Page 23 - Christ in You - The Hope of Glory

The Number of the Firstborn

here is a wonderful theme found throughout the entirety of the Bible relating to those
Twho are the firstborn. The firstborn male that opens the womb was always reserved, set
apart, as holy unto Yahweh.

Exodus 34:19
The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me...

That Christ Yahshua was the firstborn from the womb of a virgin was not by
happenstance. It was the design of the Father in heaven. Yahshua would serve as a pattern
for a group of elect, overcoming, firstfruits from among mankind who would be reserved
as holy unto Yahweh.

Luke 2:22-23
And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were
completed, they brought [Yahshua] up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as
it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every first-born male that opens the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord")...

Attaining to the number of the firstborn is a goal every Christian should strive
towards. The Old Testament laws and practices centered around the firstborn serve as types
and shadows of those who will be the first to attain to the resurrection from the dead,
ascending to a glorified condition as the preeminent sons of God. This preeminence of the
firstborn was revealed in Yahweh’s choice of the firstborn male from every Israelite family
to serve as priest. These firstborn males were “holy unto Yahweh.” In every way the rights
and privileges of the firstborn were superior to those born after them.

Colossians 1:18
And he is... the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have
the preeminence.

I know some will be prone to object that this declaration is specifically in reference to
Christ. This is true, but one must consider that Christ is more than Yahshua, the Son of
God. Christ is a many membered body.

I Corinthians 12:12-13
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members
of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

To understand the promises of God to the firstborn one must come to embrace a truly
Biblical mindset concerning the identity of Christ. Christ is not one person. The word Christ
means “anointed.” Yahshua, the Son of God is Christ. So too are those who are members of
His body. Yahshua is the Head. As Head He holds a preeminence among His brethren. The
Head is set atop the body, even as Yahshua resides in the highest place among those who
are numbered among the body of Christ.