Colossians 1:18

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

-Colossians 1:18

Christ is also the head of the church,
    which is his body.
He is the beginning,
    supreme over all who rise from the dead.
    So he is first in everything.

-Colossians 1:18 (NLT)

Earlier, Paul said that Jesus is "the firstborn of all creation".  Now, Paul says that he is "the firstborn from the dead".  How are these two different?  What does it mean?

"The firstborn of all creation" doesn't mean that Jesus was the first created being/thing.  Though I don't know fully, I know it relates to the fact that Jesus created all things, existed before all things and hold all things together.  Now, moving on to "the firstborn from the dead", we can look ahead and see that it relates to, "that in everything he might be preeminent".  Jesus being "the firstborn from the dead" (and perhaps also the fact that Jesus "is the beginning") logically leads to or results that "in everything he might be preeminent".  I get that from the word "that" in the verse.  So, whatever "firstborn from the dead" means, it is linked to Jesus being preeminent in everything.

NLT easily shows where they stand on the meaning of the phrase by putting it plainly: "supreme over all who rise from the dead".  Why was Jesus supreme over all who rise from the dead?  That question has so much depth to it and as I think about the answer, I am overwhelmed by Jesus and his death and resurrection.  I'm afraid to do the question injustice by my answer.  Maybe I'll just say that Jesus is awesome and I don't have to think hard to see why he should be preeminent in everything.