Christ: The Preeminent One

      Well, we're back in Revelation 1:5 again. This time we are going look at Christ the “firstborn of the dead” and see Him as the Preeminent One. Some questions I am going cover are: Does this mean that Christ was the first to return from the dead? What is the significance of the firstborn? How does Christ fulfil the role of the firstborn? And, why is He called the firstborn of the dead? So with these thoughts in mind, let's dig in!

     First, what is the significance of the firstborn? As I answer this question, I am going to stick within the confines of biblical context. The Bible is best interpreted by the Bible, so let's see how God views the firstborn of men and animals elsewhere in Scripture, and then we will try to draw some parallels to Christ. Genesis, the initial book of the Bible, means “beginnings” and it contains the beginning of our references to the firstborn.

     Genesis 4:4 – “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering.”

     Now, we all know the surrounding story, Cain brought his veggies and was rejected; however, like it says, the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. Why? Let's flip forward through time and see God's instructions for the Israelites.

     Deuteronomy 15:19-23 – “19 All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the LORD your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.  20 You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place that the LORD will choose.  21 But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.  22 You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer.  23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.”

     From this passage we learn that the firstborn animals among the clean species were to be offered to the Lord per His request. Note that the firstborn which was to be offered had to be perfect; also notice that only the firstborn of all the flock is mentioned. For the purpose of orgainization, to see the sequence of these verses and the one to follow, we can divide the passages of interest into three categories: 1) the superiority of the firstborn when used as an offering, 2) the rights and/or privileges and the importance of the firstborn, and, lastly, 3) Christ as the firstborn. We've just finished the first point, and now we are going to try to determine the rights and privileges associated with the firstborn, specifically a son.

     Genesis 25:29-34, 27:36 – 25:29 “Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.  30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.)  31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.”  32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”  33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.  34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
     Genesis 27:36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.”

     Here we see Esau sell his birthright to Jacob for food when he was “exhausted”, about at the end of his rope after working the fields. These verses come from two different periods of Esau's life. The first is from an earlier time of his life (a time when Isaac was not near death), and at that point he didn't realize the importance of the birthright, in fact the text says he despised it because he saw no need for it, Isaac his father wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Then we fast forward and see him more mature and nearing the death of Isaac, and he now regrets having given up the birthright. He actually accuses Jacob of having cheated him for it! Now, granted Jacob was rather manipulative, but Esau had still agreed to sell him his birthright for a bowl of soup earlier in his life. The important thing to keep in mind here is the importance of the birthright in ancient times. Esau was obviously very concerned – even resentful – toward Jacob as a result of having lost his birthright to his younger brother.

     Genesis 29:21-28 –  “ 21  Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”  22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.  23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her.  24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.)  25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”  26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.  27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”  28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.”

     In this passage, we begin to see the benefits or the rights of the firstborn. We just saw the importance, now we are starting to look at why the birthright and title or position of firstborn was important. One way to think of the birthright is as a preferred pass to a theme park. You just showed the pass to the attendant, hopped on the ride, and skipped the two hour waiting line. The birthright was somewhere along those lines in that the firstborn received the most attention and priority, he came first. In Genesis 29, Laban had promised to give Jacob Rachel, but he gave Jacob Leah instead. Why? Laban said it was because Leah was the firstborn and so the privilege of the first marriage was hers. The firstborn came first.
     ***One caution about using this specific passage (Genesis 29) in reference to the birthright is that here it refers to a girl receiving the birthright over another girl. For that time period the birthright had much more to do with the firstborn son than it did for any female, so this passage can't really be used too extensively. All I want to point out is that the first to be born was to be first in line.

     Deuteronomy 21:15-17 – “15 If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,  16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn,  17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.”

     Here we are again able to see the privileges of the firstborn son as a result of his birthright. As part of Jewish law, the firstborn son was to receive a double portion of all that the father has. The right of the firstborn belonged to the firstborn who was said to be the firstfruits of the father's strength. That phrase “firstfruits of his strength” actually brings us into the next Scripture reference that we will be studying.

     Genesis 49:3 – “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.”

     “Few and evil” had been the days of Israel's (or Jacob's) life, he was very near to death and he knew it. In light of his impending cessation, he called all of his sons together to either bless or curse each of them (rabbit trail, I find it interesting that the blessings or curses of the men of this time period were prophetic in nature, not just well-wishing). Reuben, his firstborn, was the first to be blessed. Israel started off by establishing that Reuben is, in fact, his firstborn. He then gave us some insight as to what that meant to the people in that culture, Reuben was the might of Israel. Israel was old, he was passing the baton to Reuben who had the right to possess it, he was to carry on where his father left off. Reuben was to take the place of his father, he was to be the personage of authority among his brothers. He was his father's might. The third name he used for Reuben was – after firstborn and might – firstfruit. The firstfruit of an OT farmer was not the first ripe ear of corn, but the ear of corn that was better than any other in the field, the one that was reserved separate from the rest. It was not first in chronology, but first in quality and chosen before the rest. Reuben was Israel's firstfruit, he was the chosen son, the one who possessed the greatest authority and power. Coincidentally, those are the only two adjectives used here to describe Reuben and to tell us what the firstborn was like, the rest are predicate nominatives (nouns usually after the verb which rename the subject). Reuben was “preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power”; that's a key phrase, so keep your finger on that thought as we move forward.

     Now, we've looked into the OT in order to create a backdrop against which to portray Christ, the firstborn from the dead. Now, we are going look more closely at how what we've learned so far relates to Christ. The first reference we'll look at, OT again I know, is Psalm 89. Most of this psalm is a Messianic prophecy, most of it was written about Christ but before His incarnation; out of the whole segment that deals with Christ, we are just going to hone in on two verses.

     Psalm 89:19 - “Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: 'I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.'”
     Psalm 89:27 - “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”

     At this point we are going to make the transition from learning about the firstborn in that culture to learning exactly how all this info we've been looking at actually increases our understanding of the phrase “firstborn from the dead”, how it relates to Christ. Here we see the recurrence of the word “mighty” (well “might” before, but you get the idea) and this is one word that is associated with the firstborn. We also see Christ the firstborn being exalted from the people, He is again the One chosen before the rest. Then Christ is actually called the firstborn. Note that God the Father is going to make Christ the firstborn, although a Jehovah's Witness would claim that Christ was born before the world was created, that He was a son of God. If God is here saying that He is will make Christ the firstborn, then firstborn must mean something else than born first, and it does. In this Scripture passage the title firstborn is meant as first chosen, preeminent in dignity and power. This is borne out in the following description of Christ, He is the “highest of the kings of the earth.”

     Colossians 1:15-20 – "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

     The first phrase to note is that Christ is the “firstborn of all creation”. This does not mean that He was born before creation, rather that He was the most important in creation. Again, we see this emphasized in the following sentence. Why is He the most important of all creation, or of everything that is? “For by him all things were created, … all things were created through and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Christ is the most prominent of all creation because He made it through His own power, He made it for Himself, and then – even now – He holds it all together! How could Christ be reduced to anything less than the firstborn, or most significant, of all creation?!

     Then Paul takes it even further, Christ is not only the firstborn of all creation, He is the head of the body, or the church. Christ is above all creation AND He is both the leader and focal point of His body, the church. Paul is so in awe of Christ's glory that he can't stop with this! Christ is above creation (the physical life), He is above the church (the spiritual life), and now he points out that Christ is above the dead too! Christ is both the beginning of life and the firstborn from the dead. His was the Great Resurrection from the dead. This was the last conquerable domain (physical & spiritual life, now physical death), for there is no overcoming the second or spiritual death. Christ overcame death so that “in everything he might be preeminent”, this was the final area for Christ to defeat.

     Now, Paul doesn't just say “He is the beginning, and His was the resurrection, that in everything he might be preeminent”, he says “the firstborn from the dead”. Christ was not just any old widow's son or Lazarus to return from the dead, He was the firstborn, the Preeminent One! Christ's return from and conquest of death is far more critical and impacting than any other resurrection, “for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Christ's resurrection was His signet seal, the outward manifestation of the reality of his claim to the ability to revive dead sinners and bring them into peace with God by the blood of his cross. None other can touch the supreme importance of Christ's resurrection, He is the firstborn of the dead.

Christ: The Faithful Witness

      Revelation 1:5 - “Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” Those are three characteristics of Christ, He's the witness, the firstborn, and the ruler. From these three titles, we can see a foreshadowing of three major roles that Christ will play throughout the book of Revelation. First, He is the faithful witness. When we look at Revelation from a legal angle, we will see that Christ is the Judge. Second, we see that Christ is the firstborn of the dead. Christ is the most important person to ever come back from the dead. He is the Firstborn. Lastly, He is the ruler of kings on earth. Not only will He conquer the earth, but He will rule with a rod of iron and on high for all eternity. I'm going to split these three up into separate posts, right now I'll focus on Christ the faithful witness.

      If you were to look at the phrase “faithful witness” in Gk., it would be martys ho pistos. This phrase is most commonly translated “faithful witness”, and amazingly it means just that. If you want, you can add in all the synonyms or other possible English transliterations and it would read something like this: the “true, sure, trustworthy, believable, worthy of credit” person “who has information or knowledge of something, and hence... can give information, bring to light, or confirm something” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p. 947, 1164). Nonetheless, this is not a phrase whose meaning grows much with an understanding of the original language. The more important area to look at in order to see the phrase's significance is its context, so I am going to endeavor to interpret this in light of the rest of the book of Revelation.

      There are two other places in Revelation that show Christ in a similar light, chapter 3 verse 14 and 19:11. Revelation 3:14 is the beginning of Christ's letter to Laodicea, one of the seven churches, it's His introduction to the church. When Christ speaks to each of the churches, He always includes an introduction that relates to what He says to the corresponding church. Laodicea is no different. Christ opens His letter to them in this way, “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.” He then goes on to rebuke the Laodiceans because they were riding the fence, so to speak. They were neither cold nor hot, neither rejecting the Lord nor following and obeying Him.

      Now we must ask, why does Christ introduce Himself to the Laodiceans as the faithful and true witness? The answer is because the Laodiceans were blinded, deluded, as to what their true spiritual condition was. Christ therefore manifests Himself as not only the faithful but also the true witness. So we see, first, that Christ is true. John 14:6, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Then we see that Christ is faithful, He holds fast to the truth, He is credible, believable, trustworthy; He is true and He remains true to truth. Lastly, He is the witness. He has a knowledge of the truth, He is preserving that truth, and now we see Him able to “bring to light” or “confirm" that truth. Applied here we see that Christ is able to bring to light the true spiritual state of the lame Laodiceans. They think that they are rich, prosperous, and need nothing; Christ contradicts that by stating that they do not realize it but they are really wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. He then goes on to explain to them how to remedy their problems. Nonetheless, the point has been made: Christ is the truth, He remains true (or faithful) to the truth, and He testifies (or witnesses) to that truth.

      The other reference we're going to look at is Revelation 19:11. This time, Christ is not writing to His church, but He is returning to the world. It says, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges [the world] and makes war.” Do you see the repeated phrase? Christ is “faithful and true”, we now know what that means. Lets press on to the next part, “in righteousness he judges [the world].” First off, righteousness?, how is Christ judging righteously? As the faithful and true witness, He is able to judge righteously because He knows all the facts and bears witness to the truth.

     Do you remember, when we went through Jude, the character study we did on God as the Judge? There were three major points: God knows the context (the people and events involved), God makes a decision, and God reinforces His ruling (consequential punishment or reward). Now, we've taken a look at the first part, Christ knows the truth and bears witness to it. Now we see Him judge the world with righteousness and He is able to do this because He knows the truth. No judge can judge rightly if his judgment is based on error, but since Christ's judgment is based on the truth to which He bears witness, His judgment is righteous. Then, to wrap this up, the last part of the quote is “and make war”, there we see Christ reinforce His ruling. He's got the truth, He keeps the truth, He makes His ruling righteously, and now He wars on the wicked.

      I've finished covering this characteristic of Christ, at least as far as I'm going to take it, but I haven't done the application part, or the instructions from this for us the believers. That's in the works, and I'll either update this post and add it in or just create a new post. Until then...