The Case For Christ

CREATOR OR CREATED?
Part of the sketch that Jesus must match is that God is an
uncreated being who has existed from eternity past. Isaiah 57:15
describes God as "he who lives forever." But, I said to Carson,
there are some verses that seem to strongly suggest that Jesus
was a created being. "For instance," I said, "John 3:16 calls
Jesus the 'begotten' Son of God, and Colossians 1:15 says he was
the 'firstborn over all creation.' Don't they clearly imply that
Jesus was created, as opposed to being the Creator?"
One of Carson's areas of expertise is Greek grammar, which he
called upon in responding to both of those verses.
"Let's take John 3:16," he said. "It's the King James Version
that translates the Greek with the words 'his only begotten Son.'
Those who consider this the correct rendering usually bind that
up with the Incarnation itself-that is, his begetting in the
Virgin Mary. But in fact, that's not what the word in Greek
means.
"It really means 'unique one.' The way it was usually used in the
first century is 'unique and beloved.' So John 3:16 is simply
saying that Jesus is the unique and beloved Son-or as the New
International Version translates it, 'the one and only Son'-
rather than saying that he's ontologically begotten in time."
"That only explains that one passage," I pointed out.
"OK, let's look at the Colossians verse, which uses the term
'firstborn.' The vast majority of commentators, whether
conservative or liberal, recognize that in the Old Testament the
firstborn, because of the laws of succession, normally received
the lion's share of the estate, or the firstbom would become king
in the case of a royal family. The firstborn therefore was the
one ultimately with all the rights of the father. "By the second
century before Christ, there are places where the word no longer
has any notion of actual begetting or of being born first but
carries the idea of the authority that comes with the position of
being the rightful heir. That's the way it applies to Jesus, as
virtually all scholars admit. In light of that, the very
expression 'firstborn' is slightly misleading."
"What would be a better translation?" I asked.
"I think 'supreme heir' would be more appropriate," he responded.
While that would explain the Colossians passage, Carson went even
further, with one last point.