Sunday we talked about the supremacy of Christ from Colossians 1:15-23. It is a powerful set of verses describing who Jesus really is. As a part of our discussion, I mentioned that there are religious groups today (as there were when Paul wrote Colossians) who dispute the core teaching in the Bible regarding who Jesus is. When examining any group, it is important to determine what they believe and teaching regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ.
I mentioned the group known as Jehovah's Witnesses as one such group. While they are usually very nice people, they deny that Jesus is God. If they come to your door, they will often take you to Colossians 1:15 as a part of their argument. In that verse, Jesus is referred to as "the first-born over all creation."
David Dykes, pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas talked about this in a very clear and simple way. Let me share how he addresses this issue:"At the time Paul wrote this letter, there were heretics teaching that Jesus was not God, but merely a super-human created being. Those kinds of heretics are still around today; and one group of them is called Jehovah’s Witnesses. There’s a good chance that at some time, you’ve had a couple of these friendly people knock on your door. They call themselves Christians, and they want to teach you the “real truth” about Jesus, and even give you a copy of their translation of the Bible. But they are heretics, because they do not believe Jesus is God.
I bring them up, because this verse, Colossians 1:15 is the main bullet they load into their false doctrine gun. They ask you get your Bible and turn to Colossians 1:15. Then they say something like, “See? It says doesn’t mean that Jesus IS God. It says He was the image of God.” Then they may show you a photograph of a person and ask, “Is that the person, or just an image of that person?” Then they have you read those words, “firstborn over all creation,” and then they say, “See, that proves Jesus can’t be God. It says he was the firstborn over all creation; that proves he was created and if he was created, then God created Him which means he can’t be God.” “Jesus was the image of God, just like we were created in the image of God, and he was a created man just like we are.” And a lot of scripturally ignorant church members say, “Hmmm, you may be right.”
Come on, church! All you have to do is read the next seven words and their false doctrine about Jesus crumbles like a house of cards. It says, “For by him all things were created.” No, the word “firstborn’ has nothing to do with act of being born–it’s all about position and privilege. The firstborn in a Jewish family received the inheritance. When Paul wrote that Jesus was the firstborn, he meant Jesus has the right to claim everything that belongs to the Father– even His deity! He is the firstborn OVER all creation. That means He’s the boss, the ruler, the king."
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