There are those who do not believe Jesus is the “everlasting to everlasting.”  Colossians 1:15 is often referenced as proof Jesus was a creation and not the Creator.  After all, Paul calls Him the “firstborn of all creation.”  But we must remember the very next statement which states “all things were created by him and for him.”  Jesus’ firstborn designation was, therefore, not a reference to an actual creation, but rather His status as the full heir to the Father.  Not only is the Father’s inheritance His, but we are invited to share in it through the Son’s death on the cross (Romans 8:17).

This point of theology matters.  If Jesus was created by God He can be everlasting or eternal moving forward, but not “everlasting to everlasting.”  His personal claim to be the “I am” would have been grounds for blaspheme after all.  Not only this, but how could Jesus be called “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23), unless He was “God with us?”  This prophecy, reiterated by the angel to Joseph, would have been nonsensical if Jesus was not fully God.

Some might say, “God was with us in Jesus in the sense an earthly son represents his father in a family business.”  Certainly Jesus was submissive to His Father in this way, but in business the son is not the father.  He may reflect the father, sound like the father or even look like the father.  But everyone knows he is the son.  Jesus didn’t say, “I am like the I am.”  He said, “I am.”