How do you define firstborn?
If a five-year child asked you if Jesus’ father is God, then who is His mother?
How will you respond?
Inquisitive minds enable us to exercise abstract thoughts needed for spiritual growth. Often we formulate questions that require critical thinking but are answerable while enabling spiritual growth to take precedence. The question above provides such an opportunity.
Often it is difficult to think beyond one’s experience, which is why Paul writes this epistle to the church of Colossae to combat false teaching about Jesus. Scholars believe that Paul never visited this church but wrote this epistle from a prison cell in Rome. Yet, the founder and pastor of the church of Colossae was his fellow convert named Epaphras. Remember, Paul’s experience enabled him to see into the heavenly realm, as noted in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, so addressing the significance of Jesus’ credentials was simple and necessary for the Colossians.
So, who is Jesus besides an individual who lived in Palestine some 2000 years ago and whose birth mother was Mary? Jesus is equal to God the Father and existed with God before creation. In other words, Paul says it best in Colossians 1:15-16 as follows:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
In Jesus, God is reflected totally. Jesus replicated God’s decisions and choices when He was here. When Paul used the term firstborn, it allowed him to note that Jesus represents God’s authority, unlike the firstborn child who becomes the first birth chronological in a family. Firstborn here has nothing to do with time but is like using the term First Lady when speaking about the President’s wife. The First Lady denotes a title instead of the first wife to ever live in the White House; likewise, Jesus is the firstborn of the New Testament church with authority. Because of his relationship with God the Father and his appointment as heir to all things, Jesus is the firstborn.
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Hebrews 1:2
So, Jesus existed with God outside of time, and Jesus created all, including the angelic hierarchy in the heavenly realm. With this knowledge, I must realize that everything I can imagine is under the control of Jesus. Since Jesus embodies God in heaven and on earth, the world as we know it would be far more chaotic without His control. So, my answer regarding Jesus’s mother is simple. Jesus has complete control and authority over my world and the world to come, so the need for a mother to exercise motherhood over her children becomes irrelevant and immaterial to Jesus because He is the firstborn for all in heaven and on earth.
