Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. We often mention the wide range
of names and titles that are applied to the Lord Jesus Christ
in Scripture. And these titles are descriptions. They're not random. They're purposeful
and they're designed to convey some special attribute of the
Lord's character some quality or feature of his unique ministry. Of course, the names Lord and
Jesus and Christ all have distinctive meaning in themselves. The Lord
reminds us of the lordship of the man Christ Jesus. Jesus speaks
of deliverer and Christ shows that he was the Messiah, the
one that had long been looked for in the Old Testament. So
even the name that we give, the Lord Jesus Christ, is a name
heavy, pregnant with meaning. but so many other names are attributed
to the Lord as well. There are hundreds more that
suggest a rich variety of roles and responsibilities and qualities
that were carried by the Saviour. For example, One of the principal
titles given to the Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Lord
says of himself, I am the Good Shepherd. And this name that
we attribute to the Saviour, having taken it to himself, we
recognise him as the Good Shepherd. This name indicates the Saviour's
leadership role over the flock of God's people. And it also
indicates the high quality of care and attention provided to
us. Sheep are well known as being
relatively silly creatures who have to be tended, who have to
be often protected, who have to be led, who have to be provided
for. And the fact that the Lord takes
this name, the Good Shepherd, shows the high quality of care
and attention that he gives to the flock of God. And when we
compare scripture with scripture, we discover instances when the
pattern of a good shepherd is highlighted, or the character
of a poor shepherd is exposed So, for example, again, we find
that David, the shepherd boy, killed a bear and a lion, showing
his bravery, his courage, his dedication, his commitment to
the protection of the sheep. And these were qualities sought
for in a good shepherd. Or in the book of Ezekiel, the
prophet Ezekiel, God criticises the wicked leaders of the people
in the religious environment, especially of that age. And he
says in chapter 34, verse 8, as I live, saith the Lord God,
surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became meat
to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd,
neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves and fed not my flock. The Lord there highlights
the deficiencies of a bad shepherd. The Prophet isn't talking about
a real flock of sheep. He's speaking figuratively about
the poor spiritual leaders in Israel who instead of caring
for the Lord's people, His flock exploited them and took care
of themselves at the expense of God's remnant people. It has
always been thus. Now when we apply these instances,
these examples to the Lord Jesus Christ and many others that I
could have named just taking this one example of the Good
Shepherd, we could have drawn on many references, pastoral
references to sheep and flocks and the variety of circumstances
that surround them. We learn the qualities and the
merits of a good shepherd. We learn what a good shepherd
is and what a bad shepherd is. and we learn what it means that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, who is strong
to slay our enemies, who is caring to provide for our security,
who goes before his flock and leads his church into green pastures
and by still waters for our spiritual nourishment. who searches for
us when we go astray and lays down his life for us that we
might be rescued and delivered from danger. He does all this
because he is the good shepherd. Hence the names of Christ teach
us of his person and his work. Why am I saying all this? Well,
when we read in our passage today about the Lord Jesus Christ being
called the firstborn, we ought to realise that there's very
likely a wealth of meaning attached to this title of the Lord Jesus
Christ as well. And so there is. Paul didn't
just invent this name for the saviour. He purposefully employed
it because it is significant and instructive for the Lord's
people to realise the implications of Christ being called and identified
as the firstborn. And this one word carries a slew
of ideas to enrich our understanding of the Lord's person and his
work and his ministry. So today we're going to spend
a few minutes thinking about some of these ideas that undergird
this title of the Lord, the firstborn. And hopefully we'll uncover some
reasons why the Apostle Paul chose this word in the midst
of this beautiful statement of God's sovereignty and the blessedness
of the people of his elective choice. we will see what the Holy Spirit
intended us to learn from identifying the Lord Jesus Christ as the
firstborn among many brethren. And I'm going to take three points
and I'm going to think first of all about the meaning and
importance of the title Firstborn. I also want to think about its
added significance when applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then we will just touch briefly at the end upon the unique glory
or the emphasis will be on the preeminence of our saviour. So these are the ways we're going
to address this title, this name of Firstborn. So let us think then about the
meaning and the importance of the title. It might seem fairly obvious
what the title Firstborn means. I think I could probably ask
our youngest listener today to tell me what he thinks or she
thinks the Firstborn means and I'm sure they would have the
right answer. And certainly the scriptures
leave us in no doubt. In Exodus chapter 13 and verses
2 and verses 12, we actually have a fairly explicit, if not
indeed anatomical, description of what the firstborn was. And we saw in yesterday's note
how from the earliest times, the firstborn child, the firstborn
son held an esteemed and prominent position in the hierarchy of
the family. I think I mentioned that Jacob
calls Reuben So Jacob was the Abraham-Isaac, then Jacob, the
patriarch, who had 12 sons, and those 12 sons became the 12 tribes
of Israel. The firstborn son was Reuben,
and Jacob calls Reuben, my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of
my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of
power. How high a claim that was to
lay that sort of honour upon the firstborn child. The firstborn son. I need to
make that clear. It is the male child that is
being spoken about here. It's the son born first in the
family who was highly revered and not least because he fulfilled
in the family. He carried in the family a representative
responsibility, a role as a mediator, a connector between the generations
of the family. The firstborn son became a channel
of communication between the father and the other children. He spoke to the father on behalf
of the children and the children, the other children, were spoken
to by the firstborn on behalf of the father. And that twofold
role, going between the two and interceding between the two,
earned the firstborn a double honour. A little bit later, and we are
jumping ahead here somewhat, but a little bit later in the
history of Israel, we also learn that the firstborn son inherited
the official duties of the father, so that when the society became
more formalised and structured, very often the firstborn son
took the official responsibilities of the father. For example, the
king, the firstborn son of the king, had the responsibility
of entering into his father's role when his father died. But to move back again in the
history of Israel, the importance of being firstborn took on an
even greater significance during the time of the children of Israel's
captivity in Egypt. And I want to spend a little
bit of time just thinking about that. You will remember with
me, we've actually referred to it with the young people, but
you remember how that in the last of the 10 plagues that afflicted
the nation of Egypt, when the Lord's people were in slavery
there in the land of Egypt, the last of the 10 plagues, in the
last of the 10 plagues, God slew the firstborn male of the Egyptians. man and beast and this came as
a judgment upon the pride and the power of that nation and
this I think is significant. The Lord could have and did indeed
subsequently slay many, many people in Israel. The Lord slew
the armies of, sorry, in Egypt. The Lord slew the armies of Egypt
at the Red Sea. But it was particular that the
death angel slew the firstborn. It was the firstborn who was
identified and selected as the target of the death angel. And
that was significant. And let me just widen this for
a moment. Adam, in a sense, had been the firstborn man. Although he wasn't born, he was
formed. But let us take some generations
after that. Cain was the firstborn. Ishmael
was the firstborn. Cain was the firstborn of Adam,
Ishmael was the firstborn of Abraham, Esau was the firstborn
of Jacob. These patriarchs, the first child
that was born to them, Cain, Ishmael and Esau, all legally
carried the title of firstborn. Yet being without faith, these
men tried to destroy the true mediator, who bore the line of
promise. There was a sense in which they
themselves were mediators. They ought to have been between
the father and his family. And yet, they could not take
that role because there was a true mediator who was yet to come. And the slaying of the firstborn
sons of Egypt showed how God was having no pretenders to the
uniqueness of the one true mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus. Christ, not any man, must have
the preeminence. And this was the nature of the
status and indeed the predicament of the firstborn in these Old
Testament types. The firstborn of the children
of Israel in Egypt were unharmed, providing they were under the
protection of the blood of the Passover lamb. dobbed on the
doorposts and in the lintel of the house. And of course the blood of the
lamb on the doorposts and the lintel is a beautiful representation
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ under which covering sinners
are saved and the wrath of God is vented on the Lamb of God. The book of Hebrews calls Christ
our Passover who was sacrificed for us. But stay with me here
because these firstborn who were preserved in Egypt, the firstborn
who were under the blood and were preserved in Egypt. And
there were many, many of them. There may have been in excess
of a million people left Egypt when the children of Israel went
up into the wilderness. And there were very, very many
firstborn amongst them. And these firstborn, having been
delivered under the blood of the Passover lamb, God claimed
as his own possession. He told Moses, sanctify unto
me all the firstborn. That is all the firstborn who
hadn't been killed. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn
among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. It
is mine. So the Lord claimed these individuals,
these firstborn. Later in the history of Israel,
He adopted the tribe of Levi in lieu of the firstborn. So it's as if the Lord said,
I'm now going to give you back the firstborn of all your families,
and I am going to take the tribe of Levi in their place, and I
am going to make them the priestly tribe. and I will appoint them
to be priests set apart for the service of God on behalf of the
whole nation. So the firstborn had this intercessory
role within the family. That was handed back to the family
and the tribe of Levi brought into this formal priestly office. They were appointed to be priests
set apart for the service of the whole nation and the intercessory
role of priesthood and especially the high priest became ever more
conspicuous in the history of Israel. So that from the firstborn,
by this means, the high priestly office emerged, which again pointed
to Christ in its fulfilment. Christ is our high priest before
God, representing us with blood before God. So that from that
time forward, Jewish parents were obliged to redeem every
firstborn son with a payment made to the priest. And even
firstborn animals had to be redeemed or else they were slain. And this is teaching the Old
Testament people the priority, the preeminence that Christ the
Messiah would have because he had to be the unique firstborn
in the minds of the people of Israel. So that was the meaning,
if you like, of firstborn. That is why, that's the importance
of the title. That is why the Apostle Paul
is picking up on it. What is the added significance
then? This is my point too. What is
the added significance when it is applied to the Lord Jesus
Christ? Well, when Paul used the term
firstborn, referring to Christ, he was drawing on this history
of the Old Testament to show how the Saviour possessed the
honour and the dignity of the firstborn son exclusively in
his role as priest and mediator. It was a messianic title long
understood by Old Testament believers, the primacy of the firstborn.
God had claimed that primacy following the time of the Passover
in Egypt. He had dedicated the Levitical
priesthood to that primacy amongst the children of Israel for its
intercessory work as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then
during the prophetic age, the Lord says in Psalm 89, verse
27, of the coming Messiah, also I will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth. That is, I will make Christ
preeminent. And this is what the Old Testament
Jews understood. I will give him honour. He shall
be my representative. He shall fulfil the high priestly
role of which Aaron's priesthood was just a type and a shadow. The writer to the Hebrews, which
I think was probably Paul, but the writer to the Hebrews understood
this connection as well. Writing of Christ, that he was
made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of
the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten, that is the firstborn, into the world,
he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. That's Hebrews
chapter one, verse four to six. So that Christ was seen, amongst
the Jews in this messianic role as the firstborn. Christ has
been the unique firstborn in God's purpose from the very beginning. So firstborn, or first begotten
as it's said in Hebrews, is a term indicative of honour and preeminence. The history of the firstborn
in Israel and its development into the priesthood pointed those
with eyes to see and ears to hear to the coming Messiah who
would himself be, to use old Jacob's words, the excellency
of dignity and the excellency of power, the firstborn. And
while there have been many, many natural firstborn sons in the
history of the world, there is none that can compare to the
uniqueness of the only begotten Son of God, who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but has become
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence and be crowned with glory and honour. That's
Psalm 8 verse 5 and Colossians 1 verse 18. And so the third
point that I have today is this, the unique glory of our Saviour. And I think that the Apostle
Paul, in drawing these thoughts together in this wonderful passage
where he speaks about all things working together for good, to
those who are called according to God's purpose, about foreordination
and predestination and conformity to the image of his sons, to
the Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The beauty of the plan of salvation
and the essential perfection of the covenant of grace is being
highlighted by the Apostle here in this reference to Christ the
firstborn. The honour of the Son and the
preeminence of the God-Man. How is that accomplished? How
is the honour of the Son and the preeminence of the God-Man,
the firstborn, how is it accomplished? Well, how was it accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ? By the gracious recovery and
lifting up of fallen creatures. By Christ ransoming the captives,
and delivering those who were sold under sin. By Christ having
once redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us in order to bring us to glory. By Christ saving God's chosen
people, loved before time, His elect, that people for whom all
things work together for good, and by Christ in so doing, accomplishing
all this with the utmost success. So that what gives Christ the
honour and the preeminence is the salvation of the elect, is
the redemption of God's people. and Christ has all glory and
preeminence given to him because he glorifies the elect. The glory of the Son is his making
perfect his people. The honour of the Son is his
bringing many sons to glory. The preeminence of the son is
his accomplishing his father's will and saving his father's
elect people. The accomplishment of the father's
predestinating purpose. The work his father sent him
to do according to the terms of the covenant of grace. So
that here we see in the covenant of grace, Christ being honoured,
Christ's preeminence over all things, comprehended in this
title, the firstborn. And Paul is drawing all of these
strands together in the employment of this name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. but there's a little added extra
in here as well. Christ is, says Paul, the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead. Christ is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. As head of the body, Christ has
joined himself to his people and has joined his people to
himself. We are his body, same flesh,
same spirit. He took our flesh and he gave
us his spirit. And this high status is reflected
in the title that we now bear. Not only are we beloved of God
and chosen by God, we are sons of God and we are brethren of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the firstborn, the
first begotten and the only begotten Son of the Father. And yet the
elect are the sons of God as well, made so by adoption. Paul tells the church at Ephesus,
the Father has predestinated us unto adoption of children
by Jesus Christ. Adoption into the family of God
by the saving work of Christ makes us brethren to Christ and
heirs with him so that we share in the glory of our elder brother. Remember what the firstborn obtained?
The firstborn of God had a double portion and that falls to him
in the capacity of being firstborn. In the coming verses, Paul will
tell the church as he's telling the church at Rome. He will tell
the church, he tells you and me. He that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things? We have our inheritance with
the firstborn. The firstborn has the preeminence,
but we as his brethren, we as his body, we as the adopted family
of God, have everything that the son has. and it has been
freely given to us. This is where we're going to
stop today. But what a prospect, what an
inheritance, what a promise this is to comfort and encourage us
in this world. I want to leave you with one
final thought. All these provisions of grace
and goodness and everlasting blessing, The titles that are
spoken of here in this little passage, such as foreknown and
elect and predestinated, and these inheritances as sons of
God and as brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose are they? Whose are these things? To whom
do they belong? Sometimes we think it's just
a few, but it's not just a few, not really, not really. Not just
one or two here and there, but they are for all who believe. And I think it's worth noting
this. This adopted family of God is
called many brethren, many brethren. And I want us to take that phrase
at face value. God has many sons and daughters
by adoption. Christ has many brethren by spiritual
union into his body. He will not lose one of that
great congregation for whom he has died, that adopted family
that he has brought into relationship with his family. So I say this
to you today, if there are many Why not me? Christ is the firstborn from
the dead. And he said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. May the Lord give us grace to
believe. Only believe and you will receive. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.