Born into the New Order

In Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 - 18, there are seven unique aspects of Jesus unfolded. Five relate to His eternal nature and the remaining two to His redemptive work. Beginning at verse 15:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.” (NIV)

There are five eternal facts about Jesus. First, He's the image of the invisible God. Second, He's the first-born before all creation. Third, He created all things. Fourth, He is, He exists eternally before all things. Fifth, in Him all things hold together. He holds the whole universe together.

Now the last two statements that we have not yet looked at apply to that which followed His atoning sacrificial death. Verse 18 of Colossians chapter 1:

“And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.” (NIV)

So, the sixth fact is that Jesus is the head of the body, the body is the Church, and the seventh, that He's the beginning of a new order because He's the first-born from the dead. In other words, death was in a certain sense the womb out of which God brought forth a totally new order, Jesus being the first one in this order, the head of the body.

In a natural birth, what part of the body comes forth first? We all know it’s the head. But when the head emerges, the body is going to follow. And so in this spiritual birth, out of death, Jesus, the head of the body emerged first. But what does that tell us? That we who are united with Him as our head, will follow Him in that birth into that new order of creation. We'll follow Him into all that He entered into through death and resurrection from the dead. And this will take us with Him wherever He goes. Not only into resurrection but into ascension, into heavens’ glory, into the place of authority at God's right hand.

Listen to how Peter expresses this in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 and 4:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (NASB)

That's the essence of the message. We are born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His resurrection is called a rebirth. It's a birth out of the old order into a new order, a new way of life, a new kind of life. Through our identification with Jesus, we pass into a new order. And this order is totally different. We've passed out of that realm into a new realm in Jesus through identification with Him. We've been born again to a living hope.