Jesus pre-eminence is seen in that He created ALL things!! That is hard for some to understand because they think God the Father had to do every thing that was done! Having existed before all things were made, Christ is shown in the scriptures to be before all things, above all things, and the creator of all things. His assigned work also includes the sustaining of all things and holding all powers and dominions, even death. Paul writes; “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all thing were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist: And He is the head of the body the Church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all thing He might have pre-eminence.” Colossians 1:15-18
It would be very interesting to look at the word firstborn as used in Colossians 1:15. Its Greek equivalent is the word proto tikto, it means the first (protos) and to beget (tikto). It may refer to the first born in time or the first born in position. When used in the Old Testament it described Esau, Genesis 27:19; the firstborn in the land of Egypt, Exodus 11:5; or Jesus, Mary’s firstborn son, Luke 2:7; as the firstborn in time. When used the others places it is mentioned it is the firstborn in position; Job 18:13, Isaiah 14:30, Exodus 4:22, Jeremiah 31:9, Psalms 89:27, Hebrews 12:23, Romans 8:29, and Revelation 1:5 Christ was NOT the first one to be raised from the dead, He was the first one raised from the dead to die no more; His resurrection from the dead proved His pre-eminence. This is emphasis on POSITION, not origin. Christ was “declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.” Romans 1:4 And, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” Romans 14:9
He is said to be the “only begotten”. The Russellites argue that since Jesus is referred to as the Begotten Son of God, or the Only Begotten Son of God, that it means He was not Deity, but created in some age past. The Hebrew word for ‘only begotten’ is yalad, the Greek word is gennao. The words are nearly identical in meaning. When an Old Testament passage is referred to where yalad is found, in the New Testament, gennao is used. Psalms 2:7-Hebrews 1:5 is a good example. In the sense of creating, forming, or making, so that the result is a relationship like a father and son it is used in Jeremiah 2:27, 1 Corinthians 4:15, and Philemon vs 10. Jesus human body came from a woman just as other human being come. Matthew 1:20 records the angel telling Joseph, “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” What made His begettal so unique was that it was of the Holy Spirit, not man. That relates ONLY to His physical body. When speaking of His POSITION among men, Christ is the ONLY begotten. The Greek word is monogenes. This word is used to describe Isaac. Isaac was NOT Abraham’s first to be born, Ishmael claimed that position. Galatians 4:22 What was unique about Isaac is also what is unique abut Jesus: both were of promise, of the proper seed, and from the qualified mother (qualified because it was to this woman the promise had been made!)
Psalms 2 relates a prophecy of Christ often ignored. Verses 1-3 indicate the nations raging against Jehovah and His anointed, trying to prevent His plan. Verses 4-6 show how God the Father felt about their attempt. He laughs at their attempts to thwart Him, and overcomes them to accomplish His purposes. Verses 7-9 state that the dominion of the Son is absolute-He has ALL POWER. This is certainly claimed for Him in the New Testament in many places: Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 1:20-23, and Colossians 1:16-18.
