"God is the Lord of angels and of men -- and of elves."
- J.R.R. Tolkien
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Colossians 1:15:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Paul articulately asserts the truth of the Incarnation in Colossians 1, but his use of "firstborn" does not mean that there was a time when the Son of God wasn't (any more than John 3:16's use of "begotten" does -- as the Nicene Creed insists, Jesus is "eternally begotten"). But Paul's use of "firstborn" here holds such a wealth of meaning: namely, as it applies to Christ's sovereign authority and to his redemptive activity.
Biblically and culturally speaking, the firstborn son carried the weight of the family inheritance on his shoulders. The family name rested first with him. In the absence of the father, he is the head of the family. The firstborn son receives more honor, more expectation, and more authority.
This is Jesus, of course. The author of Hebrews tells us he is the radiance of God's glory. Romans 8 tells us that he is the heir of God. Inheritance talk is big in Galatians and Ephesians and Titus and Hebrews.
As our older brother, Jesus is due the authority and the wealth he is owed.
But unlike all other older brothers -- and I am one, so I know -- he walks in a way worthy of his honor. For our sake!
All through the Scriptures, from the murderous Cain to the sniveling idiot brother of Jesus' parable of the Lost Son, the older brother is consistently an utter and absolute failure. (So are most of the younger brothers, actually, but God consistently chooses them to make a point, I think.)
But not Jesus. Where disobedience and disregard ruled the roost of the firstborn, Jesus obeys the Father perfectly, submits to the eternal cause of the glory of the Father completely, and cares for and rescues and sacrifices his own well-being for his younger siblings to the utmost.
Jesus is the older brother who will not trade his birthright for a bowl of soup. Jesus is the older brother who will not trade his siblings into slavery.
Jesus is the older brother who leaves the comfort of his Father's estate to seek out his lost brother among the brothels and pigsties and actually rescues him from the degradation of the mud and dresses him in the Father's robe of his own accord.
To borrow from Sinclair Ferguson, Jesus is the "true and better" older brother.
To borrow from a favorite line in a favorite movie, Jesus is the older brother who does his job. Everybody else is the other guy.
(Cross-posted at GDC)
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Comments on "Jesus is the True and Better Older Brother":
2. Bill
- 05/26/2009 11:25 pm CDT
That is a great insight, one that I've never remotely come close to considering. That's edifying - thanks!
3. nhe
- 05/27/2009 1:08 pm CDT
Sinclair Ferguson is of course one of the main influences of Tim Keller. Ferguson uses the "true and better" typology with every major OT (and some NT) characters.
The notion that Jesus is the true and better David, Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Esther, brother, etc is probably as exciting as anything I've come across in the last 10 years. It really does make the whole book about Jesus!!
Keller's Gospel Centered Ministry sermon on the GC website elaborates on this notion quite a bit - especially at the 35 minute mark - its worth the download price (free) and the time.
4. Jared
- 05/27/2009 1:29 pm CDT
Yes, that's where I first heard Ferguson's "true and better" typology, from Keller. I quote it at length in my last sermon (podcast linked in post below this one) and have used it before.
And that sermon of Keller's is one of my all-time faves. I even quote from it in my book.
5. nhe
- 05/27/2009 1:44 pm CDT
ok........must listen to sermon and buy book........Jared have you read "The Prodigal" yet? He goes into major detail on the true and better older brother there.
6. Jared
- 05/27/2009 1:49 pm CDT
Yup.
Heard him speak on that at Christ Pres here in Nashville and then I read the book; inspired a bit (which I credited) in a message I preached at a church in Vermont last March.
This post is basically me taking that "Jesus is the good older brother" idea, merging it with the "true and better" typology, and running with it. :-)
7. nhe
- 05/27/2009 1:58 pm CDT
We served communion in our small group a few months back and had each person read a "Jesus is the true and better" (insert OT character) paragraph to the person next to them (in addition to "blood/body of Christ shed/broken for you"). Each person had a different character and read an explanation to the next person about why Jesus being the "true and better" type of that character is important to them, right now.
I took Ferguson's stuff and wrote the paragraphs from that (with some license). It went really well.
8. Paul Walton
- 05/27/2009 11:20 pm CDT
Instead of being the brother who sells you out, Jesus is the Brother who buys you back.
Leave a Comment:
This is excellent, Jared.