At Christmas, we don’t just celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  We also honor the profound truth that He is the Firstborn of all creation. This concept is usually overlooked. But the truth is, it’s foundational to the New Testament and enriches our understanding of the Christmas story. That said, let’s take a closer look at this doctrine’s significance for our faith and the world.   Christ Is The Firstborn of a New Creation The New Testament declares Jesus as the Firstborn. Romans 8:29 describes Him as the “firstborn among many brothers.” In Colossians 1:12-18, Paul emphasizes that Christ’s preeminence in creation is rooted in His role as the Firstborn. This term does not refer to physical birth alone but to His place as the head and heir of God’s new creation. The old humanity, descended from Adam, is destined for death and separation from God. In 1 Corinthians 15:22, we are reminded that “in Adam all die.” But through Christ, the new Adam, comes eternal life and the promise of an everlasting inheritance. Hebrews 12:23 calls the church the “assembly of the firstborn,” meaning that believers share in Christ’s eternal inheritance. His birth heralds the beginning of this new humanity.   All Of Creation Sustained by Christ Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16-17, “By Him, all things were created… and in Him, all things hold together.” Christ is not only the Creator but the one who sustains the universe. Everything… visible and invisible, earthly and heavenly… finds its purpose and coherence in Him. Without Him, there is no meaning or direction. This truth transforms our perspective. The Christmas story isn’t just a heartwarming tale of a baby born in a manger. It’s the Creator entering His creation to redeem and restore it. Jesus, the Firstborn, came to reconcile all things to Himself, and this reconciliation begins with His birth.   Gift-giving mirrors God’s grace: ‘On this day, to us came forth the gift, although we asked it not.’ — St. Ephraim. Just as God gave His Son, we give to reflect His boundless love. The Christmas Tree and the Tree of Life The early church saw the Christmas tree as a powerful symbol of Christ. Just as the evergreen tree remains vibrant through winter, it serves as a powerful reminder of our eternal life in Jesus. Originally, fruit or decorations resembling fruit, were common on Christmas trees. The Christmas tree pointed to Christ as the Tree of Life, described in Revelation 22:2 as bearing fruit all year long. This symbolism should fill us with hope and reassurance. Some still argue that the Christmas tree is rooted in paganism, which really reflects a misunderstanding of church history. Early Christians used the tree to symbolize Christ’s unchanging nature and life-giving power.  St. Ephraim of Syria, a fourth-century church father, referred to Christ as the “Tree of Life” and saw Christmas as the “feast of the Firstborn.” Gift-giving, too, has its roots in this understanding. Ephraim wrote, “On this day, to us came forth the gift, although we asked it not.” Because God gave the gift of His Son, Christians began to give gifts, especially to the needy and children, as a reflection of God’s grace.   Christ’s Preeminence in All Things In Colossians 1:18, Paul declares that Christ has “preeminence in all things.” The Greek word for preeminence is proteuo, which means “to hold the first place.” As the Firstborn, Jesus holds authority over all creation and, of course, the church. He is the head of the Ekklesia, a term that encompasses worship and every area of life under His dominion… family, work, government, and more. Christ’s headship is also absolute. Unlike human institutions that continue after the death of their leaders, the very existence of creation depends on Christ. Without Him, nothing would exist. In Him, all things consist, and His lordship extends to every sphere of life. This truth should fill us with a profound sense of confidence in our faith.   The Firstfruits and the Firstborn The Bible often links the ideas of firstfruits and firstborns. In the Old Testament, the firstfruits of the harvest were offered to God as a sign that the entire harvest belonged to Him. Similarly, Jesus is called by Paul the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). His resurrection guarantees the resurrection of all who belong to Him. In the early church, the firstfruits of grain and grape were brought to communion as an offering to the Firstborn, Jesus Christ. This practice symbolized that everything, including our lives and labor, belongs to Him. In years past, once adorned with fruit, the Christmas tree also carried this meaning: the firstfruits belong to the Firstborn.   Christ’s Cosmic Lordship At Christmas, we celebrate Christ as more than a baby in a manger. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all things. His birth marks the beginning of a new creation, and His resurrection secures the promise of eternal life. Paul’s words in Colossians 1:16-18 remind us of Christ’s cosmic lordship:     “For by Him all things were created… and in Him all things hold together.” This includes us. Every detail of our lives is part of His eternal purpose. The world does not exist for our benefit, nor do we live for ourselves. Our lives and all creation point to Christ and His redemptive mission.   The Reason For Hope At Christmas This Christmas, remember that Jesus is the Firstborn of creation and the firstfruits of the resurrection. His birth, life, death, and resurrection declare His lordship over all. Let the evergreen tree remind you of His eternal life, and let your giving reflect the greatest gift of all… God’s gift of His Son. In celebrating Christ, the Firstborn, we proclaim the hope of new life, the promise of resurrection, and the eternal reign of our Lord. All things were made by Him, through Him, and for Him… and in Him, all things hold together.   The post The “Firstborn” Christ Of Christmas And Our Foundation Of Hope appeared first on Off The Grid News.

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Even some fields that seem fully settled will occasionally have breakthrough ideas that have reverberated impacts on the rest of the fields of science and technology. Mechanics is one of those relatively settled fields – it is primarily understood at the macroscopic level, and relatively few new breakthroughs have occurred in it recently. Until a few years ago, when a group of Harvard engineers developed what they called a totimorphic structure, and a recent paper by researchers at ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team dives into detail about how they can be utilized to create megastructures, such as telescope mirrors and human habitats in space. First, it’s worth understanding what a totimorphic structure is. It is a series of triangular structures with a beam, a lever, and two elastic bands acting as springs. Given the proper configuration, the elastic bands can hold the lever at a set position in what mechanics researchers call “neutral” – i.e., without any external force being applied. One important aspect is that the lever can be held at any position, essentially making it an analog positioning system that doesn’t have any set points where it must necessarily rest. Another important aspect is that two or more can be combined in an hourglass-looking shape, allowing the structure to take on literally any form in either 2D or 3D space and be stable in that form. There are plenty of novel ideas for huge telescopes, as Fraser discusses That second part is the critical feature that the researchers at ESA were interested in. Such a flexible structure would be useful in several applications, including building domed habitats or creating a telescope with an adjustable focal length that doesn’t rely on complex actuators. So, they developed a method for simulating these structures and applying them to those two use cases. Since these modular units are physical structures, they must still abide by some rules. The three rules of these structures are that the beam and lever both have fixed lengths and that the lever must be connected on one of its ends to the midpoint of the beam. It would be interesting to see how these structures could use different types of materials for the lever or beam that would potentially allow them to change, but that’s still on the to-do list for researchers somewhere. With those requirements in mind, the researchers set up a series of Python scripts that solve optimization problems associated with both configurable structures. The optimized features are different for either the habitat or the mirror. Still, both use the fact that the totimorphic structure is “analog,”—meaning it can continuously and stably move from one state to another without having to “jump” between them. Video describing the mechanics of totimorphic materials.Credit – Rajamanickam Antonimuthu YouTube Channel The results were promising, though they show that physically realizing this system would be difficult. They also point out that an AI would be well-placed to understand the properties of the structures created by combining loads of these modular units, similar to how it is possible for AI to fold proteins in innumerable ways without ever physically experiencing them. A lot of work will still be done with this novel technology, though putting these systems to the test in an actual experimental environment is probably pretty close. If the ESA or another team can build a functional variable focal point mirror out of this new structure, that would be a breakthrough worthy of celebration. Example of an hourglass-shaped “unit cell” and the positions it can be put into.Credit – Dold et al. Learn More:Dold et al. – Continuous Design and Reprogramming of Totimorphic Structures for Space ApplicationsUT – What’s the Best Material for a Lunar Tower?UT – Using Smart Materials To Deploy A Dark Age ExplorerUT – NASA is Testing out new Composite Materials for Building Lightweight Solar Sail Supports Lead Image:Depiction of the two use cases in the current study – habitat domes and variable focal length mirrors.Credit – Dold et al. The post A New Reconfigurable Structure Could Be Used to Make Space Habitats appeared first on Universe Today.

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