The Lord Jesus Christ was not a created being—although some erroneously claim our verse today asserts that very thing. We want to unpack this very carefully, because of the enormity of this truth. Genuine Christianity is completely contingent upon the deity of Christ. If He was only a creation, then His death on the cross was not sufficient to take away sins. Liberal theologians would then be right, His untimely death was simply a model of love, a sacrifice made for a greater cause. If Christ was a created being, then He could not be the Savior of the world.

It is true the body of Jesus came into being some 2000 years ago, but the 2^nd person of the Godhead pre-existed eternally. In context, Paul refers to Him as “Christ,” not to Jesus. So he is talking not just of the man Jesus, but of the Messiah, the one sent by God. Yes, the body of Jesus was created in the womb of Mary, albeit through miraculous circumstances, who had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit. The biblical record clearly points to a virgin birth. But Christ, the One to whom Paul refers in our passage today, existed before the conception of His physical body.

But what about this verse, calling Him the “firstborn of all creation?” First notice that the verse does not say nor does it imply that Jesus Christ was the first-created being. Nothing could be further from the truth. Read the wording carefully. He is the “firstborn” of creation. Second, He was obviously not the very first person ever to be born, so the term must mean something else.

So what does this mean then? In the Jewish mindset, the firstborn referred to the eldest son, who became the head of the family in the absence of the father. The firstborn would receive the greater inheritance from the father than the other sons. The firstborn had the status of the family member with priority over the others. In some cases that position could be bought and sold (see the story of Esau selling his birthright to his brother Jacob). Israel (the descendants of Jacob) was called by God, “my firstborn” (Ex 4:22), even though Esau was literally born first. And clearly the people of Israel were not the first created nation on the earth.

Christ is the “firstborn of all creation” in the sense that He is God’s pre-eminent One over all creation. He has the priority. He is in creation, He is over creation, but He Himself is not a created being. There is nothing greater in all creation than the man who was God. Paul continues with this theme of exalting Christ in the upcoming verses.