6.5 Inheritance in the Firstborn of Creation

Colossians 1:9-20 provides a window into what the Apostle Paul understood about the gospel. He prayed for the church to come into its inheritance in Jesus Christ, the firstborn of creation. Verses 9-10 summarize the goal of our calling - being filled and increasing in all spiritual wisdom and knowledge, walking worthy of God, and pleasing Him in all our ways:

2 Colossians 1:9-10

9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don't cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Verses 11-12 describe the motivational work of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to persevere in Him with joy and thanksgiving as partakers of our inheritance in Christ:

2 Colossians 1:11-12

11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,

12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

The book of Exodus describes how God delivered Israel from the oppression of an external enemy. Colossians 1:13-14 talks about deliverance from sin and darkness:

2 Colossians 1:13-14

13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,

14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

Verses 15-19 provide a theological understanding of who Jesus is in relationship to God the Father, co-equal and preeminent in all things, and as the firstborn of all creation, He was the first to be raised from the dead. The grave cannot restrain its creator:

5 Colossians 1:15-19

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,

Finally, verse 20 indicates God's purpose of reconciling all things to himself since He covenanted peace with man through Jesus' supreme sacrifice:

1 Colossians 1:20

20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

Hebrews 8:1 describes Jesus as our high priest forever seated in heaven at the right hand of God:

1 Hebrews 8:1

1 We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

Hebrews 8:6-13 describes how Jesus mediates the everlasting New Covenant, reconciling man to God. The glory of the New Covenant surpasses that of the Old. The New cannot be broken. It is not subject to Israel's ancestral claims. New Covenant ancestry begins with Jesus, the Firstborn of Creation. Jesus, as Firstborn, fulfills God's predestined plan for man to be reconciled to Him, but only by exercising faith to become born again.

4 Hebrews 8:6-9

6 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

8 For finding fault with them, he said, "Behold, the days come", says the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn't continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them," says the Lord.

(That is why the old covenant became obsolete.)

1 Hebrews 8:10

10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days," says the Lord; "I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

(Doesn't that sound like the Holy Spirit?)

3 Hebrews 8:11-13

11 They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, from their least to their greatest.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more."

13 In that he says, "A new covenant", he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

Next, we find in Ephesians 1:11-23 that we have obtained an inheritance, having been sealed in Christ at salvation. There is an eternal inheritance that will be secured when we put off our earthly bodies, but when we come to maturity in Christ, it is also a fulfillment of our inheritance.

13 Ephesians 1:11-23

11 We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,

12 to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ.

13 In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation - in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

14 who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.

15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,

16 don't cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,

18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might

20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,

21 far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,

23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Romans 8:11 accentuates that the Holy Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies:

1 Romans 8:11

11 But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

What is the sign, mark, or seal of this inheritance? As we read in verse 13, it is the promised Holy Spirit. With all the talk about the dynamic of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we should get excited about the possibilities of the fullness of the Spirit in our day and age.

A sure sign of maturity in Christ is honesty with God and walking upright and holy. We will know when we are walking victoriously. We experience the Holy Spirit constantly reminding us to walk straight and narrow paths. Our maturity in Christ will be measured by our attitude toward discipline. The Lord loves those who He disciplines, and there is a great reward when we heed His direction.

The seal of the Holy Spirit has been set upon us. Our minds became alive to the Lord's existence and abiding presence. We have been set apart from the world and adopted by Him. When we are sealed in Christ, it is a promise that He will complete what He started in us, but we must choose to trust and obey.

In contrast to the seal of the Holy Spirit, Revelation 13:18 describes the mark (or seal) of the beast. There are two schools of thought about the Mark of the Beast. One is that it referred to Emperor Nero, but others believe that it is something yet to occur. There is so much speculation, glamorization, and even superstition about it, guessing who it might be:

1 Revelation 13:18

18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.

Do not forget the warning label in verses 16-17 of Revelation 13:

2 Revelation 13:16-17

16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their heads;

17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

The mark referred to someone's name using a numerical code. Why? If the book were viewed by an enemy, they would not think that it was seditious and incur immediate consequences. Revelation 14:1 talks about receiving a different name that believers receive on their forehead as a seal:

1 Revelation 14:1

1 I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.

It was the seal of the authority and power of the Lamb of God we worship. We assign spiritual significance to the mark or seal of the Holy Spirit on our foreheads, the center of our thoughts and willful devotion to God.

Some believe that the mark of the beast is physical. However, the mark of the beast is a seal that indicates allegiance to something antichristian, a philosophy, a world leader, etc. The seal of Christ is simply the mindset of those who worship Jesus in Spirit and Truth.

In his book Apocalypse and Allegiance, Professor J. Nelson Kraybill asserts that the mark we choose is a matter of allegiance. He shows how pervasive idolatry was in the Greco-Roman culture of the early church. It wasn't easy to trade without some acknowledgment of the emperor or idol worship.

We should not be surprised. In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar and Darius were worldwide emperors. Nebuchadnezzar made a huge image of himself that all the people should bow to and worship under the threat of death if they refused. Darius signed a decree that prayers should not be offered to any god but to himself with the same threats. In both cases, God miraculously delivered Daniel and his three companions from death.

We often think of modern Israel as the people of God, but it all started with Jacob, the progenitor, and Israel of the Old Covenant. As the Firstborn of Creation, Jesus had a greater birthright as the Son of God in whom people of faith can inherit eternal life.

Let us recall what Jesus said in John 8:58:

1 John 8:58

58 Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.

This is incredibly important because Jesus announced He was God even before Abraham existed. We understand that Jesus was and is far greater than Abraham. It was God who called Abraham in the first place. As such, Jesus was and is also greater than Jacob. Jacob's birthright, calling, blessings, and God's favor dimmed compared to Jesus.

We also discovered that Jesus was the firstborn raised from the dead in Hebrews 12:22-23:

2 Hebrews 12:22-23

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,

23 to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.

The assembly of the firstborn, the children of faith and promise, exists in the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Just like the Sabbath, circumcision, and compulsory tithing were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the firstborn Son, the "New" Israel of God. He is the progenitor of the church. The Holy Spirit is the seed planted by God that brings about spiritual birth. Galatians 3:23-29 tells us:

7 Galatians 3:23-29

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to promise.

Verse 28 states that the New Covenant makes no distinction in its recipients. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 3:4-11 as a newly revealed mystery:

8 Ephesians 3:4-11

4 You can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ,

5 which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit,

6 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

7 of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.

8 To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

9 and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ,

10 to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,

11 according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Colossians 1:25-28, Paul repeats this theme of a mystery that was hidden for prior generations:

4 Colossians 1:25-28

25 of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,

26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,

27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;

In verse 27, Paul describes how the riches of the glory are found as "Christ in you". In verse 28, he talks about making every person perfect in Christ. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are one in Christ as He is in us. As a result, I'd like to suggest that the New Covenant can be referred to as the Age of the Holy Spirit.