Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection:
“And He [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence” (Colossians 1:18)
Jesus was the beginning of the first creation of God, and through His resurrection He is also the beginning of the new creation of God, which is made available to us through faith. Here, in this passage in Colossians, Jesus is said to be the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. In other words, resurrection is here compared to a rebirth out of death.
The day on which the Father begot the Son was the Resurrection Day. Jesus was the first begotten from the dead. His resurrection was a birth out of death to a new and eternal life. The picture that Paul gives in Colossians 1:18 is that Jesus is the head of the body, which is the church, and He is the firstborn from the dead. If we picture resurrection as a birth, then we can apply to it the same order that applies to the natural birth of a child from his mother’s womb. As we all know, in a natural birth the head comes out first and then the body follows. This applies to the resurrection of Jesus and to our resurrection. Jesus, the head, has come out in resurrection and this guarantees that we, who are the body, will follow the head. It is a beautiful picture. The resurrection of Jesus is our guarantee that we, who are united to Him by faith, will also be resurrected as He was. Jesus Himself sums this up very succinctly:
“Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19)
His life is our life. We have a guarantee that we will share in His resurrection because we are united to Him.
