, regardless of birth order. For example, the nation of Israel would be considered the “first nation.” Although they are not the first nation to exist, they were the chosen people of God (Exodus 4:22; Jeremiah 3:19).¹⁰

MacArthur wrote, “Firstborn in this context clearly means highest rank, not first created (cf. Psalm 89:27; Revelation 1:5) for several reasons: (1) Christ cannot be both “first begotten” and “only begotten” (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). (2) When the “firstborn’ is one of a class, the class is in the plural form (cf. v.18; Romans 8:29), but “creation,” the class here, is in singular form. (3) If Paul was teaching that Christ was a created being, he was agreeing with the heresy he was writing to refute. (4) It is impossible for Christ to be both created and the Creator of everything (v. 16). Thus, Jesus is the Firstborn in the sense that He has the preeminence (v.18) and possesses the right of inheritance ‘over all creation’ (cf. Hebrews 1:2; Revelation 5:1–7, 13).”¹¹

CLOSING

God made the universe through Christ. God came in human flesh to give up His body so we can be forgiven. We barely scratched the surface of this chapter. Hopefully this will paint a picture of where you can begin studying more about Christ and His deity.