August 28, 2024
Praying Friends.
In a previous article, we discussed how the Lord Jesus is described by Paul as the firstborn of all creation, meaning He is the Creator and has sovereign authority over all things (Colossians 1:15).
Now, we find the same word is used in connection with His wondrous resurrection.
“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:18 NIV).
He was the firstborn over His first creation, the universe, and everything in it, and now also the firstborn over His new creation, the spiritual one: the creation, consisting of all believers in Jesus.
Paul says that Christ is “the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.” He is the originator and the source of the church, which is His body, and He accomplished this rising in triumph over the grave.
Our Lord Jesus is our pioneer and forerunner. He faced death. He entered into death. He passed through death. He conquered death. And He came out victorious. He was the first to rise in the power of a life that will never end.
There were people who were raised prior to our Savior’s resurrection, like the boy from Zarephath, Jarius’ daughter, the widow of Nain, and Lazarus, but each of them died again. The Lord Jesus rose as the firstborn to a new kind of life. He was raised in a wondrous, incorruptible body that could never again experience death.
He blazed the trail for us and we have full confidence that all who believe in Jesus will rise to the same kind of life. Paul describes this to the Corinthian believers, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). To get the full explanation, read the whole of 1 Corinthians 15.
We, along with every other believer, will be raised to a new imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual body that will be able to exist and enjoy the fullness of eternal life.
Similarly, in writing to the Philippian believers he says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).
Then we will enjoy the fullness of our redemption, when our present bodies with all their weaknesses and limitations will be changed to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a very real and present comfort. We all have the dreaded experience of physical death, which is a part of our human existence. It is not a pleasant thought. We don’t know the day of our death, or the way in which we will leave this temporal world for the eternal one.
What we do know is that Jesus, our firstborn, will be joyfully waiting for us on the other side. His wounded hands will be outstretched to take us safely into His presence.
Just as sure as He was raised to a new life after His death upon the cross, so we too will be raised! We trusted Him to take our sins away, we trust Him to help us in our pilgrim journey, and we can trust Him to raise us in the power of an endless life.
Paul says that He rose as the firstborn, “so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” He has accomplished it. He will accomplish it. He deserves the glory, the honor, the praise, and the worship of all our hearts!
In 1780, Edward Perronet wrote these beautiful words:
All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all!
Let every tongue and every tribe
responsive to his call,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
To him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all!
Thank you for praying for our prodigals and for revival among us.
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel
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