The Firstborn From the Dead

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He 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 preeminence. Colossians 1:9-18 NKJV

This is a remarkable prayer of Apostle Paul for the saints in Colosse. All knows that we need power to live. Here in the passage of Colossians Chapter 1, we see the reason why we need power. When we are filled with the knowledge of God, He strengthens us with all might according to His glorious power. Our God is pouring out His glorious power. What for? Surprisingly, we need power not to demonstrate how much we can do spectacular things, but for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

Yes, we need that power to live a life worthy of the Lord in this adulterous and crooked generation. How easy is it to be impatient in the midst of demanding and jungle-like competitive lives! Our flesh whims constantly to get what we want now, resulting in unquenched thirst. It happens to every men and women, believers and non-believers. Here the good news comes into all the believers that new power has been given to be filled in full, to persevere with joy, and to give thanks to the Father.

How can it be? It’s because the Father in heaven has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In the Son Jesus Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Who is the Son Jesus Christ? He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. He is the Owner of all things. All things created by Him and for Him. Yes, all things, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Nothing can exist without Him. All things are created through Him. He is the ultimate Possessor of all.

Not only that, He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things Jesus Christ may have the supremacy. That Christ Jesus is living in us now and forevermore.

Therefore, we have the sufficient and overflowing power to live a life worthy of the Lord’s calling and to be men and women God intended us to be before the foundation of the world. The every source of power is not from us but from our Lord Jesus Christ the Son who is the firstborn from the dead. The resurrection power is the power we have in our inner sanctuary, that is, spirit. Amen.