Secondly, The next thing ascribed to Christ is that he is ' the first- born of every creature :' that is, born of God before any creature had a being, or begotten of the Father of his own proper essence, and equal with him before anything was created and brought forth out of nothing. But here the adversaries of the eternal Godhead of Christ triumph, and say. The first-born of the creatures is a creature, one of the same kind. I answer — If we grant this that they allege, they gain nothing,' for Christ had two natures — he was God-man. As God, he is the Creator, and not a creature ; for the apostle proveth that ' by him all things were made :' but as man, so he is indeed a creature. This double consideration must not be forgotten : Kom. i. 3, 4. Our Lord Jesus Christ was * made of the seed of David accord- ing to the flesh, but declared to be the Son of God, with power accord- ing to the Spirit;' therefore we must distinguish between Christ and Christ, what he is according to the Spirit, and what he is according to the flesh.
2. I answer — That metaphors must be taken in the sense in which they are intended. Now what is the apostle's intention in giving Christ the appellation of the first-born ?
Four things are implied by this metaphor : —
[1.] Identity of nature.
[2.] Likeness of original.
[3.] Antiquity.
[4.] Dignity.
Nothing else can be insinuated into the mind of man by such a form of speech but identity and sameness of nature between the brethren, wdiich is true as to Christ's humanity : Heb. ii. 14, ' Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part of
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the same ;' or else sameness of stock, which is true also, for tne same reason : Heb. ii. 11, ' For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren ;' or priority of time, for the first-born is before all the rest ; or else dignity, authority, and pre-eminence. Now, which of these doth the apostle intend ? The two last — the pre-cxistence of Christ before anything was made, as appeareth by this reason, ver. 16, ' For by him all things were made, whether they be in heaven or in earth ; ' and also his dignity and authority above them, as appeareth by the frequent use of the word. For the first-born in families had authority over the rest. "When Jacob had got the birthright, this was a part of Isaac's blessing : Gen. xxvii. 29, ' Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee : be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.' Sovereignty was implied in the birthright, so David is called ' the first-born of the kings of the earth,' Ps. Ixxxix. 27, as the most glorious amongst them. So here nothing else is intended but that Christ is in time and dignity before all creatures.
Thirdly, Though Christ be called the first-born of every creature, it doth not imply that he is to be reckoned as one of them, or accounted a creature. It is true, when it is said, Kom. viii. 29, that ' he is the first-born among many brethren,' it implieth that he is head of the renewed estate, that he and all new creatures are of the same kind — allowing him the dignity of his rank and degree ; for Grod is his God, and their God his Father and their Father. But here it is not the first-born amongst the creatures, but the first-born of every creature. And for further confirmation, here is not identity of nature, for he is not at all of the same nature with the angels — those principalities and thrones, dominions and powers, spoken of in the next verse — nor issued of the same stock with any of them. Mark, he is called the first-born, not first created, which must be understood of his divine nature and eternal generation of the Father before all creatures. The creatures are not begotten and born of God, but made by him. So Christ is primogenitus — that is, unigenitus, the first-born, that only-begotten. In the following verse he is brought in, not as a creature, but the creator of all things. The first-born is not the cause of the rest of the children. Peter was the first-born, yet may be a brother to James and John, but not a father to them. Now all the rest of the creatures are created and produced by him ; he is not reckoned among them as one of them — he is the image of the invisible God.
II. Why this excellency of our Redeemer should be so deeply im- pressed upon our minds and hearts ? For many reasons.
1. This is needful to show his sufficiency to redeem the world. The party offended is God, who is of infinite majesty ; the favour to be pur- chased is the everlasting fruition of God ; and the sentence to be reversed is the sentence oi everlasting punishment. Therefore there needed some valuable satisfaction to be given to reconcile these things to our thoughts ; that we may be confident that we shall have redemp- tion by his blood, even the remission of sins. There are three things that commend the value of Christ's sacrifice — the dignity of his person, the greatness of his sufferings, and the merit of his obedience. But