In the early 1800s, a powerful earthquake shook
the Midwest along the New Madrid Fault. We are
told that that earthquake was felt as far away
as New York City and Washington, D .C., where
the church bells rang as the earth shook. Land
dropped along the fault, forming new lakes. Some
say that the quake was so powerful... that in
fact the flow of the Mississippi River was reversed
for a few moments. Can you imagine the power
in that earthquake that caused that river to
actually reverse its course for a few moments?
This morning we are going to look at a reversal
that is even more powerful in an event that took
place 2 ,000 years ago. an event that is captured
in a title given to Jesus Christ in our text
today. It says, He is also head of the body,
the church, and He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that He Himself might come
to have first place in everything. Jesus Christ
is the firstborn from the dead. Titles are important.
Titles denote responsibility, dignity, or rank.
Sometimes even the character of the person is
connoted by the title that is born. In human
terms, we are sometimes disappointed by the character
of those who hold impressive titles or important
offices. Just because one is titled the president
or the governor does not necessarily mean that
that person has governed well or has done so
with character. However, there is never any disappointment
in Jesus Christ. In him there is the perfect
match of both office and character in the titles
which are assigned to him. His titles perfectly
reveal his character, and his character perfectly
supports his titles. Firstborn, as we saw last
Sunday evening, is a title that is rooted in
Hebrew family customs. The oldest male child
was honored with that title, firstborn, and by
it received certain privileges that were attached.
including a double inheritance and the place
of family leadership upon the death of the father.
Firstborn came to refer to the honor of preeminence,
even more so than the birth order itself. For,
as you know, the title could be transferred to
other siblings. The most well -known example
of that, perhaps, is the fact that Esau sold
his title of firstborn to his brother Jacob.
Firstborn then came to connote supremacy, priority,
and superiority. Those are certainly the ideas
that come to mind when we think of Jesus Christ
as the firstborn. This morning we think of him
as the firstborn from the dead. After affirming
Christ's preeminence over the original natural
creation in the earlier verses of the chapter,
now the apostle asserts Christ's preeminence
over the new spiritual creation. What does this
title, the firstborn of creation, tell us about
Christ? Well, there are at least two claims.
that can be made because Jesus Christ is the
firstborn from the dead. In the first place,
he is the first. Jesus Christ is the first to
come back from the dead with immortality. He
is the first to come back from the dead, the
great reversal. and to come back from the dead
with immortality. When we think of this event,
it causes us to recall the basic movements in
the redemptive work of Christ. They might be
condensed to six. In the first place, there was
his movement from heaven to the womb of Mary,
the incarnation. When he, the eternal... Son
of God who preexisted with the Father, came to
the earth and united himself to humanity, sinless,
within the womb of Mary. And then we think of
his second movement, from the womb into the world,
his birth. It is that which we remember at this
time of year. When all the heavens rang, the
night the angels sang, and Jesus was born. His
third movement might be described as the one
to the cross and the grave. Substitution. Where
on our behalf he made the supreme sacrifice,
as we heard earlier in the dramatic reading.
Where he offered himself in the place, of us
sinners and died on our behalf. Substitution.
The fourth movement was from the cross and the
grave back to the world of the living. Resurrection.
The fifth movement of redemption was his movement
from this world back to heaven where today he
is at the right hand of God the Father. His ascension.
And the sixth movement. anticipates that day
when he will come back from heaven to the earth,
his return and his reign. We are focusing this
morning on the fourth of those six movements.
His return from the grave to the world of the
living. For he is the firstborn, the preeminent
one from the dead. This title causes us to reaffirm
the reality of his death. It was not a pretense.
He did not experience something like death. It
was the real thing. As a real man, he really
died. Of course, deity cannot die, but humanity
can and does. And so, in order to save humanity,
Listen to this. In order to save humanity, he
experienced the death judgment on humanity's
behalf that he himself had imposed because of
humanity's sin. For he is the one who warned,
if you eat of this fruit, you will die. He is
the one who has said, the soul that sins, it
will die. And now on behalf of the humanity that
disobeyed and brought upon itself the judgment
of God, he endures the judgment of God. We are
reminded of the reality of his death on our behalf.
This title also causes us to realize the uniqueness
of his resurrection. He is the firstborn from
the dead. He has come back from the dead with...
others of course had been resuscitated and restored
to physical life. Jesus himself is recorded as
having raised at least three people. There was
a little girl of a man whose name was Jairus,
whom he raised from the dead. Little girl, I
say to you, get up. And she did. There was a
boy being carried out. to burial the son of a
widow in the town of name jesus encountered the
funeral procession and stopped it right there
because he raised that boy from the dead and
then toward the end of his ministry there was
one lazarus as you know his good friend jesus
arriving at lazarus home four days after he had
died inquired where the grave was They told him
but warned him that already decay had set in.
Jesus nonetheless had the door of the tomb open
and called Lazarus forth from the realm of the
dead. There were others before Jesus who were
raised from the dead, but each of them later
returned to the grave. Jesus arose differently.
With a new and higher principle of life, he arose
never to die again. He arose from the dead not
only as the Son of God, but as immortal man.
The firstborn from the dead. The first to come
back to accomplish the great reversal with immortality.
Jesus Christ. Not only is he the first to come
back from the realm of the dead with immortality,
but in this title, the firstborn from the dead,
we see about him that he is the source. Jesus
Christ is the source of a new creative order
that will share his immortality. You will notice
in our text that it says, that he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead. He's the beginning.
Those of you who are interested in grammar, which
is usually not many high school students, but
those of you who notice grammar will find that
firstborn from the dead is an appositional phrase.
That is, it more fully explains what the beginning
means. He is the beginning, that is, the firstborn
from the dead. This title, beginning, is misunderstood
by some. Those who follow the Arian controversy
today, which we call Jehovah's Witnesses, take
this word to mean that Jesus was the first created
thing. In fact, they go to Revelation 3 .14 where
Jesus says, I am the beginning of God's creation.
And they say that, you see, Jesus himself claimed
to be the first thing that God created. But the
problem is, they haven't looked deep enough to
find out what the word beginning means. It doesn't
mean the first thing created. The word beginning
means the source, the origin. He is the source
of the church's life. the firstborn from the
dead. He is the beginning and the ending. He
is the source and he is the culmination of all
of history. Jesus Christ originated both the
natural creation and the spiritual creation.
They are both the extensions of his life. As
we saw in our study last Sunday night, He is
called in Colossians 1 .15, the firstborn of
all creation. That means that all of creation
finds its origin in Him. It was created through
Him, and not only that, but He holds it together.
It is the power of Jesus Christ that holds the
atom in place. In the book of Acts we read, in
him we live and move and have our being. Jesus
is the source of the natural creation. It originated
with him. But he's also the source of the supernatural
creation, the spiritual creation. It is all an
extension of his very life. And what we learn
from this truth that he is the source of a new
creative order is this, that this same life power
that brought everything into existence, even
now at this moment, resides in every believer
because of our union with Jesus Christ. Do you
understand that the same life power That in the
book of Genesis, brought into being the whole
universe, is the same life power that resides
in you if you are a Christian. In Romans chapter
6, the apostle says, Now if we have died with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
him, knowing that Christ, having been raised
from the dead, is never to die again. Death no
longer is master over him. For the death he died,
he died to sin once for all. But the life that
he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider
yourselves to be, right now, to be dead to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. There is life
that is inside of you. That is the life of the
resurrected Christ. The apostle puts it this
way in his own testimony, Galatians 2 .20. I
have been crucified with Christ. The old I, he
is saying, that I was in Adam. I have been crucified
with Christ. It is no longer I, the old person
who lives. But Christ lives in me, and the life
which I as a new man now live in the flesh, I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and delivered himself up for me. When he says,
Christ lives in me, he is not saying that in
the sense of the New Agers, who say that there
is the Christ principle in all of us, that we
are all God. He is saying that there was some
dramatic point in his life when he was radically
changed and Jesus came to live in him. And that
was the moment that he trusted the Savior. He
says, at that moment I was crucified and I was
raised with Christ and he lived in me. Let us
never take for granted this blessed union with
the Savior. Colossians 3 .3 puts it this way.
You have died and your life is hidden. with Christ
in God. Hidden with Christ in God. That is a
meaningful word. It connotes in the first place
secrecy, hidden. The picture is of a spring,
the source of which cannot be seen. It's secret.
On the farm I grew up on, after a hard rain,
I enjoyed going over to the second creek. You
know which one that is. It's after the first
one, right? There were two creeks, and it was
the second creek. And I enjoyed going to the
area where the crossing for the tractors was,
and then up to the left in the creek, about 15,
20 feet, was a spring after the rain. It was
not a deep spring, but a superficial one. Somewhere
there was a layer of rock that gathered the water,
and for several days after a rain, it would bubble
up out of the bank there in that creek. And I
used to enjoy going there and scraping away the
mud and waiting until the water cleared and taking
a drink from that spring. It never killed me,
which is amazing. But I did it. Here we have
the picture of a... spring, the source of which
cannot be seen. That's the life of Jesus Christ
in you. Have you made the statement or heard
someone make it? I don't know how people go through
this without the Lord. You see, in the Christian,
there is a spring of life, of grace, of strength
that the world knows nothing about. It's a secret
to them. We know the source of it. The word hidden
also has to do with identity. Hidden with Christ
in God. We are united with Jesus Christ. And
because of that, we have within us life that
is ever fresh. Our inner man is ever being renewed.
A text of scripture that has become very meaningful
to me in recent weeks is 2 Corinthians chapter
4. The apostle says in this context that our
bodies are nothing more really than clay pots.
Just jars, common ordinary clay things that break
easily. But he says inside that clay pot, God
has put treasure. It's the gospel. And he says
our clay pot, this outer man, is experiencing
the process of being broken down. But the inner
treasure, the life of Jesus Christ in us, he
says, is constantly in reverse. It's doing just
the opposite. It's growing. It's being renewed.
Notice how he puts it in verse 10. Always carrying
about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.
For we who live are constantly being delivered
over to death for Jesus' sake. that the life
of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. Verse 16, Therefore we do not lose heart,
but though our outer man is decaying, yet our
inner man is being renewed day by day. You see
the two processes, one in decay, the other in
renewal. The outer man is decaying. The testimony
to that was the mirror this morning, right? Sometimes
because of advanced age or disease, the decay
is more rapid, it's more apparent to folks every
day it's there. For the Christian, however, there
is another process because on the inside there
is life that is constantly being renewed. He
says in verse 17, for momentary light affliction.
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory
far beyond all comparison, while we look not
at the things which are seen, but the things
which are not seen. We tend to spend most of
our days, just like the other people in the world,
looking at things that are seen. When in fact
the priority of our lives ought to be the invisible
things, why is that? He says, the things which
are seen are temporal. The things which are not
seen are eternal. Oh, that we would learn to
order our lives so that the priorities are focused
on the things that are invisible. The hidden
things, the inner things, because that's what
lasts. That's what counts forever. He says in
chapter 3, verse 18 of this same book, We all
with unveiled faith, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, just
as from the Lord the Spirit. As we behold the
glory of God in this book, And we see as in the
mirror what Jesus is like. The Holy Spirit is
in the inside of us, renewing us, transforming
us. There is a process of metamorphosis going
on so that we are being radically changed from
one level of glory to another on the inside.
My point is this. Jesus Christ is the source
of a new creative order. which has already begun.
It's already begun in you, Christian, because
of your union with Jesus Christ. And someday
this life is going to be fully experienced in
the resurrection at Christ's coming. Back just
a few pages to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He says
in verse 20, Now Christ has been raised from
the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep.
Firstborn is not used in this chapter, but firstfruits
is. The meaning in firstfruits is the first installment,
the pledge of what is yet to come. Jesus Christ
is the first installment of the resurrection
to immortality. You and I are the second installment.
He is the pledge of us to come. The first fruit.
You are not going to be able to get out of this
world and into the kingdom of God like you are
now. Verse 50 of this chapter says, Flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You
are going to have to be changed. perishable cannot
inherit the imperishable. Something has to happen
to you. He goes on to say, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep or die. We shall all be
changed, altered, made different. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet,
for the trumpet will sound. And the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
This perishable must put on the imperishable.
This mortal must put on immortality. You and
I are going to be changed someday. We're going
to be made like Jesus, immortal. The renewal
that has already begun on the inside is going
to consume us in an instant. and we will be like
him. Before Jesus came, Satan had the power of
death. He was able to keep people in the realm
of death. But Jesus came and destroyed Satan's
power. He entered into the realm of death itself
and conquered death and the grave. And he came
back to life and to immortality. And by the way,
when he came back, he brought the keys with him.
John sees him in Revelation chapter 1, and the
keys to death and to Hades are in the hands of
Jesus himself. This life that has begun in Jesus
Christ will be consummated in him when he returns,
and we're like him. In closing, there are four
brief and quick statements that I want to make.
result of our study today. First, death is the
direction that we are all moving. Life is one
way, and we're all moving toward the same destination.
It's death. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there
is a time to live and a time to die. I recognize
there's a generation that will be alive when
Jesus returns that will not die. I hope we're
that generation, but we don't know that. And
nonetheless, we are all moving at this point
toward death, every one of us in this room. Secondly,
death cannot finally hold the souls or the bodies
of the dead. They are in an impermanent situation
now. All of them are awaiting death. the future
disposition of God. Eventually, all the sons
of Adam will be raised in resurrection bodies
to stand before Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke of
this in John chapter 5 as though it were two
general times. We know it's more than that, but
he says there are some who will be raised for
judgment. And there are others who will be raised
for life. Death cannot hold the souls and the
bodies of the dead because Jesus has conquered
death. The third statement is this, that death,
death will be experienced a second time by those
who are spiritually lost. Their first death will
be reversed in the sense that they will be raised
in new bodies to stand before God, the purpose
of which is frightening. Because they are raised
to stand before God for judgment. John in Revelation
20 looks ahead and he sees that day. And he says
that all of the lost who died are raised to stand
before God before a great white throne of God's
holiness. And the works of all of their lives
are brought forward in books where the records
are now kept. And those who stand before God
in that day are judged on the basis of the things
written in the books. And then it says, that
they will be assigned their portion in the lake
of fire. They will be cast into the lake of fire,
it says, which is the second death. That death
is irreversible. That death is eternally permanent.
No change. It is a terrifying thought. And it
is a thought that should cause every person here
who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior to flee
to him, to escape judgment. For you see, he bore
on the cross that second death for those who
will trust him. It has been said, if you're born
but once, you die twice. But if you're born twice,
you only have to die once. The second death is
irreversible, and it awaits every person who
rejects Christ. There's a final statement that
we can make, and that is a wonderful statement.
It is that death can never again lay its power
upon those who are Christ. Because he has battled
with death and conquered it. And he stands today
victorious over death and the grave. And he is
able to deliver all of those who will come to
him in genuine faith. Death can never again lay
its power upon those who are Christ. It may claim
their bodies for a while. But it can never retain
their bodies. And as for the soul, it's already
passed from death into life at the moment that
faith is placed in the Savior. The best hope
of all humanity is the only hope, and that is
Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead. An
agnostic professor once said to a little girl
who was... testifying of her faith in Jesus Christ.
He said to her, there have been many who have
claimed to be Christ. How can you be so sure
that you've been told the truth? Which one of
these Christ do you believe in? And despite the
sneer on his face, without hesitation, the little
girl looked up at him and said, I believe in
the one. who rose from the dead. There's only
one of those. Jesus Christ, the firstborn from
the dead. Let's pray. With our heads bowed, I
wonder if there is someone in this congregation
this morning who is at that point where you realize
your desperate need for the Savior. And should
you die today and go into eternity without Jesus
Christ, you know that eventually you would go
to the second death, the lake of fire. Dear friend,
there is yet opportunity because you are in the
land of the living. There is opportunity for
you today to trust him, will you? Will you place
your faith in him alone for salvation, believing
him to have died for your sins? If you will,
trust him. Would you give an indication of that
simply by lifting your hand where I can see it?
That act, of course, is not going to save you,
but it does indicate what you're doing in your
heart today in placing your faith in this one
who conquered death, Jesus Christ. Will you lift
your hand and then put it down, saying, I'm trusting
him today. is my Savior and my Lord. Is this
someone? I may have missed your hand if so. I'm
sorry. God knows your heart. And oh, may those
of us who know Jesus rejoice today in this wonderful
Savior that we have. Father, thank you for this
truth. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the
victory and the life that we share because of
our union with him. Thank you for the hope that
one day we shall be like him forever. We anticipate
that day and praise you that because Jesus lives,
we too shall live. Amen. Well, that's a good
reason. But it's not the best reason. Is it because
of the fear of discovery? Should we live purely
because of the fear of undesired consequences
of immoral actions? Well, there are a couple
of better reasons for Christians to keep in mind
as to why we should live purely. The first is
God's judgment. God is the avenger. God is the
one who brings justice. when his standards have
been broken. And secondly, because of God's calling,
God has called us in sanctification, in holiness.
God's whole direction for our lives and our purpose
of existence is toward purity, toward wholeness,
not filthiness. God is holy, and he knows...
What makes life most fulfilling and most enjoyable
in this world? His desire for our holiness is
not to hold us back, it's not to be unkind to
us, but rather it is so that we can enjoy the
kind of life he knows that we can. We can enjoy
the fullness of joy. God desires that life be
lived to its fullest, and it will be if we live
purely in this world. But what if... What if
I don't want to live this way? What if I choose
to live the way that I feel? Then he gives us
a warning. He who rejects this, or he who despises
this, or he who treats this as unimportant, is
not doing so to man, but to God. My fellow Christians,
for you and me to look down upon this, to despise
this message of sexual purity, is for us to slap
God in the face. Rather, what we need to ask
God to do is to give us pure desire that we might
want to live this way. But what if I want to
live this way, but I'm afraid I can't? He gives
us a promise. He says, God has given us his Holy
Spirit. The implication is that we can be sure
that the Holy Spirit is going to enable us if
we will set our hearts to obey. I want to say
at the conclusion of this message right now that
this is a heavy message. And because of the kinds
of temptation that is before all of us, this
kind of a message can create all kinds of guilt.
And it ought to, if in fact we have transgressed.
Guilt and shame are God's ways of throwing up
red flags in our lives to say, what you're doing
is wrong. And it gives us the opportunity to
repent, to confess, to be cleansed. I am glad
that the God who gave us the standard is a God
of forgiveness as well as a God of justice. And
that when we are broken about our sin and we
humble ourselves before him, he is willing to
restore us. God is willing also to deliver us
from bondage, from uncleanness, from patterns
of shame to the power of Jesus Christ. We are
not expected to clean up ourselves, but by the
Holy Spirit who lives within us. God has set
the standard that we should live purely in this
world. We must close with that. Father in heaven,
all of us find the point of your word this morning.
And it does us good to hear what you want, what
your will is. And we would pray that we might
fulfill your will, that by the Holy Spirit living
in us, we might live according to the standards
of sexual purity, thus being a distinctive people,
God's own people, in the midst of a pagan culture.
With our heads bowed, our eyes closed, I wonder
just in the... quiet moments that remain. If
right where you're seated, you need to say something
to the Lord regarding this application of purity
in your life. What does it mean? What changes
need to take place? What's your commitment to
God? He's told you what His will is. And I want
you to know that if there are issues that you're
struggling with and you don't know where to turn,
that our pastors are available to talk with you.
I will speak with you, others on our staff. Or
find a Christian friend that you respect that
you can go to. Seek help. Don't struggle alone.
And above all, let God have his way in your life.
and make seeking help the first step. Let's stand
together, please. Fathers, we depart from this
place of worship and soon return to the world
where we are called to live. May the Holy Spirit
so empower and infill us. that we shall be able
to rise above the law of sin and death by the
law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus.
May we live and soar as eagles in this world.
And I pray that you will deliver us from the
extremes and help us to live in the spirit -filled,
God -expressed balance of your word. In Jesus'
name.