God is the source of all your resources.
Read that again, but in the first person: God is the source of all my resources.
Money is not your source. Wall Street is not your source. Your job is not your source. Your family (or trust fund) is not your source. God is your source. Everything else is simply a tool used to get the resources to you.
When we recognize that God is our source, our hearts are set free to trust Him completely. We do not need to fear lack when we trust God as our provider. Instead, we can give with cheerful hearts knowing God will replenish and supply every need.
That’s why we honor God by following the principle (law) of firstfruits. God is very serious about First things First. In other words, “Keeping things and people in their proper order.”
For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches (Romans 11:16 NKJV).
Jesus as the firstfruits
The principle is that the first represents the total (or all). Therefore, whatever the use of the “first” of something determines what will happen to the rest. We see this in the fall of humanity. The first is so powerful that Adam’s fall dictated the pattern for all mankind.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12-17 NIV).
Jesus set a new order or pattern. Because He was the firstborn of God (a firstfruit), He could establish a new governing to mankind.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NIV).
What the above means is:
- You are a partaker of the divine nature of God
- You are a shareholder in His authority
- Because you are being conformed to Christ’s image, you will “re-produce” after your own kind.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29 KJV).
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:18 NKJV).
Every seed produces after its own kind.
Again, Jesus set a new pattern for all mankind. When we choose to become born-again believers, we become God’s children. We no longer belong to the kingdom of this world, but we are now heirs in God’s kingdom. All that God gave to Jesus is now available to us.
For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’ (Acts 17:28 NKJV).
Firstfruits and God’s covenant
Perhaps one of the most interesting connections of firstfruits is the connection with God’s covenant. When God looks at you, He sees the image of His Son because of the covenant He made. When you put FIRST things FIRST, the plan and purpose of God really do come to pass in your life.
You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine. You must give me your firstborn sons. You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. But leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day. You must be my holy people (Exodus 22:29-31a NLT).
This invokes the tradition of circumcision, which is the traditional sign of the covenant God gave Abraham. It’s important to understand that circumcision is not just a sign of being a Hebrew because there were Hebrews before there was circumcision. God made a covenant with Abraham, and circumcision was Abraham’s side of agreeing to the covenant. The common word is “circumcision,” but to Jewish people, it’s “beriyth,” which means “covenant.”
In Exodus 22, we see that God says first things belong to Him as part of the covenant. Beriyth describes a compact made by passing between pieces of flesh. A covenant is a solemn, binding arrangement between two parties and entails a variety of responsibilities, benefits, and penalties.
Our God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. The Bible is a book of covenant. It is a legal, binding contract. It is God’s law. It is God’s order. It is God’s ways. A divine covenant is a sovereign disposition of God where He establishes an unconditional or declarative compact with man. God obligates Himself, in grace, to bring to pass definite blessings for the covenanted ones.
Some covenants require action from both parties. For instance, there are proposals of God where He promises in a conditional or mutual contract with man to grant special blessings provided that man fulfills certain conditions perfectly.
Don’t worry! Our covenant was legally and permanently secured in Jesus. God cannot and will not deny Himself. He remains faithful to His covenantal Word. However, we cannot claim our promised inheritance until we know who we are in Christ.
To know who we are in Christ is to know what we have in Christ.
We have a covenant with terms and a promise that God will bless you with everything He is and everything He has. As covenant people, we are joint heirs and co-laborers with Jesus Christ.
And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom (Luke 22:29-30a NLT).
Too often, we want God’s blessings and to do things our own way. Friends, we can’t have both. If we want to experience the blessings of God, we must obtain them God’s way. We can’t expect the multiple blessings of God to manifest in our lives if we are not holding up our end of the covenant.
God will always fulfill His part; the question is… are we fulfilling our part? Are we putting God first—in everything?
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