The Firstborn From The Dead

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 

Colossians 1:18 

This summary of Christ emphasizes His position. If we look back at previous verses we see Him as the King, the Redeemer, the image of the invisible God, the Creator, the Eternal One, the Upholder of all that is, the Head of the Body, and the Beginning. Our contemplation today lies in the statement, ‘the firstborn from the dead.’ Once again, we should not consider this in terms of chronology, but rather position. Christ is the Chief Representative of the dead because He has risen from the dead. Paul refers to this extensively in I Corinthians 15, where he begins with a summary of the gospel message which concludes with the statement, ‘and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.’ He goes on to list the extensive number of witnesses who saw Christ in various contexts after His resurrection. He goes on to refer to Christ as, ‘the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.’ Because we know that chronologically other people were raised from the dead before Christ rose, the ‘firstfruits’ reference must, of necessity, be to His position as the Representative of those who rise from the dead. This is the Representative we want. We want no one less than Christ. Because He lives we shall live also.  

Our Glorious Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have risen from the dead. 
We praise You that You are our Glorious Representative.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning