Revelation 1:5 - Firstborn Of The Dead

“And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth.” Revelation 1:5

So, who is this Jesus and how is He the ‘firstborn from the dead‘? We know that Lazarus was raised from the dead and were not there other accounts of those who were raised from the dead so why is Jesus called the Firstborn of the dead? To be honest with you, I struggled with this question myself for many years until the Holy Spirit shed some light on my understanding. First off, God declared to Adam back in the garden that if they were disobedient to God’s instruction and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would surely die. We also know that the wages of sin is death. Every man, woman and child upon the earth is born in sin, not because of their actions (though that does come into play as they live their lives and choose wrong actions) but because of the sin of the first Adam. Jesus, the second Adam, through taking the sins of the world upon Himself, suffering on the cross and by His resurrection, redeemed man from eternal damnation and from death. When Lazarus was called to “come forth” after he had been in the tomb it was not an “eternal” resurrection for that was not available until after Jesus’ resurrection.

It was a miracle of major proportion for sure but it was not a ‘bringing forth to life for evermore’ as took place with Christ Jesus. Lazarus body saw death again. It is the spirit of God that became alive again in us through Christ Jesus for it is that which died in the garden so long ago because of Adam’s disobedience.

He who knew no sin took all of our sins upon Himself so that He could save us from the eternal damnation that awaits sinners. Though He bore all our sins upon the cross there was no sin in Him so death could not hold Him. Who of us can say the same? Do we not struggle every day with sin in our lives. Yet it is because of Jesus, because of His love towards us and Him being the Firstborn of the dead, that we can run to Him and through Him, seek forgiveness of sins from the Father. We know that Jesus is a propitiation of our sin, He is our Savior, our Lord. No other man born upon the earth can claim to have done what Jesus did. And while many have been raised from the dead and I believe many more will be raised in the days ahead, in Jesus’ name, it is only through Christ Jesus, the Firstborn of the dead, that anyone will see eternal life.