In the beginning: God has given us His first fruits - His first and best - Jesus.
…unblemished and undefiled, it is best seen in His giving of His only begotten Son who would be the first of many brothers and sisters, who themselves would be the first fruits of the work of Jesus, and who would then be filled with another first fruit - the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God.
God has given us, His children, His first and best, His first fruits. Today, we commemorate and celebrate, His First Fruit
We see the concept of “first fruits” first seen, rooted in, God's work in creation. In creation God has done His best - all of it, very good - and in turn, He has given His best - to whom? To man, to us - to enjoy, to steward, the share dominion with the Creator.
Genesis 1:31 31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 2:7-9, 15 7Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food…15The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Yes, God’s creation is now but a shadow of its original glory, but…
Despite sin’s destructive presence and power, God’s work stands as evidence of His greatness and glory, His loving kindness and generosity.
Although presented to mankind as an expression of God’s loving generosity… it still belongs to God.
Because God created everything that exists, all of creation belongs to Him - we are but grateful stewards, participants with the Divine in care of the creation that came about by His word, and mankind, the making by His hands.
With that, everything there is His (John 1:1-3) and the first and best belongs to Him and is to be gladly given to Him - beginning with a grateful heart!
Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…”
God has given us His best, His first and best, the first fruits of all of His goodness…
There seem to be at least 5 types of First Fruits - expressions of God’s wise and gracious love (Jn 20:3-18; 1Co 15:20-28)
We might not realize… that “first fruits” is a not a new concept, but is found in both the Old and New Testaments. It is used to describe the first and best of all that God has given, acts of God’s grace toward all He has created and made, to be given back to Him as an acknowledgment of Him and His grace and faith in His continued provision. So when Paul said Christ was “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1Co 15:20), he was using a term and imagery rich in history and meaning.
There are at least five kinds of firstfruits can be identified in Scripture:
1. The First Fruits of the Harvest - of all that God has provided by His wonderful grace - that is, everything!
In the Old Testament, God commanded the people of Israel, His people, as a grateful recognition of being God’s chosen, to give the first and best parts of the harvest as an offering (back) to Him (Ex 23:16; Neh 10:35). This would have included grain (Ex 23:16; 34:22), olive oil (Nu 18:12; Dt 18:4), new wine (Nu 18:12; Dt 18:4), honey (2Chr 31:5), sheep wool (Dt 18:4), fruit (Neh 10:35), and even their herds and flocks (Dt 15:19).
By giving the firstfruits as an offering to God, the Israelites were acknowledging that all the harvest—in fact, everything they had—had come from God and belonged to Him. as much as this offering of first fruits was an act of worship in acknowledging God as the One from Whom all things come and belong, it was also an expression of faith that not only was the first fruit from Him, so the harvest of the rest of the crop, that would come later, was also from the hand of God. So, the first fruits offering not only acknowledged God’s ownership of everything, but also expressed thankfulness for His provision, and the anticipation of what was to come.
The first fruits were given at the Feast of Harvest (Ex. 23:16), the second of three annual festivals. This feast is also known as the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (Ex 34:22; Nu 28:26). This would have been celebrated during the fifty days after the Passover (Lev 23:16), in N.T., it is would be known as the Day of Pentecost.
2. Israel - was called by God, the first fruits, but not that last…
Jeremiah called symbolically called Israel the first fruits of God’s harvest. “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest” (Jer 2:3). Just as the first and best crops were devoted to God, Israel was God’s chosen people, set apart by God. It is important to see here that Israel was God’s first fruits and not His only fruit, this is a hint that there would be other peoples and nations that would (become) His.
3. Believers - God’s children, born again, in Christ
In Romans 16:5 and 1 Corinthians 16:15, the first converts of a particular area were called “the firstfruits.” Some translations use the term “first converts,” but literally it is “firstfruits” (KJV), the same word used in 1 Corinthians 15:20.
James calls believers “a kind of first fruits” as the new birth we have experienced is only a preview of the day to come when He will make all things new in a new heaven and a new earth.
James 1:18 “By his choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
4. The Holy Spirit - The indwelling Spirit of God Who will be with us forever (Jo 14:16)
Paul said we “have the Spirit as the first fruits” Rom. 8:23. The Holy Spirit is a foretaste, the first installment, “the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance”, of our future glory. He is God’s pledge of more to come in our life in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14, 19-20 “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory…his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms
5. Jesus - Who is the Creator and Sustainer of everything!
When Paul said Jesus is “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” 1Co 15:20, he was painting back to the OT offering of the first and best, and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. As, in the OT, the first fruits were a thanks-offering to God and a demonstration of faith in God, for the rest of the harvest to follow, Jesus’ resurrection was the foretaste of the resurrection of all believers yet to come. His resurrection is our assurance that one day, we all, who have placed our faith in Jesus, will be raised from the dead and will receive new resurrected bodies. This is why Paul could cry out: “Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?” 1Co 15:55
Paul here, calls Jesus, the “first fruit” an expression of Jesus being the first among many brothers - given life in Him through His life, death, and resurrection - “Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1Co 15:20.
Jesus was God’s first fruit—his one and only son. God gave Jesus, who was raised from the dead, up for us, in the same way that God asks His children to see Him, acknowledge Him as the good and glorious provider, to give to Him in a grateful, glad, and sincere heart - offering back to Him all that we are - offering ourselves and all we have as living sacrifices - our first and best we have - (back) to Him.
Jesus is the first fruit
The Spirit is the first fruit - Paul said we “have the Spirit as the firstfruits” (Rom. 8:23). The Holy Spirit is a foretaste, the first installment of our future glory. He is God's the pledge of more to come in our resurrection life.
We, God’s children, are the first fruit
2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
James 1:18 says, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”
“In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” —Genesis 4:3-5
This is what God has offered to His loved making so that they might become His beloved children.
John 1:1-5 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:10-13 9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
