Dr. Dan Hayden •
I’m the firstborn of five kids in our family. I guess that makes me the experimental model. “Firstborn”—that’s our word for today.
In Romans 8:29 it says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Obviously, Jesus was the firstborn of the virgin Mary. According to Mark 6:3, Mary and Joseph had at least six other children–four boys and at least two girls. So, Jesus was the firstborn of seven children, but that is not what this is referring to.
Firstborn is a reference to His rights to inherit everything in the universe. In fact, this term “firstborn” has nothing to do with being born. It is a reference to His inheritance rights.
The Greek word proto means “first”. We have it in our word, “prototype”–the first creation of a new type; and tokos is the word for “interest” on money loaned. So the word literally means, “first-interest.” It’s a word used to refer to the rights of the firstborn in a Jewish family—the right to the family inheritance.
When this word is used in Romans 8:29, it is saying that Jesus Christ has the right of inheritance to all that belongs to God the Father. He has the prototokos–the “first-interest”. So, here’s the Point: when we belong to Christ by faith in Him as our Savior, not only are we being conformed to His image, we also get to participate in His inheritance. For it says “…that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” And that refers to us, we are the brethren.
Did you know that in Jesus you are an heir to the greatest fortune in the world?