The Firstborn

We heard another exceptional sermon today in Pastor Freswick's ongoing series in Exodus from chapter 13, verses 1-16. A continuation of our study of the Passover was this week's focus on the firstborn. In his introduction to the sermon, our pastor pointed out that there were three types of firstborns: those who die; those who are sacrificed; and those who are redeemed. In order to properly understand and appreciate New Testament references to the firstborn, we have to understand the Old Testament references, where the significance of that term is declared.

The status of the firstborn is commanded in Exodus 13:2, and this status is rooted in redemption. The firstborn is consecrated; a more familiar word that means the same thing is "holy, set apart." The firstborn were to be set apart to the LORD, and the signs of this setting apart were that the firstborn received a double portion, and he was the strength of the father. The firstborn were owned by the LORD; they were set apart by being "passed over" to the LORD. We often think of the Passover as a leaving behind; those with the blood on their doorposts were passed over. But being passed over to the LORD has another meaning--passed over to Him in the sense of being set apart. An interesting point: Even the Egytian firstborn were set apart to the LORD in the sense that they were used exclusively for His purposes. Eventually, God chose a tribe of Israel (the Levites) as representations of the firstborn to serve as His priests (Numbers 8:15-17).

In the Old Testament, the law applies to the firstborn male that "opens the womb," and this is significant for a couple of reasons. This points to the headship position of males, and also because in Jesus Christ (the one Man) is redemption.

Even the firstborn males of unclean animals had to be redeemed by a lamb, and interestingly, in this passage, the firstborn of men are included in the verse (13) where the treatment of unclean animals is addressed. This is because men, too, are unclean and in need of redemption. We are reminded that Israel (and we as well) was not chosen because they were so worthy; they were saved by God's mercy and grace.

The firstborn needed to be redeemed by the slaughter of a lamb, a clean animal. The parallel between the redemption of the firstborn and Christ is made in Luke 2:21-24, where Christ is presented to the Lord and sacrifice is made in Jerusalem after His birth. Reference is made to this Exodus passage in Luke 2:23.

Having an understanding of the Old Testament concept of the firstborn sheds new light, then, on the references in the New Testament to Christ as the firstborn. In Colossians 1:15, Christ is declared to be the firstborn of all creation. He is the strength of His father, His power, the Child who took the place of us all, that we might live. In Romans 8:29, Christ is the firstborn among many brethren, and in Christ, we (male and female) become the firstborn of God, receiving all the blessings that the firstborn receives. In fact, in Hebrews 12:18-24, the word firstborn is used in reference to the church, and in the Greek, the word is plural (the church of [all] the firstborn, v. 23).

Because of the sacrifice of the clean firstborn (Christ), we who are unclean firstborn now enjoy the blessings of the firstborn. This is why in Hebrews particularly we are declared to be priests who now have the right to enter the Holy of Holies.