Colossians 1: 18 – Firstborn from among the dead

…And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first…

The preceding verses describe the Son as the one in whom, through whom, and for whom all things exist. As John 1 also says: all things were made by the word of God and as the personification of the word He is the origin of all. In verse 18 the perspective is very different. This is about a new creation (2Cor.5:17; Gal.6:15). He is also the origin of this and the reason for this is also immediately mentioned by Paul: He is the “firstborn from among the dead”. As the firstfruits from the dead, He is the beginning of a new creation.

We know from Scripture that Christ was not the first to rise from the dead. Consider, for example, the daughter of Jairus and Lazarus. But those resurrections are not included here either. For these people, their resurrection was a return to mortal existence and they therefore died again later. But how different was the resurrection of Christ! He rose never to die again (Rom.6:9,10). He brought to light “life and incorruption” (2 Tim. 1:10)! Death is behind Him definitively!

Delen: