Category Archives: Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jesus – The Firstborn of All Creation

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Pastor John, I believe in the full Deity of Christ, but a Jehovah’s Witness member pointed me to a verse I cannot explain where it talks of Jesus being “the firstborn of all creation.” He says it means Jesus is Jehovah’s firstborn creature through whom all else was made.

I know Jesus is the Eternal Son and was never created but can you explain what “firstborn” means?

Many thanks for your important question. The passage that mentions Jesus as being the firstborn is Colossians 1:15-17. There, in speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ we read:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

There is much that could be said about the title “firstborn”. It is a title of honor and refers to Christ being given all “the rights and privileges of a firstborn son, especially the son of a monarch who would inherit ruling sovereignty. This is how the expression is used of David: “I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27).” (ESV Study Bible notes)

The phrase “firstborn” does not mean that Christ is a created being. We can establish that by reading the words that immediately follow in the text. Jesus is presented as the Creator of all things and He is before all things! This passage is in fact one of many that presents a clear affirmation of the Deity of Christ.
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and the word was God

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Pastor John, I am told that members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) are trained for upwards of five hours every week just to reach Christians. That is a whole lot of time, I am sure you would agree.

Dr. James White once told me of an encounter he had where a JW recited a 2-3 minute speech about John 1:1 that he had memorized concerning Greek words and constructions. At the end of the speech Dr White, a noted New Testament Greek scholar, pulled out his Greek New Testament from the shelf and handed it to the man and asked him to show him what he (the JW) was saying from the text.

“What’s that?” the JW asked.

“Dr. White said, “it’s the Greek of John chapter one that you are so busy telling me about.”

The man then admitted that he did not know how to read Greek. He had memorized a very lengthy speech (no doubt, provided by the Watchtower group) but could not read a single Greek word.
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