Colossians 1:15–18 (ESV) ~
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
A Brother Unlike Any Other
J.C. Ryle once said in Holiness:
“Christ is our elder Brother. He is ever watching over us, and ever caring for us as one who is bound to us by the closest ties.”
The title “elder brother” is tender and weighty all at once. It draws out memories of family, of someone who stands before us, stronger and wiser, and—if they are truly brotherly—ready to defend us.
But here’s the danger: false teachers have taken this title and drained it of its biblical strength. The Mormon faith calls Jesus “elder brother,” but twists it into a heretical vision of man’s deification: that God the Father is a god, Jesus is a god, and we too may become gods. That is not the witness of Scripture. That is not the gospel.
The Puritans, and preachers like Reverend Ryle, meant something infinitely more beautiful and soul-rescuing. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, stepped into our family line—not to tell us that we may ascend to divinity, but that through His fully atoning sacrifice, He might bring us into the household of God as beloved sons and daughters. He is not our “brother” because we share godhood. He is our Brother because He stooped down, bore our shame, and became the firstborn from the dead so that we might live.
That is an elder brother worth clinging to.
The Memory of a Backyard Football Game
I remember one autumn afternoon, the kind where the air is crisp and the grass still smells faintly of summer. My friend Matt’s house had this big side yard, perfect for tackle football. We gathered there often, a ragtag crew of neighborhood kids with too much energy and too little equipment.
On this particular day, the game had gone from friendly to fierce. My cousin, two years older and much stronger, decided he would make me his personal target. Every play, he came at me harder than the last. What started as playful roughhousing turned into shoves that knocked the wind out of me and tackles that left me gasping in the dirt.
Finally, there was one hit too many. He drove me down hard, pressing me into the ground with an aggression that went beyond the rules of the game. For a moment, I lay there pinned, humiliated, and stung with more than just physical pain.
Then—out of nowhere— Matt stepped in. He didn’t just call for the game to stop; he threw himself between us. He pushed my cousin off me, standing squarely in the gap. His message was clear: “Enough. You won’t treat him this way.”
In that moment, Matt was more of a brother to me than my cousin had been. He saw my weakness, felt my struggle, and stepped into the fight on my behalf. He was the elder brother I needed right then.
Jesus, Our True Elder Brother
That backyard scuffle is only a shadow of a far greater reality.
My cousin’s roughness may have knocked me into the grass, but sin and death have knocked me into the grave. And there is no way, in my own strength, to push them off. Left alone, I am crushed beneath the weight of guilt and condemnation.
But Jesus—oh, how marvelous—Jesus steps in. He is the Elder Brother who doesn’t just shout from the sidelines or offer coaching tips. He takes the hit for me. He absorbs the punishment that should have been mine. Where I should have been pinned, He was pierced. Where I should have been condemned, He was crucified.
And now He stands, not in a grassy yard but at the right hand of the Father, appealing on my behalf:
“Remember Father! Remember My sacrifice for Jake! Remember the cross. Remember the blood that speaks a far better word.”
Day and night, rain or shine, the Son intercedes for His people (Hebrews 7:25). He is not absent, nor aloof. He is present in heaven as Advocate, standing before the throne with scars that still testify: “It is finished!”
The Preeminence of the Firstborn
Colossians 1 tells us He is “the firstborn of all creation” and “the firstborn from the dead.” Those aren’t casual phrases. Paul is lifting our eyes to see Christ as both the Creator and the Redeemer—the One through whom all things exist and the One who has gone before us into resurrection life.
When the Puritans called Him our elder brother, they meant exactly this: He goes before us. He clears the way. He conquers the enemies that would have destroyed us. And then He turns back, takes us by the hand, and says, “Come, follow Me home.”
Unlike Cain, who asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and then shed Abel’s blood in jealousy, Jesus is the true Elder Brother who lays down His own life to keep His co-heirs safe. Unlike Jacob, who tricked Esau for the birthright, Jesus shares His inheritance freely. Unlike Joseph’s brothers who sold him into slavery, Jesus redeems us from slavery and calls us family.
Where every earthly brother fails in some measure, Jesus succeeds perfectly.
The Push and Pull of His Love
And here is where the heart trembles. Because even as I write these words, I feel the pull:
- I am unworthy. My sins are too many. Surely this Brother will tire of me.
- Yet—He is faithful. His love does not grow weary. He will not cast me out.
- I still stumble. I still fall short.
- Yet—He stands. He intercedes. He covers me with His righteousness.
Do you feel it? The push of despair, the pull of grace? This is the rhythm of the Christian life: our failures met by His faithfulness, our guilt swallowed up in His gospel.
The Puritan Thomas Goodwin once wrote that Christ is “more glad of us than we can be of Him.” Let that sink in. Your Elder Brother is not reluctantly tied to you. He rejoices to claim you. He delights to present you before the Father blameless, with great joy (Jude 24).
A Family Secured
What kind of family is this? Not one bound by bloodlines of earth, but by the blood of Christ. Not one where power is hoarded, but where power is poured out in sacrifice.
When Jesus is called our Elder Brother, it is not a diminishment of His divinity but a declaration of His love. He is the eternal Son who became flesh, who entered into our weakness, who shouldered our shame, who rose triumphant, and who now leads us into glory.
The Mormons strip the name of its gospel strength. The Scriptures clothe it with majesty and mercy. He is not one god among many. He is the preeminent Christ, the firstborn from the dead, the Head of the body, the One in whom all things hold together.
And wonder of wonders: He calls us His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11).
Run to Your Elder Brother
I think back to that football game often. How grateful I was in that moment that Matt stepped in. Yet how much more grateful I am that Jesus has stepped in for me—not once, but forever.
Friend, if you are weary, if you feel crushed under the weight of sin, know this: you are not alone in the yard. You are not pinned with no hope of relief. Jesus Christ, the Elder Brother of your soul, has already taken the blow. He has already risen victorious. He is even now interceding for you.
Run to Him. Rest in Him. Rejoice in Him. For in everything, He is preeminent. And He is not ashamed to call you His brother, His sister, His own.
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