February 27, 2026 3:00 am
The concept of the firstborn of every creature in Colossians one fifteen is often misunderstood as implying Jesus Christ was not eternal, but rather the first being created. However, a closer examination of the verse and surrounding text reveals that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things, and the eternal living Word.
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Welcome to the Days of Praise podcast, a daily devotional by the Institute for Creation Research. The firstborn of every creature. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature? Colossians one fifteen. A widespread cult heresy based on this verse claims that Jesus Christ was not eternal, but merely the first being created, perhaps an angel, before becoming a man.
Note, however, that the verse does not say he was the first created of every creature, but the firstborn of every creature. And there is a big difference. In fact, the very next verse says that by him were all things created. He was never created, for he himself is the creator. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
He is born of God, the only begotten Son of God, not made. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared him. The Eternal Father is omnipresent and therefore invisible, inaudible, and inaccessible to the physical senses. The Eternally Existing Son is the image of the Invisible Father, the One who declares, reveals, and embodies His essence.
Although he is always in the bosom of the Father, yet he is eternally also the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. He is the eternal living Word, which was in the beginning with God and was God. Thus, the phrase, firstborn of every creature in our text, can be translated literally as, begotten before all creation. The eternal interrelationship of the persons of the Godhead is beyond human comprehension in its fullness, and the terms Son and begotten are the best human language can do to describe it. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, is the only begotten, eternally generated Son of the Father, forever shining forth as the image of the otherwise invisible God.
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