God of the Firstborn

Throughout the Bible, we see God place an emphasis on the firstborn. 

The firstborn is the one He killed in Egypt, but spared in Goshen. The firstborn is the one He set apart. The firstborn is the one who had to be bought back, whether it was a human or a donkey. The firstborn is the one who had to be redeemed. And if it could not be redeemed, it had to be offered as a sacrifice. 

No wonder, then, that when God chose to come to dwell among us in flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, He came as a firstborn (Luke 2:23). 

That's why He was born of a virgin - so that He would be the one to bring life first. That's why He wasn't born to an old married couple - so that He would be the first. That's why He wasn't just a favored son, like Joseph - He was the favored Son, the firstborn. 

He had to be bought back. He had to be recognized as something sacred, set apart, honored, revered, and redeemed.

And if He couldn't be redeemed, He had to be sacrificed. 

That is the story of Jesus. 

The thing about this firstborn is...He couldn't be redeemed. What can you possibly offer to the Lord to get His Son back from Him? It doesn't make sense. 

And what did the Lord's Son need to be redeemed from? His flesh wasn't broken (Isaiah even said this). He wasn't sinful. There was much that was scandalous about Him, but nothing that was fallen. There was nothing unclean about Him. 

He was dedicated, as He should have been. Given back to God as sacred, as the law required. He was taken to the Temple and presented, but this was a firstborn who did not require redeeming; He was the Redeemer. He still is. 

So He becomes a sacrifice. He must be offered to the Lord. He must be given whole, His blood poured out as holy before God. 

That's on Calvary. 

And then His blood becomes the blood on our doorposts as Passover, the blood that marks us as set apart, the blood that marks us as something sacred. The blood that makes the Lord, in His curse, in His wrath, protect us somehow still. 

It can only be the firstborn. 

It must be the firstborn. 

He must be the firstborn. 

So firstborn, He was.