Jesus was called the “firstborn from the dead” in Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5. What does this title mean? In his first letter, the Apostle Peter wrote the following.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 (NASB)
Just how does the resurrection of Christ cause us to be born again? The answer to this question provides an amazing insight into some of the glorious grace of the New Covenant.
When Adam and Eve betrayed God by so easily choosing to believe Satan’s lie instead of showing allegiance to their Maker and source of life, they ceded their God-given authority over the earth and its creatures to Satan. In so doing, they and their offspring became slaves of the devil, subject to his oppression and cruelty. Jesus described him as a liar and murderer, whose purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 8:44, John 10:10)
In order to redeem his fallen and captive people, God needed a man to reverse the course, become the progenitor of a free people, a Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:47), who would honor and obey God and remain faithful to him, no matter how great the temptation or pressure.
That is why Jesus became a human being through the miracle of the Incarnation (John 1:14). His mother was Mary, from the line of David, making Jesus a true human being, but his Father was God himself, making him God’s Son. This made Jesus the most unique person who ever lived. He was both from here and not from here.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. John 1:14–16 (NKJV)
His divine conception was prophesied by Isaiah.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)
When the Eternal Logos, who had always been with God, took on a human body via the conception from the Holy Spirit, it meant that Jesus did not have the innate corruption from sin that every other human being inherited from Adam, the progenitor of the first version of humanity.
Jesus was the God-Man, fully God and fully man, but a version of man who could redeem us.
When Jesus arrived on the scene, the battle of the ages commenced. Satan’s first plan was to kill the baby. He used Herod to try to accomplish this grisly task, but God warned Joseph to flee to Egypt, thus preserving the child. We don’t know if other attempts were made upon his life subsequently, but when Jesus reached manhood, at just the right time, he entered into his three-year public ministry. From the very outset, Satan attempted to compromise Jesus’ integrity and devotion to God. The temptations in the wilderness initiated an aspect of Satan’s warfare against the Messiah that would continue right up to Calvary, the crescendo being the temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus warned and prepared his disciples for his coming crucifixion, but like most of us, they could not, or would not, hear what he was telling them. It was too awful to contemplate. Jesus knew from the beginning that his destiny was to give his life as a sin offering as God’s Lamb, but it is far easier to declare our intentions to do something difficult when it is yet a long way off than to follow through when the time is upon us. Jesus faced his very human fears and dread of what was coming.
Crucifixion was an ingenious method of torture used by the Romans as a deterrent to crime and sedition and was a horrible way to die. But as terrible as the physical suffering would be, the greatest temptation was most likely connected to Jesus’ facing the imminent separation from his Eternal Father when the sin of mankind fell upon him in such a way that the Bible says he “became sin” (2Corinthians 5:21). He was so thoroughly identified with our sin and guilt that he became one with it, which seems to have temporarily separated him from his Father, just as it separates sinful man from our Creator (Isaiah 59:2, Matthew 27:46). Contemplating this, most likely, is what made our Lord sweat blood (Luke 22:44).
Sin is not an abstract concept. It resides in people and is recognized by its actions. It takes up residence in people, giving it an identity.
It was first “embodied” or identified with Satan, who cleverly and sinisterly brought the entire human race into his coup attempt against the sovereign Creator God. Sin takes up residence in those who sin (Romans 7:23).
Therefore, to provide forgiveness and reconciliation to his Father, Jesus had to become one with us. He “became sin”.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
Theologians call this identification.
In a divine mystery, according to God’s secret wisdom, Jesus became one with us and we with him. When he died on the cross on our behalf, we died with him. When he was laid in the tomb, so were we. And, when he rose again, we rose with him. His punishment was ours, as was his vindication and glorious resurrection!
This is what Paul meant when he wrote that what Jesus suffered on our behalf actually included us.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
He did not merely suffer for us as our representative: we suffered and died with him. The mechanics of this mystery, which is clearly taught in the Bible, is not now fully understood, but it is the truth.
Without the miracle of identification, there can be no salvation.
Paul understood and taught this amazing truth in his letters. He called it being “in Christ.”
Our union with the Lord is a amazing grace extended to all who put their faith and allegiance in him.
Being in Christ is not some poetic saying. It it the truth. Think of the ramifications. This means that not only did Jesus take our punishment, we took it, too. He paid the price for our sins as the innocent Lamb, but in him and through him we also already paid the ultimate price as guilty sinners. And, legally, we cannot be forced to pay the same debt twice.
But Paul did not stop with our being crucified with Christ. We also rose with him, which is what saved us. If we were identified and unified with his death to pay the penalty for our sin and rebellion against God, we also are identified and unified with his resurrection.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 (NASB)
When Jesus rose from the dead, he became the first person in a new creation order of people, the firstborn from he dead.
He emerged from the “womb” of death into life eternal, never again to be subject to that dread enemy. He conquered death, never to die again. In so doing, he carried us with him. We rose again with him. We also crossed over from the realm of death into life, never to die again.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 (NASB)
This is how Jesus’ resurrection from the dead saves us. Through resurrection, Jesus was “born again” out of the realm of death, becoming the firstborn of those who “ride his coattails,” likewise emerging from the realm of death with and in him.
Knowing this glorious truth enables us to live fearlessly. We are not on some “works treadmill” trying to earn or maintain favor from God. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and the abode of the dead into God’s kingdom and life eternal because we are in Christ and participate completely in his death, resurrection, and enthronement in heaven.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 (NASB)
Isn’t it about time we start acting as if these things are true? Because they are!
Click here to read more about the amazing New Covenant.
