Firstborn of all creation
Whether 'firstborn' names priority of rank or a beginning in time.
Colossians 1:15-20
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.
17He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
18He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,
20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Kohler and Hirsch note that in Philo the Logos is designated “son of God” and “first-born,” with God as the father of the Logos. They suggest these terms probably imply the Logos’s distinct personality but carry only a figurative meaning.
Kaufmann Kohler, Emil G. Hirsch, Son of God (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906) — Article 'Son of God' (on the Logos as first-born)
Patristic
Athanasius says that calling Him First-born shows He is not a creature but the Father's Offspring. He states that it would be inconsistent with His deity for Him to be called a creature.
Athanasius, Statement of Faith (in NPNF II/4, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters) — § 3
Catholic
Haydock cites Chrysostom against the Arians: Christ is called first-begotten or first-born, not first created, because he was not created at all. The sense is that he was before all creatures, proceeding from all eternity from the Father, though some explain the words of Christ as man, greater in dignity.
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — On Colossians 1:15
Orthodox
John of Damascus says the Son is first-born of all creation because both He and creation are of God. Yet He is born alone and timelessly from the essence of God the Father. He may therefore be called Only-begotten Son, first-born and not first-created.
John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (NPNF II/9) — Book IV, ch. 8, 'How the Only-begotten Son of God is called first-born'
Reformed / Protestant
Calvin says Christ is not called firstborn merely because he preceded all creatures in time. He was begotten by the Father so that they might be created by him, and so that he might be, as it were, the substance or foundation of all things. Calvin calls the Arian argument from this title that he is consequently a creature foolish.
John Calvin, John Calvin's Bible Commentary (Calvin Translation Society; 'Commentary on Colossians') — Commentary on Colossians 1:15
Evangelical
According to this commentary, “First-begotten” marks at once His eternal priority and His condescending to brotherhood with us (Romans 8:29). “Only-begotten” marks His relation to the Father by generation from everlasting.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible — On Colossians 1:15