Paidion wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:54 am
Dwight, you wrote:It is illogical for God, Who is eternal, to have a "first act". That implies that HE DID NOTHING BEFORE THAT, which is ridiculous.
Nothing at all ridiculous about it, for there HAD NOT BEEN a "before that"! For God's first act—the begetting of His Son— marked the beginning of time!
Dwight -Okay, this sounds like a discussion that could evolve into a philosophical and scientific quagmire, which is, IMO, a rabbit trail. My main point is that I don't interpret "the firstborn of all creation" to mean what you think it means. Your interpretation, IMO, does not fit the context of Colossians 1. You say that God created Jesus (I know, you call it "God, begetting Jesus" - which, in essence, is a distinction without a difference). I say that the Creator of all things, who is Jesus, did not need to be created - He always was.
Dwight - To me, "the firstborn of all creation", taken in context, inescapably relates to verse 15, where Paul calls Him "the firstborn from the dead." When Christ was raised from the dead, something happened that had never happened before - that is that He was the first person to ever be raised in a NEW body! A glorified body! Many others had been raised from the dead before Jesus, but NONE of them were raised in a NEW body. ALL of them were raised with the SAME body they had before they died. So when the scripture calls Jesus "the firstborn from the dead", it means the FIRST PERSON TO BE RAISED IN A NEW, GLORIFIED BODY. When Christ returns, WE TOO WILL GET OUR BODIES TRANSFORMED INTO GLORIFIED BODIES, perfectly suited for the New Heaven and the New Earth. Again, when Christ returns, this old earth will be destroyed by fire and God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth. On that day, we who believe, will enter that NEW realm - that NEW creation. But Jesus has ALREADY ENTERED THAT REALM, BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT HE ALREADY HAS A NEW BODY. In this way, HE IS THE FIRSTBORN OF ALL CREATION. When He returns. we all will follow Him into that NEW CREATION.