I know you have heard this story
before, but I still like to tell it. I like to hear it. In the 1800s, the last part of
the 1800s, a couple from the United States went to visit England. And one of the desires that they
had in going there was to go to the tabernacle and hear Charles
Spurgeon preach. That was a long journey across
the sea at that time. And when they got there, they
found that they could not obtain tickets to go in to hear him
preach that morning. And so they went to hear another
famous preacher in London at that time. And the story goes
that when they left the service that morning, they commented
one to the other, what a great preacher. What a great preacher
we just heard. That evening, they were able
to go to the tabernacle and hear Charles Spurgeon preach. And
when they left that service, they commented, what a great
savior we have. What a great savior we have.
And that's the desire of every preacher, of every man that God
calls and puts into the ministry, that all of us might learn of
him and that he might be lifted up in our hearts and in our eyes
and we might leave the services, all of us who know him, thinking
the same thing. What a great Savior. What a great
Savior is Jesus Christ, our Lord. I'm going to ask you tonight,
if you will, to turn with me to two places in the Scriptures. I want you to turn first to Psalm
89, and hold your place there. Psalm 89, and then also in Luke
chapter 2. Psalm 89, and the text I want
to read here is verse 27. Also, I will make him my firstborn
higher than the kings of the earth. God speaking. Also, I will make him my firstborn
higher than the kings of the earth. And then in Luke chapter
two and verses six and seven, and so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she, that is Mary, should
be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn
son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger
because there was no room for them in the end. Both scriptures
speak of the firstborn. In the first verse, it is God
who speaks of His firstborn. And then in the second passage
in Luke, we are told of Mary's firstborn. Both are speaking
of the same one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the same person
both God and man. He is God's firstborn in the
sense that he is God's only begotten son. We read that verse in Hebrews
chapter 1 which said, this day have I begotten thee. This day,
that eternal day. And it is beyond our capacity,
our ability to understand how that the father was not before
the son, and yet the son is his begotten son. The theologians
say, by eternal generation. And that's probably as good as
we could come up with, as man could come up with. But we're
just not able to comprehend that. One day, if it's necessary, I'm
sure we will know. But he is God's firstborn, the
eternal Son of God. He is also, as man, Mary's firstborn. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
29, we read, For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He, that is
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. In Colossians 1, verse 15, the
Apostle Paul wrote, Who is the image of the invisible God, that
is, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. As I said, he is begotten of
the Father in a way which cannot be humanly expressed, but in
such a way that he is one with the Father in eternity and in
every other way, every attribute. For Paul in that same passage
tells us it pleased the Father that he might have the preeminence
that in all things that in him should all fullness dwell. Now
there are many types and many shadows and pictures of the Lord
Jesus Christ that were given in the Old Testament. And one
of them is in the firstborn son. The firstborn son. And there
are four things that I found, four things I want to point out
to us in the Old Testament tonight. which were declared about the
firstborn son. And all of these in one way or
another picture God's firstborn, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will, and we're going
to turn to these passages of scripture. First, let's go back
to the book of Genesis. The first thing that I would
point out about the firstborn, the first thing that I would
point out that is revealed to us in the Old Testament about
the firstborn son is the firstborn was declared to be the father's
strength. A man's firstborn son was declared
to be the father's strength. And the firstborn son was near
and dear unto the father in a special way. Here in Genesis chapter
49, when Jacob was close to the end of his life, he called all
of his sons together, 12 of them. Jacob called unto his sons and
said, gather yourselves together. that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together
and hear you sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father,
Reuben. Now here's the point. Reuben,
thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. First thing that we see about
the firstborn is the firstborn is declared to be the father's
strength. And if you look in Psalm 78,
the same principle here in Psalm 78, when the psalmist is relating
God delivering the nation of Israel out of Egypt, in Psalm
78 and verse 51, He said, and smote, that is God
smote all the firstborn in Egypt, now notice, the chief of their
strength. You see the point? The firstborn
son, first of all, was declared to be the strength, the father's
strength. He was near and dear. And here
in Psalms, the psalmist is declaring how that God killed the firstborn
of the Egyptians, the chief of their strength. On that Passover night, when
God destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, He destroyed the
chief of their strength. No greater tragedy could come
upon the Egyptians than having their firstborn destroyed, because
the firstborn was especially near and dear to the Father and
considered to be the Father's strength. God's gift of repentance, as
it is declared in Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10, to show how
the repentance is a great work. It's a gift of God. There's no
doubt about it. It's a gift that God gives unto
His people, but it is a great work, a serious work. In fact,
We are told there, one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Repentance is like unto a man
whose firstborn is taken away, and he is in bitterness for his
firstborn. So a man who, a woman who repents
is in bitterness for our sin against a holy God. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the
God-man mediator, as God's firstborn, is precious in God's sight. On two occasions, at his baptism
and on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father spoke from heaven,
declaring, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Not only is His firstborn, near
and dear to Him. Not only would we say He's His
strength, but He is given all power. A man's firstborn was
considered to be the beginning of his strength, but the Lord
Jesus Christ is God's firstborn, and He has all power, all strength,
both in heaven and in earth, He said. In fact, in his prayer
in John 17, he said that God had given him power over all
flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father
hath given him, as many as thou hast given him. He gives eternal
life. Eternal life's not for sale.
It's not up for the highest bidder. It's a gift. The wages of sin
is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. He gives eternal life to
those whom the Father gave unto him in that everlasting, eternal
covenant. So that's the first thing about
the firstborn that I see in the Old Testament that was somewhat
of a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The firstborn was the beginning
of the Father's strength, and the Lord Jesus Christ He is the
strength, the power of Almighty God. Now here's the second thing. The firstborn was to receive
a double portion of man's inheritance. The firstborn under the law was
to receive a double portion. I want you to look in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 21. Deuteronomy chapter 21, and beginning
with verse 15, the firstborn was to receive a double portion
from his father. If he had 15 sons, the firstborn
was to receive twice as much as every other son. He was to
receive a double portion. Beginning in verse 15, if a man
have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have
born him children, both the beloved and the hated. And if the firstborn
son be hers that was hated, then it shall be when he maketh his
sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the
son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated,
which is indeed the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the
son of the hated for the firstborn, By giving him, this is how he
would acknowledge him to be his firstborn, by giving him a double
portion of all that he hath. For he is the beginning of his
strength. The right of the firstborn is
his. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
firstborn, has been given everything. The law commanded that the firstborn
among men should receive a double portion, but God has given His
firstborn everything, not just a double portion, but everything
is His. Hebrews 1 and verse 2, that God
hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath
appointed heir of all things. The firstborn son under the law
was heir of a double portion of his father, but the firstborn
of God has been made heir by his father of all things. He was given twice as much as
any other. He was given all things. Here's
the third thing about the firstborn. And we see this also here in
Deuteronomy chapter 21 in those verses which we read. The firstborn could never be
kept from the birthright. Here's in the law, it was supposed
that a man had two wives. And polygamy was never, never commanded by God. God allowed
it. But almost in every place where
there was polygamy practiced, you find problems. And we know
that's so. Because in the beginning, God
created one woman for one man. And that constituted marriage. A union. The two become one. And no matter what men say, and
you know this is so, but there is no marriage between two women,
there's no marriage between two men. Now, men may call it marriage,
but that's not marriage. There's several reasons that
God instituted marriage. And one of those was for procreation,
and that's something that can ever happen when two women marry
or two men marry. That's not God's will. That's
not God's purpose. It's sad, isn't it, that we live
in such a day that even the highest courts of our land recognize
that to be legitimate. And it may be legitimate according
to the laws of this country, but not according to the law
of God. Not according to the word of
God. But anyway, a man, and many of the men did, have more than
one wife. But God says now if a man, suppose
he marries a woman and he finds out he doesn't really care for
her. He hates her. That's what it says, he hates
her. Then he has another wife he loves. Now his firstborn son
was from the wife who he hated. His son from the wife that he
loves, no doubt she would bring a lot of pressure on him, and
wives have a way of doing that. You husbands know what I mean.
She would bring a lot of pressure on him, I want my son to get
the double portion. No doubt, God said, that's not
the way it's going to be. The firstborn is the firstborn,
period. If he's a son by a woman that
the man hated, he's still to receive the right of the firstborn. The religious rulers, the religious
rulers of this world when the Lord Jesus Christ came, when
he was born, they did everything they could. They desired that
he not receive his right, that he not receive his birthright. that he not receive all things
that had been given unto him as the father's firstborn. Read about that, look with me
in Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage? People
imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast
away their cards from us. You think they're going to prosper
in that? You think they're going to change
God's purpose, that His firstborn Son be the heir of all things. They planned to do it, and those
religious leaders, when the Lord Jesus came into this world, they
did what they could to destroy Him, but they didn't realize
and did not know that they were doing exactly what God had purposed
to be done. They did what they wanted to
do. They did out of their hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ demand
his crucifixion. But in doing so, they were doing
exactly what God had purposed and ordained from before the
foundation of the world. Let us break their bands, asunder
and cast away their cards from us. What's the reaction? It's not really a reaction. He
that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet I have
set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree
the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son. This day, this eternal
day, have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Acknowledge the
Son. Bow to the Son. Believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Kiss the Son lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. When we think about the wrath
of the Son of God, We read about that in Revelation, don't we?
The wrath of Him that sitteth upon the throne and of the Lamb. The wrath of the Son of God.
For we read there, there's a day coming when the kings and all
the governors and great men of this earth are going to pray
and they're going to plead, let the mountains fall upon us and
cover us and hide us from the face of him that setteth upon
the throne, and of the Lamb. He's God's firstborn, and nothing
that men are able to do will ever keep him from having and
receiving his inheritance, which is the world, all things contained
in it. Here's the fourth thing about
the firstborn. the firstborn became the leader
of the family. When the father died, the firstborn
became the leader and would become the priest of the family. Now
we know that God Almighty is eternal and he never will be
replaced, but listen, he has appointed his firstborn to be
head over all things and that forever and ever. This is what
we read in Ephesians 1, which he wrote in Christ when he raised
him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly
places. Now notice far above the Lord
Jesus Christ, God has set far above all principality and power
and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come. and hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him," now listen, "...gave
him to be the head over all things to the church." He's the head
over all things to the church, for the good of the church. And
all things that are taking place, and we are exasperated many times,
and we don't understand what's going on, but we do know this,
that All things are being accomplished to fulfill His purpose in saving
His chosen people. His church that He loved and
gave Himself for. The firstborn became the leader
of the family, became the priest of the family. Now this changed,
of course, when God gave the law at Mount Sinai and God took
the tribe of Levi. Remember, God claimed all the
firstborn was His, of man and beast. If the firstborn was a donkey,
God said either redeem it or kill it. Couldn't be used in
the worship of God in the tabernacle, so it either has to be killed
or redeemed. But it's mine, the firstborn
of man and of animal. But rather than take the firstborn
son of all the families of the tribes of Reuben and Judah and
all of those various tribes, he took the tribe of Levi. Remember, there was a difference.
They counted up all the firstborn. They counted up all the men above,
I believe it was 20, in the tribe of Levi. He took them to be his
firstborn, and there was a difference. And so what happened? They had
to redeem those that was over. I think there was less of the
tribe of Levi. And so there had to be a redemption
price paid. The firstborn before the law
was given became the priest when the father died. That all changed,
of course, at Mount Sinai. God took the tribe of Levi rather
than all the firstborn of the tribes of Israel. And then the
Levitical priesthood became typical of the priesthood of God's firstborn. who is our great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one more place. I want you to turn to Hebrews
chapter 12. We as believers, as God's children, have come, it says in verse 22,
but we are come, you are come unto Mount Zion and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. Now you might read that and think,
well, Christ is the firstborn and it is his church. That's
true, but that's not what this verse is saying. This verse is
declaring that everyone who is saved is, in Christ, considered
a firstborn. The church of the firstborn.
We are all the firstborn. All of God's children. We're
all the firstborn. And when you consider the four
things that I've pointed out to us from the scripture, from
the Old Testament about what was true of the firstborn, then
we need to think of these things as true of all of us, all of
us who are believers, we too are the firstborn. First of all,
what was it? Strength, power, near and dear
to the father. In Christ our head, we are given
power to live for him. When a person is saved, A person's
sins are forgiven, but he still needs power to live above his
sins. We think of salvation as deliverance
from, first of all, the penalty of sin, that is eternal damnation,
eternal separation from God, but also from the power, the
power of sin, to live for Christ. Out of His side, you remember,
at the cross flowed both blood and water. Blood to justify,
water to cleanse, to sanctify. We are considered the firstborn,
and in Him, He is our strength. We have no strength of our own.
He said, without Me, you can do nothing. He is our strength. And oh, as he is near and dear
to the Father, so are we. As he is, so are we in this world. Number two, the inheritance. We, as his firstborn, we are
heirs and heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. Number three,
kept. The firstborn could never lose
his birthright. If he was the firstborn, no matter
what he did, He could never, ever lose his birthright. And so we as God's firstborn
are kept by the power of God through faith. Not one of his children is going
to lose his salvation. Anyone and everyone who teaches
a person can be saved and then lose their salvation. Know this. They believe in salvation by
works. Now that's just so. They do not
believe what the scripture says, for by grace are you saved through
faith. We are kept by the power of God
through faith. That's part of the covenant.
He's not going to turn away from us, And by his power and work in
our hearts, we're not going to turn away from him. And the last
thing, the firstborn became the priest and he has made us as
the firstborn even priest unto God, who loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests
unto God. I pray the Lord would bless these
thoughts and words to all of us here tonight. Now, if you
will, let's sing a hymn.