Concord Hymn

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Photo: Kirk Heflin BY the rude bridge that arched the flood,  Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,  Here once the embattled farmers stood  And fired the shot heard round the world.  The foe long since in silence slept;  Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;  And Time the ruined bridge has swept  Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream,  We set to-day a votive stone;  That memory may their deed redeem,  When, like our sires, our sons are gone.  Spirit, that made those heroes dare  To die, and leave their children free,  Bid Time and Nature gently spare  The shaft we raise to them and thee. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) (The Battle of Concord was fought on April 19, 1775, the start of the American Revolutionary War)

The First-born

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Among all the titles given to the Lord Jesus perhaps none other has caused more heated theological discussion than "First Born." With Christ in mind, Paul wrote, "He is the image of the invisible God, thefirst-born of all creation" (Colossians 1:15).

Many cults have latched on to that verse to say that Christ was a created being himself. After all, doesn't "first-born" imply, or even state outright, that Christ was"born"? Hence, he was the first creature made by the Father. The title is used in other portions of the Bible to indicate the first born of a family and rules out earlier children (Genesis 4:4; Exodus 4:22, 23).

The fallacy of this argument that "first-born," when used of Christ meant a creature and not the Creator, is not difficult to see. The argument assumes that the phrase "first-born" always means a starting point. Actually, the title also assumed the idea of "exalted one." Note the Psalmist's use of the term when speaking about David. "I also shall make him [David] My first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth"(Psalm 89:27). David was the youngest of Jesse's sons, not the oldest. He became the first-born of God which meant a title of exaltation.

(ht: Dr. John Williamson)

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