Jesus Christ is the "Firstborn from the Dead" and the "First of the Firstfruits"

• Jesus Is the “Firstborn from the Dead” - Significantly, Jesus Christ is also called the “firstborn” based on the Greek word prototokos (G4416). He is spoken of as the “firstborn son” of Mary in Mat 1:25 and in Luke 2:7. However, prototokos in the following verses (Col 1, Rom 8, Rev 1, 1 Cor 15) about the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually conveys the idea of His being preeminently “brought forth” from Hell. While He was still physically alive on the Cross, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) and “Father, into thy hands I commend [commit] my spirit” (Luke 23:46). He could say that because He had already endured the equivalent of eternal damnation for His people and that God had already raised His soul from spiritual death. Since the actual Atonement for sin had never happened before, He is called the “firstborn from the dead” in Col 1:18 and God clearly defines the usage of the Greek word for “firstborn” (prototokos) as it relates to Jesus in His death and resurrection. Notice the phrase “the firstborn from the dead” harmonizes perfectly with our conclusion that the Greek word for “only begotten” (monogenes) identifies with Jesus’ resurrection from the second death, the eternal wrath of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the pinnacle, the keystone, and the centerpiece of Gospel. It is the most critical factor of God’s whole salvation program, as is emphasized in 1 Cor 15:16-18. The unique title assigned to the Savior in Rev 1:5, “the first begotten of the dead,” is His alone in perpetuity. It is the fulfillment of the promise given to Him by His Father in Psa 16:10.

Mat 1:25  “And [Joseph] knew her [Mary] not till she had brought forth her firstborn [prototokos:G4416] son: and he called his name JESUS.”

Luke 2:7  “And she [Mary] brought forth [tikto:G5088] her firstborn [prototokos] son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Col 1:15 “Who [Lord Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [prototokos] of every creature:”

Col 1:18-20 “And he [Lord Jesus Christ] is the head of the body, the church [the eternal body of true believers]: who is the beginning, the firstborn [prototokos] from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Rom 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn [prototokos] among many brethren.”

Rev 1:5-6 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten [prototokos:G4416] of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us [that is, the true believers], and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

1 Cor 15:16-18 “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then they also which are fallen asleep [those who have died physically] in Christ are perished.”

Psa 16:10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

• Jesus is the “First of the Firstfruits” - We have seen a very close relationship between the two Greek words for “only begotten”(monogenes) and for “firstborn”(prototokos), which identify with Jesus’ resurrection from the second death, the eternal wrath of God. Now we will look at another related Greek word that is translated as “firstfruits”(aparche:G536) in 1 Cor 15:20. The Old Testament has much to say about “firstfruits” with reference to the first “fruit”, or produce, from a crop harvest. The “feast of harvest” that featured the firstfruits was also called the “feast of weeks”. It was one of the three main feasts that God commanded Israel to keep annually. It followed the “feast of unleavened bread” (or Passover) in the spring of the year, and it corresponded to Pentecost in the New Testament. The three feasts are described in Exo 23:14-16. Each of those feast periods has much symbolism and spiritual significance related to specific events in the timeline of God’s salvation program during the New Testament period, but time will not permit us to describe this subject in detail. There was an important distinction between the “first of the firstfruits” and the remaining portion of the “firstfruits” as we read in in Exo 34:26. We can understand that the “first of the firstfruits” spiritually pointed to Jesus Christ, Who was saved from eternal damnation at the Cross and returned to “the house of LORD”. In fact, His resurrection from the spiritual second death is essential for the salvation of all of God’s elect, who are the remaining portion of the “firstfruits”, as we can see from 1 Cor 15:20-24. Jam 1:18 further explains that believers, like their Master, are also “a kind of firstfruits”, since they, too, have been raised from the dead spiritually and are assured of eternal life. God saves His people through the truth of His Word; and the word “begat” in this verse Jam 1:18 means to be “brought forth”, or to be spiritually “born from above”. 

1 Cor 15:20 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

Exo 23:14-16 “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.”

Exo 34:26 “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God…”

1 Cor 15:20-24 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits [aparche:G536] of them that slept [those who have died physically]. 21For since by man came death, by man [Christ] came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits [aparche:G536]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”

Jam 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us [true believers] with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”