So how can you be first if you put others first? We look to Jesus for the answer to that riddle.

Putting others first was at the heart of Jesus’ redeeming mission, wasn’t it? He explained that he came into the world as a human being not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

And yet the selfless Savior is first. Two biblical titles for Jesus provide explanation. We can call those titles Easter firsts.

Colossians 1:18 describes Jesus as “the firstborn from among the dead.” (Revelation 1:5 lists an almost identical title: “the firstborn from the dead.”) First Corinthians 15:20 identifies Jesus as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Firstborn. Firstfruits. Easter firsts.

The firstborn is an Old Testament concept that highlights rank and prominence. Calling Jesus “the firstborn from among the dead” describes his rank and prominence among those who died and rose to life.

While we read in the Bible of other people who were raised from the dead, only Jesus prophesied his death and resurrection. Using the temple in Jerusalem as a metaphor for his body, the Lord informed a hostile crowd, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). They did, and he did. More than controlling his death and resurrection, Jesus overcame death itself. “Death has been swallowed up in victory” and has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:54) because of Jesus’ resurrection.

But the Lord’s resurrection was not merely a personal triumph over death. All who are united to him in faith share in that victory. What Jesus assured Martha still rings true: “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

That leads us to the second of the Easter firsts. Jesus is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Firstfruits is also an Old Testament concept. One of God’s requirements for his covenant people was that they bring to him—through their gifts to the priests—the first and best of their crops.

When the people did that, it did not mean there would be nothing left for them. It was quite the opposite. The people gave the first of the crops to the Lord with the confident expectation that more crops would be harvested later.

Jesus is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” because he is the first to die, to rise with a glorified body, and never to die again. Consider how Jesus greeted the apostle John in a vision: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (Revelation 1:18). Jesus is the first of that special kind of resurrection, and others—Christians—will experience a resurrection like that on the Last Day.

Before you go, let me tell you about a magnificent mausoleum that my wife and I once saw in Kensal Green Cemetery in London. The once-shiny slabs of granite were coated with dirt and grime, but the message in uppercase letters was unmistakable: “I WILL ARISE.”

That confident expression of faith is one every Christian—including you—can make. Easter firsts are the reason. Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

James Pope | FIC Editor

Author: James Pope
Volume 113, Number 04
Issue: April 2026