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From early in the history
of man recorded in scripture, there is significance placed upon the firstborn
of life.
Gen. 4:4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his
flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected
Abel and his offering.
In many of the lists
of descendants of the patriarchs in the book of Genesis, the firstborn of the
sons are identified. Traditionally, the
firstborn son receives a greater proportion of rights, privileges, and the
family inheritance, which is called the "birthright" (Gen. 27:27; 43:33;
Deut. 21:17).
At the Exodus, God,
through Moses and Aaron, declares to Pharaoh that the nation of Israel is His
"firstborn son," so to speak:
Exod. 4:22 "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus
says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn…"'"
When Pharaoh refuses
to release the Israelites, God strikes dead all of the firstborn in the land of
Egypt among the people and their livestock.
However, God redeems and spares the Israelite families dwelling there of
this fate by the Passover sacrifice as a ransom (Exod. 12).
In connection to the
Passover and the Exodus, God declares that all the firstborn of Israel are His
special possession:
Exodus 13:1, 2 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2
"Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the
children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is
Mine."
Exod. 13:13-14 …And all the firstborn of man among your sons
you shall redeem. 14 So it shall be, when your son asks you in time
to come, saying, "What is this?" that you shall say to him, "By
strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage."
The ransom, that is,
the cost to redeem a firstborn Son, is revealed to be five silver shekels in
Numbers 18:16.
Like many other Old
Testament ordinances, the appointments in connection with the firstborn are
types and shadows of a greater and perfect divine possession and redemption in
the dispensation of Christ.
·
Jesus Christ is declared to
be the firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15).
Rom. 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren.
·
Like Israel, the church of
Christ today – His redeemed faithful – are God's firstborn:
Rev 14:4 …These are the ones who follow the
Lamb…. These were redeemed from among
men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
·
And Jesus Christ Himself is
our Passover lamb sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7).
The true worth of a
thing is, in the end, determined by what one is willing to pay to possess it.
1 Cor. 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
The word translated
"price" is TIME {tee-may'}, meaning: "1) a valuing by which the
price is fixed 1a) of the price itself 1b) of the price paid or received for a
person or thing bought or sold" (Thayer).
Our ransom cost – the price of our redemption – is not
evaluated in silver shekels, but in the blood of Christ:
1 Tim. 2:5-6 For there is one God and one Mediator between
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for
all….
Our worth to God is
not determined by the good deeds that we perform, but if it were, we would be utterly
unworthy. However, to the contrary, our
worth to God is determined in love, mercy, and grace by the divine attributes which
He bestowed upon us at creation as bearers of His likeness (Jas 3:9). This is brought to light in the parable of
the lost son:
Lk. 15:21 And the son said to him, "Father, I have
sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called
your son."
Here the word
translated "worthy" is AXIOS {ax'-ee-os} meaning: "1) weighing, having weight, having the
weight of another thing of like value, worth as much" (Thayer). The son de-values himself on his deeds, but
God values a soul differently.
Lk. 15:22-24 But the father said to his servants,
"Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and
sandals on his feet … for this my son was dead and is alive again."
The value that God places
on a human soul is incomprehensible. He puts
man, filthy with sin, on one side of the balance and His perfect, first-born, only-begotten
Son on the other side and declares it to be equitable. Unfathomable!
Our response to this
ought to be absolute humility and reverence – a sense of abject shame and
at the same time a sense of the unspeakable glory of the Lord. There is no room for our boasting in this; our
only glory is in the cross of Christ alone (Gal 6:14).
Paul indicates that
our participation in the Lord's Supper, which the Passover foreshadows, must
not be observed in an unworthy [ANAXIOS] manner (1 Cor
11: 27). The Corinthians had profaned
the Lord's Supper to the point that it was unrecognizable as such. In their carnal-mindedness, to them, the
bread (the Lord's body) and the cup (the Lord's blood) was little more than
breakfast food for their stomachs. This
is the price of our redemption, and Paul pronounces them guilty of His body and
His blood. We dare not follow their
example.
Heb. 10:29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose,
will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted
the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and
insulted the Spirit of grace?
All scripture quotations are from the NKJV.
All Greek definitions are from J. H. Thayer.
Copyright 2022, Speaking Sound Doctrine