Is Jesus a Created Being?

From “Good News From God”, pg 8, “He was God’s first creation”, “He is the only one created directly by Jehovah and is therefore appropriately called God’s ‘only-begotten’ Son. (John 1:14)”

Proverbs 8:22, 23, 30 is referenced, as well as Colossians 1:15, 16

The Proverbs passage is personifying wisdom (a literary practice; foolishness is also personified) and doesn’t apply to our question, “is Jesus a created being?”  The Colossians passage is:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

16 For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him.

The Greek text is :

15 ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, 16 ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ [a]πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς [b]καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται·

Πρωτότοκος : 1) pertaining to birth order 2) pertaining to having special status associated with a firstborn

Examples of usage:

Ex 4:22 ”Israel is my firstborn son” (Πρωτότοκος in the Septuagint)

Ps 89:27 “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (referring to David)

Jer 31:9 “for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn”

Isa 14:30 “the firstborn of the poor will graze”

The point of the passage that Col 1:15 is found in, is that the Son of God is preeminent over everything else in all creation.  It follows that by referring to the Son as the firstborn, the emphasis is on having special status associated with a firstborn, rather than making a point about the Son’s birth order.  If the word “firstborn” can be used in a figurative sense, like in the Scriptural examples above, it doesn’t necessarily follow that Paul is implying that the Son is a created being.  Possibly Paul is using OT language that was used of David and Israel for the Son who fulfills both David and Israel.