Who is God's firstborn? and who is his only son?

[javid]

Hi

Exodus 4:22 says: “Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my «firstborn» son”

Hebrews 1:6 says: “And again, when God brings his «firstborn» into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.””

John 3:16 says"For God so loved the world that he gave «his one and only Son», that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

I’m confused:

Who is God’s firstborn? Israel or Lord Jesus?

And how Lord Jesus can be his one and only son when Israel is his firstborn son?

God bless you

 

[Cartesian]

I am very dummie on theological/scriptural issues. That’s because I believe first and try to understand later.

But I think part of answer to your question lies on the concept of being born. We could use the word “born” in the common way we use today. But, I recall reading that the literal translation of “born” in the bible would be also: “having come to be…”.

If we go on the scripture further, we may find that Jesus was not “created” or “born”, but conceived through the Holy Spirit.

*"18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “**Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. *21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus."
—Matthew 1:18-25

So, the word “born” may be a translation of two different things in the Bible.

 

[Glacies]

Christ is naturally the true first-born Son of God as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, while we can understand Exodus 4:22 in a figurative way, that the people of Israel were especially dear to God and had a particular place in His plan of Salvation as the future receivers of the Mosaic Law and the Prophets.

It is interesting to note that the false deity Ra was considered the father of all pharaohs, and they therefore his sons, wherefore the expression given to Moses bears a particular counterweight against the king of Egypt. Indeed the next verse Exodus 4:23 shows God is ready to strike the firstborn of the Pharaoh in case he resists.

 

[JerryZ]

OK let me take a stab at that.

Jesus is God’s firstborn, from the creed

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation,
he came down from heaven:

The true Israel is those who accept and believe in Jesus.

Further they are the Body of Christ, they are connected through a sacramental and covenant bond to Him.

If the new Israel is ALSO the body of Christ can you see that they are also GOD’s firstborn?

GOD is outside time, when HE declares that the Israel in bondage in Egipt WAS His firstborn HE sees all those who would be saved by Jesus sacrifice and that would as a result be joined to Jesus’s body.

Hope this helps a little.

Peace

 

[bzkoss236]

The word “first-born” does not need to imply that there are other children. A family with only one child, a son, still has a “first-born” son, even though they don’t have any other children, and may even never have more children.

So the term “first-born” only implies that it is the first child, a son, which could mean the first born out of one child.

So, Christ is God [the Father]'s one and only Son, and also his first-born son.

 

[Regina_Love]

O Israel is God’s metaphoric son. God adopted her & began a relationship with Israel. He taught her like a father teaches his son. He gave her many teachings, blessings, duties, and challenges. Israel, God’s first born son, stands to inherit all that is God’s! Claiming Israel as His first born son was God’s first covenant with mankind! and a great blessing!

Jesus makes the 2nd covenant with us to fulfill the first. “The New Covenant” with mankind…to bring us into the family of God; to bring us home to Heaven, and unity with GOD our Father.

One is a foreshadowing of the other.

 

[Gorgias]

Regina,

Nice post! Mind if I get a little picky, though?

Claiming Israel as His first born son was God’s first covenant with mankind!

Actually, prior to making a covenant with all of Israel, God had already made prior covenants. For example, the covenant with Noah, and the covenant with Abraham…

One is a foreshadowing of the other.

Do you mean “the Mosaic covenant is a foreshadowing of the New Covenant”, or “the sonship of the nation of Israel is a foreshadowing of the sonship of Jesus”? (If the latter, then we’d have to be careful; the sonship of Jesus didn’t begin with the Incarnation, but with the begetting of the Logos (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) in eternity. And, of course, I’m not certain I’d say that the Sonship of the Son of God is a foreshadowing of the nation of Israel… )