by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
I hope you are into memorizing Scripture. If not, I encourage you to get started. And a great place to start is Colossians 1:15-20. This passage answers the question, “Who is Jesus?”<\/p>\n
The description of Jesus falls naturally into two sections. Both sections explain Jesus as the firstborn (\u03c0\u03c1\u03c9\u03c4\u03cc\u03c4\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2\/pr\u014dtotokos). Psalm 89:26-27 describes the descendant of David, saying, “He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth<\/em>” (ESV). Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. Paul’s poetic description of Jesus as the firstborn who created all the kings, not only of the earth but also of the heavens, drives that fulfillment home.<\/p>\nIn Colossians 1:15-18, Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation. “Firstborn” is a versatile word. Obviously, when referring to actual birth order, it means the one who is born first. However, it was also used, as in the Psalm above, to refer to supremacy and superiority. Jesus is not the first created being. John 1:3 explains that all created things were created by Him. That statement can’t be true if He Himself is a created being. Jesus is the firstborn of creation because He is the ruler of creation, and because He created all created things. He even created the rulers and authorities. He is supreme over all creation. Further, He holds all things together. The universe doesn’t continue because Christ set it in motion, and it just continues. His creative power sustains it as well. If Christ removed His sustaining hand, existence as we know it would fall apart. Being above all rule and authority, He is the head of the church as well as of creation.<\/p>\n In Colossians 1:18-20, Jesus is the beginning. Though that word can also mean “ruler.” In fact, it is the same word translated “rulers” in Colossians 1:16. He is the “firstborn from the dead<\/em>.” The use of the preposition “from” seems to signify Jesus as the first, not as the supreme.<\/p>\n Jesus was not the first person to be raised from the dead. Even in Jesus’s own story, He raised several others from the dead-Jairus’s daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, and Lazarus. He was, however, the first to be born from the dead, never to die again. Even for that, though, the real issue is not His status as the first, but His status as the one who defeated death. Because He was raised from the dead, never to die again, we too can be raised from the dead. In that way, even while saying He was the first to be born from the dead, the point still gets back to being the ruler, the supreme, the superior. Thus, Paul says that because of this resurrection, He is pre-eminent. Not merely is He before all, He is above all. He is above even death, the seeming unmaker of all that is made.<\/p>\n Not only is He the image of the invisible God, but the fullness of God dwelt in Him. Many English translations make explicit what the Greek only implies. The fullness in Jesus is the fullness that is God. As firstborn from the dead, He not only created all things in heaven and on earth, but He also reconciles all things in heaven and on earth to God. He did that by the very blood which redeemed us from our sins and qualified us to be transferred into His kingdom of light in Colossians 1:13-14.<\/p>\n Jesus is incredible. He is the firstborn. He is the creator. He is the redeemer. He is our King and our Lord. May we confess Him and give our full allegiance to Him that we might be brothers and sisters of the Firstborn.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Edwin Crozier I hope you are into memorizing Scripture. If not, I encourage you to get started. And a great place to start is Colossians 1:15-20. This passage answers the question, “Who is Jesus?” The description of Jesus falls naturally into two sections. Both sections explain Jesus as the firstborn (\u03c0\u03c1\u03c9\u03c4\u03cc\u03c4\u03bf\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2\/pr\u014dtotokos). Psalm 89:26-27 describes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[131,73],"class_list":["post-95456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-colossians","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-does-firstborn-refer-to-in-hebrews-1223\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":0},"title":"Who does “firstborn” refer to in Hebrews 12:23?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In reading Hebrews 12:23 in another language, I noticed that \"firstborn\" is in the plural. Does it refer to the Christians in the church? Answer: One of the interesting results of studying with people with different backgrounds is that things will be pointed out that you never considered before.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-created-since-he-is-the-firstborn-of-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":1},"title":"Was Jesus created since he is the firstborn of creation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Throughout the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are mentioned. For clarity, I wanted to know if the Holy Spirit and Jesus were created by God or were they ever in existence. Many people use the analogy that all three are of one body, but the Bible says that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-firstborn-from-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":2},"title":"Jesus, the Firstborn from the Dead","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood\" (Revelation 1:5 NKJV). \"Firstborn\" is a term that can point\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1387,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-jehovahs-witnesses-beliefs-about-the-godhead\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":3},"title":"What are the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs about the Godhead?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are the Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs concerning the Godhead Answer: According to The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life\u00a0published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1968: \"God's personal name is made known to us through his Word, the Bible, and that name is JEHOVAH\" (page 17).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60191,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-deity-of-christ-refuting-some-false-arguments\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":4},"title":"The Deity of Christ: Refuting Some False Arguments","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba via\u00a0Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 3, No. 2 The very idea that Jesus was the first to be created is not only absurd, but it is inconsistent with the teaching of the Bible. Recently I met some preachers in the Lord's church who affirm that Jesus Christ was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52340,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-we-see-the-godhead-as-three-beings-or-combined-as-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":95456,"position":5},"title":"Will we see the Godhead as three beings or combined as Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will we see the Trinity as three distinct persons in Heaven or will they all be combined as one in Jesus Christ our Saviour?\u00a0 I know the Bible states that Jesus is sitting on the right hand of God but will we see God the Father and the Holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPaul wants to make sure we understand His rule over creation by explaining He was before all things-implicitly before all created things. No wonder He is the image of the invisible God.\n