In our Day 64 post we focused in on Firstborn Jesus. Today we are looking into what it means that He is “the firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18).
*Click here to read Firstborn Jesus (Day 64).
“And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”
Colossians 1:18 (NIV)
I think Colossians 1:18 calls for a study of part of another letter written by the apostle Paul, what we refer to as I Corinthians 15.
Col. 1:18 & I Cor. 15
In I Cor. 15, Paul starts by reminding the Corinthian congregations of the true gospel, the one he preached to them (v.1-11), then he deals with the falsehood being spread that there is no resurrection from the dead (v.12-19). After that, he gets into our focus for today, the idea from Col. 1:18 that Christ is “the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.”
The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.”
I Corinthians 15:20-23 (NIV)
What are firstfruits, anyway?
We don’t use the term “firstfruits” often, certainly not in our everyday, 21-century, walking-around lives. You tend not to worry too much about firstfruits when you can have groceries delivered to your door just by touching a screen.
While I do live on land with a cattle pasture practically in my front yard, the same environment in which I grew up, I would say, if my thumb has a color, it is certainly not green — maybe black. Horticulture is not my superpower.
Yet the Bible is replete with agrarian references like this one; we need to gain at least a basic understanding of these things in order to study and understand God’s Word.
first fruits: The first agricultural produce of a season, especially when given as an offering to God.
The Firstborn / Firstfruits Connection
The NIV has 30 uses of “firstfruits,” seven of which are in the New Testament. The ESV has 31, also with seven in the NT. Colossians does not reference firstfruits, but I believe the idea of Jesus being “the firstborn from among the dead” is parallel. See how Genesis 49:3 uses both terms:
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.”
Genesis 49:3 (ESV)
Honor the Lord with Your Firstfruits
“Honor the Lord with your wealth,
Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV)
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
The Israelites were instructed by the Lord through Moses to “bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19). The Feast of Firstfruits is described in Leviticus.
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, “When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.
14And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”‘”
Leviticus 23:9-14 (ESV)
By the time of King Solomon, it was also written as a proverb (above); however, an offering of fruits goes all the way back to the first chapters of Genesis, and the first brothers in existence.
Firstborn, Firstfruits, & Faith
“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4And 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, 5but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
Genesis 4:2-5 (NIV)
Was the difference merely in offering flock vs. fruit? No. Was the difference that Abel brought from the firstborn of his flock while Cain brought “some of the fruits of the soil”? I think it’s more that Abel’s firstborn offering was an indication of what was in his heart:
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”
Hebrews 11:4 (ESV)
What about Cain’s heart?
“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
I John 3:11-12 (ESV)
Cain, the firstborn of Adam, killed his brother Abel who offered the firstborn of his flock to God by faith. Humanity, we have a problem.
Israel as the Firstfruits of God’s Harvest
“The word of the Lord came to me (Jeremiah):
2‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:This is what the Lord says:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved Me
and followed Me through the wilderness,
through a land not sown.
3Israel was holy to the Lord,
the firstfruits of His harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,’
declares the Lord.4Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.5This is what the Lord says:
‘What fault did your ancestors find in Me,
Jeremiah 2:1-5 (NIV)
that they strayed so far from Me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.'”
The ESV Study Bible notes say of verse 3: “Israel was holy to the Lord, set apart for His purposes… Israel was the firstfruits of His (God’s) harvest, His chosen and blessed people. He protected Israel, for all who ate of it (i.e., of Israel as the holy firstfruits) faced disaster, such as befell Egypt at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:1-15:21). Now disaster awaits Israel (Jer. 1:14); a great reversal has occurred.”
- Israel was holy to the Lord.
- They were the firstfruits of His harvest.
- However, they became worthless when they followed worthless idols.
Sinful Adam & Righteous Christ
There was a fundamental reason Israel couldn’t keep it together as the Lord’s firstfruits: sin. God chose them, but time and again they chose not to follow Him. And it all started with Adam.
“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.”
Romans 5:12-14 (NLT)
Recap:
- Adam sinned.
- Sin entered the world.
- Sin brought death.
- Death spread to everyone.
- Everyone sins.
- Everyone dies.
Sin & Death vs. Grace & Forgiveness
“But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
Romans 5:15-16 (NLT)
Adam’s sin led to condemnation.
condemnation (n.): The action of condemning someone to a punishment; sentencing.
condemn (v.): Sentence (someone) to a particular punishment, especially death; Prove or show the guilt of.
Adam’s sin caused death to rule.
“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
18Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
20God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:17-21 (NLT)
The First Adam & the Last Adam
“The Scriptures tell us, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living person.’ But the last Adam — that is, Christ — is a life-giving Spirit.
46What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
48Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the Heavenly Man.”
I Corinthians 15:45-49 (NLT)
Christ, the Firstfruits… Then Us
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.”
I Corinthians 15:22-23 (NIV)
Jesus was raised from the dead first; all who believe in Him will follow Him in resurrection when He returns.
Jesus: The Perfect Offering
What does all this have to do with Colossians 1:18?
- Jesus is the firstborn and the firstfruits.
- He was and is the first and the best.
- He was offered to God by God because we could not give such a perfect offering to God ourselves.
All offerings that we can give have ultimately been provided by the Lord. Even in our humble humanity, we still sometimes think we are offering God something that was ours to begin with. That’s never the case! Everything we have comes from Him first. We are stewards and consumers, not creators, nor producers.
“…What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
I Cor. 4:7 (ESV)
“Grace and peace to you… from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 1:4,5 (NIV)
To learn how the Feast of Firstfruits commanded by God in the OT foreshadows Jesus as the firstfruits, check out the following video by biblethinker.org’s Mike Winger (specifically at 29:40 min. in, but the whole vid is great!).