First born from the dead

 Revelation.1:5, From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Here Lord Jesus Christ is called as the first born from the dead. There are  other areas in which the word 'first born' appears. In Psalms.8:29, Colossians.1:15-18, Hebrews.1:6, Hebrews.12:23 and Revelation.1:5 this word appears. But only in the three areas it is perfectly appears as the first born. In the rest of the references it is much appropriates as it is the eldest son. We will read all the places where the word first born appears. Let's see.

1). Psalms.8:29,

                        And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,

                              the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

2). Hebrews.12:23,

                          To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You    have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

3). Hebrews.1:6,

                       And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

                      “Let all God’s angels worship him.

4). Colossians.1:15-18,

                        15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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.

5). Revelation.1:5,

                              From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

In Psalms.8:29, when the word first born appears here, it speaks about King David. It is God's promise to David, that he will be highly exalted by God among the Kings of the Earth. But David is a prophetic and a significance to Lord Jesus. All the promises given to David is attributed to Lord Jesus also. For instance, The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; Psalms.118:22 is said by David. But Lord Jesus also refers the same verse in Matthew.21:42 towards himself when chief priests, Pharisees and elders of the Jews came to ask Him, with what authority he was doing all the things he was doing.

                 So, first born is Lord Jesus himself, though the promise is given to  David. Now, who ever in Lord Jesus will inherit all the promises of David and Lord Jesus, because if we are in Jesus, all his promises belongs to us. King David whole heartedly followed God. As a result, God definitely had exalted him. David never lost any war in  his forty years of reign. God gave him honor, victory and everything. David was blessed by God. Similarly Lord Jesus never lost any war and never will loose one. In John.16:33, Lord said "I have overcome the world.”

             Now what is the first born here. Here the first born is the eldest one. David was appointed as the eldest of God's children. This is what the verse mean. So is our Lord. He is the first born of all. Reason? All the promises of David also must be referred to Jesus. Lord Jesus inherited the throne of David, according to luke.1:32,33, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

  David is a significance of the first born while Jesus is the true first born, who is the eldest of all the sons of God.

In Hebrews.12:23, it speaks of all the children of God. You are invited and if you are a born again child of God, you are in the church of the first born. Lord Jesus is the first born of all in any manner you take. As you are in Him, all his promises will be yours. If you are in Lord, you are also in the church of the first born. Because all the sons of God are first born to God. In what way are they first born? They gets the prominent place in the heart of God, and everything that belongs to God is now given to his children. They got this as inheritance, when they accepted Lord Jesus as their savior. Every child of God became first born to Him.

In Hebrews.1:6, it says, And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him". Lord Jesus is superior than any of the angels. There are very strongest and very highest ranked angels in heaven. But no one could be equal with the most high. All the angels must worship him. One day even fallen angels will worship him, before they will be thrown into the hell. That is what it is written in Philiipians.2:10,11,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Even the fallen angels with all the humans who are about to be thrown into hell must bow before the Lord, and must glorify the great one. This happens on the judgement day. In Psalms.97:7, it states

 All who worship images are put to shame,

    those who boast in idols—

    worship him, all you gods!

Who are gods here? God alone is worthy to be worshipped. God the father, God the son who is Lord Jesus and The Holy Spirit are the ones who are worthy to be worshipped. And no one in the entire universe or in the heaven or in hell deserves worship. But God honors his people and exalts them. But when it comes to the matter of worship, for eternity, it is only the triune God who deserves it. Every body must worship the first born because the first born is a part of the triune God head. When the first born, Lord Jesus was on the face of the Earth, took the human form to offer himself as a sacrifice, he is triune God. He might be in the human body, but, Lord Jesus who is completely God and completely human, is the living triune God, on the Earth. Lord Jesus Himself is God the father, God the son and God the Holy spirit.

In Colossians.1:15-18, The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. We are learning that Lord Jesus is the first born of all the creation. What does it mean? Did Lord born from somewhere or something? Or was He made by God from nothing, just as God created everything from Nothing? The word first born doesn’t express that. Lord Jesus was first manifested. How was Lord manifested or brought forth? We don't know. He was not born from anything. Bible always says, Lord was there.

John. 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Colossians.1:17,  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Proverbs.8:22,

                              22The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.24When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:28When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;31Rejoicing in the habitables part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

Hebrews.7:3,

          Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the         Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Lord was there in the beginning. And Lord is equal to God. Because Lord is Lord. God the father is Lord Jesus, but two distinct persons. God the Holy Spirit is Lord Jesus but also two distinct persons. How comes? It's the matter of trinity. We cannot know that in this world. Once we go to heaven we will understand everything about that because God reveals all his secrets to us. Through out the entire eternity, we will keep on knowing new things and new greatness about God almighty, and will keep on worshipping God in a renewed manner forever. There is no point or a time that we will know everything about God. Through out the eternity we will keep on knowing new things and will keep on worshipping God newly. That's an unending process. Because our God is infinite God. Lord Jesus is infinite God.

Now, how was Lord existed 'there' as it is written in the scriptures again and again? How was he brought forth? What it means? How can someone explain that? The answer goes like this. Presume, from the time eternity God is there as he is always from the eternity. At a point he got a thought that he wants to express himself as three persons. Just one person became three persons. But three persons are actually one person.  God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit, are one person, one God but three persons and not three Gods. They are one. What did Lord said in John.10:30? I and my Father are one. And again in  Romans 8:9, 10, it says,

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. There are three persons in the above verse. One is Spirit of God. Second one is Spirit of Christ and the third one is Christ. If the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Christ who is Christ Himself lives in you, you belongs to God. Philippian.2:6 says Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Here 'to be grasped' meaning 'not to be loosen'. Two things in the above verse. He was in the form of God.  Who can or will be in the form of God? God alone. And He is equal with God. 2=2, ten=10, Lord Jesus the Son equals to God the father equals to The holy Spirit. Three are just one person and is equal.

                              Lord was there. First manifested who is the first born. Lord is the image of the invisible God meaning Lord is the reflection of the invisible God.

Revelation.1:5 This is our topic today. Lord is the first born from the dead. What does it actually mean? All the above verses are just the first born. But here we have the part "the first born from the dead". "From the dead" is added here. We all know that there are two deaths for the human beings. One is physical death. But the other is second and the eternal death. To a Christian, the first death is not a problem. He goes to Heaven. There is no authority for the second death, which is the actual death, on a God's child. Once a person goes to hell, there is no chance for that person to come out of the hell. They keeps on burning, keeps on burning for billions and billions of years and those billions of years will never end. There is no point of time in which a person once enters into it will come out. And the pain is so extreme that we cannot imagine. That is not a normal fire. Very very extreme and which would have more heat than the sun's heat. That is the actual real death. But for a Lord's child, once he dies here, he enters into the holy kingdom of God, and there is not a thing like pain or suffering, and its throughout the eternity. No pain at all. And we will rule along with the Lord, eternally.

                                              How did Lord became the first born from the dead? One perspective is, all this human world has fallen and became dead. In the world, Lord lived the sinless life and overcame the world. He is the only supreme person in this fallen world, He is God, He is the God. He is sinless. And the rest who comes into the family of the first born are His children, who are after Him, that is just because of His mercy. Everybody is sinful at first but because of the sinless God, everybody got an opportunity into God's sinless family. First He lived sinless life. Later all His children are washed from the sin. Human beings are dead with sin. That is why He is the first born from the dead, because He is also in the human form, but also without sin.

                                                                     Second aspect, We have to think of the physical death. Because Lord has risen from the dead, He became the first born from the dead. In the bible, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament there are few people, who has raised from the dead. In John.11, Lord has raised a person named Lazarus from the dead. And also there are other two person, who, Lord has raised from the dead. Apostle peter has raised a person, Apostle Paul has raised a person also. In the Old testament, prophet Elijah raised a boy, and when a dead body has touched the bones of prophet Elisha, the dead body became alive and came back to life. There are few people in the Bible who are dead and came back to life. They are all raised because God has raised them. With the help of a prophet or Lord Jesus Himself, they all came back to life. But in the case of the Lord, death has no power on Lord Jesus. Let's see what Lord said in john.10:17,18. 17The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father." And also, in Acts.2:24, But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. One thing is, Lord raised from the dead, because He has the power and authority to take back his life. And the other is God raised Him from the dead. Both verses are correct. This is because the Lord has the power on His own to take it back. On the other hand, the charge to take it back was given by Father Himself. This is what the father commanded Lord Jesus. So, what Lord has done?  Lord had conquered the death and proved that death has no power on Him. Whoever are His children, who believed in His resurrection, will also raise from the dead, because He will raise them back on the day of resurrection. All these things will happen. But it is the Lord that has risen from the dead with His own power and authority. So, the Lord is the first born from all the dead. Dead people are dead and went to hell. But the people who are in Lord and dead actually are not dead but are in peace.

                                   Where did all the Old Testament people who are prophets and God's children went after they die? They all went to a peaceful place which is called as the "realm of dead". That might be in the center of the Earth. Don't know for sure. In Acts.2:27 it is written, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. And also, in Acts.2:31 it is written 31Seeing what was to come, he (David) spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. So, there were Lord's people in the realm of dead. They all must be brought to the heaven. Who will bring them. Lord alone could and must do that. Now He went to the place of dead and brought them back to the heaven. There in the place of dead, Lord alone is all powerful to bring them to the heaven. Assume there are all Old Testament God's children. Lord also went there after he died. Now, who is the most important person among all the Old Testament God's people, while the Lord is there? Lord Himself. Again, He is the first born of all. Because He is the preeminent person of all those people. Those people cannot go to the heaven on their own. But God made them to stay in a peaceful place in the realm of dead. Lord Jesus went there, He himself went to the heaven taking this dead Old Testament people into the heaven. Now Lord is the first person to raise into Heaven from the dead again. So again, Lord is called the first born from the dead. First born from the dead is the Lord as we learnt, and the dead are Lord's people who died in Lord in the Old Testament days. That is why Lord Jesus is called the first born from the dead.