Jesus, the Firstborn from the Dead

by Terry Wane Benton

"And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Revelation 1:5 NKJV).

"Firstborn" is a term that can point to the one that was born first, but not always. It came to carry the meaning of foremost in ranking so that even if a second child was not the first in order of birth but was given the blessing of being foremost in ranking, the label of “firstborn” went to him. Esau was first in order of birth, but Jacob became the first in order of ranking and thus took the role of firstborn by being foremost in ranking. Likewise, Jesus was not the first in chronological order to rise from the dead, although He was the first to lay down His own life and take it up again, still the term speaks more to the more highly significant implications of His resurrection. Of all whom God had raised from the dead in history, Jesus is foremost (firstborn) in the ranking of its far-reaching significance.

Jesus predicted His death and resurrection. No mere man had ever or could ever do that without some inherent power that mere men have never owned. Jesus laid claim to be the One who would raise us in the last day:

"And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40 NKJV).

Jesus would be a fraud if He claimed He could and would raise us if He had no control over His own death and resurrection. Therefore, of all who have died and were raised, Jesus is the most significant. He is the “firstborn” in rank. If He cannot have power over death, He cannot raise us in the last day.

"Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (I Corinthians 15:15-19 NKJV).

Paul was not willing to concede to the idea that there is no resurrection because he knew the fact of Jesus’ resurrection meant such a faith was not baseless. We are not pitiable people who believe without good reason. Jesus’ resurrection was predicted “according to the scriptures” and from Jesus’ own mouth and three days after His crucifixion, He was clearly alive again with many eyewitnesses verifying the prophetic words had been demonstrated in Jesus’ actual resurrection. Jesus is firstborn in the ranking of resurrections because His resurrection verifies the solid truth that He will indeed raise us on the last day. That places our hope in the category of “confident expectation” and puts the unbeliever in the category of “pitiable” and foolishly hopeless. Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead” and that fact can never put Christians in the category of pitiable people. Believing Jesus to have proven His power over death puts our faith on solid ground, and that is wonderful hope and confident expectation!