OCT 16

Colossians 1:15-17
Memorise Colossians 1:15
“…the firstborn of every creature...”

Colossians 1:15 continues with this interesting phrase about Christ being “the firstborn of every creature”. Does this phrase mean Christ was created? We know from the well-known verse John 3:16 that Christ was begotten, not created. The word “begotten” thus speaks of Christ coming from the Father, but not being created by the Father. Later Colossians 1:17 (“he is before all things”) also affirms Christ was there before creation began, and the preceding verse (“for by Him were all things created”) tells us that Christ was the Creator, not the one who was created. Therefore the phrase “the firstborn of every creature” refers to the status of Christ. It is first not in terms of time but in terms of quality, of His superiority and sovereignty over all creation. He is the Son of God, compared to us the sons of God, and like the eldest son in the family He has the highest rank amongst all sons, and we must treat Him as such. There is therefore no support for the Arian heresy citing this phrase that Christ was created (and therefore inferior to God).

Dear teen, we must always endeavour to have a deeper understanding of God’s Word, otherwise it is easy for heretics to cite phrases such as these to cause our faith to waver. Instead of allowing it to be interpreted erroneously by the heretics, the study of the phrase must be done within the context of Colossians 1:15-17. What seems to be a contradiction by looking at the phrase in isolation is actually not a contradiction at all, and the problem actually lies with our own failure to know more of God’s Word. Scripture must interpret Scripture and when we realise that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, we must study the Bible as a unified whole that already fits together, rather than relying on others to interpret verses for us, or allowing critics to cite certain verses out of context to cause us to doubt the unity of Scripture. May you learn how to search the Scripture for yourself, and study the Bible daily just as the Bereans, who “…received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Thought: Is it my fault or God’s fault when I don’t understand His Word?
Prayer: May I search the Scripture daily to ascertain truth from error.