Firstfruits

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DEATH BRINGS LIFE

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o What if everyone born since Adam were still living?

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o Without cell death, we would not have five fingers.

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o Without cell death, we would not have five fingers. Babies as small as 8 to 16 cells depend on cell death to form & grow.

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o This principle also works among plants.

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o This principle also works among plants.o “What you sow does not come to life unless it

dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain” (1 Cor 15:37-38, ESV).

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o Paul begins that analogy in this morning’s text.

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o Paul begins that analogy in this morning’s text.

o He refers to Jesus as the “firstfruits.”

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o FIRSTFRUITS OF RISING.o FIRSTFRUITS OF REIGNING.

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FIRSTFRUITS OF RISINGvv 20-23

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o “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (vv 20-23, ESV).

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o Christ has been raised as the firstfruits, v 20.

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o Christ has been raised as the firstfruits, v 20.o Paul has just written about a “fantasy world”

where Jesus was not raised from the dead (vv 12-19).

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o “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (v 19, ESV).

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o But, “Christ has been raised from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v 20, ESV).

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HOW IS JESUS “THE FIRSTFRUITS” OF THE RESURRECTION?

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o The Israelites offered the firstfruits of their harvests to God.

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o “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, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted” (Lev 23:10-11, ESV).

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o “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there” (Deut 26:1-2, ESV).

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THE FIRSTFRUITS WERE OFFERED TO GOD IN RECOGNITION OF HIS BOUNTIFUL CARE & IN HOPES OF AN EVEN GREATER HARVEST.

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AS THE FIRSTFRUITS, JESUS IS THE FIRST TO RISE FROM THE DEAD.

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AS THE FIRSTFRUITS, JESUS IS THE FIRST TO RISE FROM THE DEAD.

But, Jesus was NOT the first to rise from the dead.

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o “Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet” (2 Ki 13:20-21, ESV).

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o Jesus “came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak” (Lk 7:14-15, ESV).

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YOU KNOW HOW JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO RISE FROM THE DEAD.

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YOU KNOW HOW JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO RISE FROM THE DEAD.

He was raised never to die again!

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o “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him” (Rm 6:9, ESV).

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o Because Jesus is the “firstfruits” of the resurrection, we have confidence of an even greater “resurrection harvest” in the future.

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o Death is in this world because of Adam.

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o Death is in this world because of Adam.o “Sin came into the world through one man, and

death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rm 5:12, ESV).

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o Death is in this world because of Adam.o “Sin came into the world through one man, and

death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rm 5:12, ESV).

o God promised that death would follow disobedience.

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o Death is in this world because of Adam.o “The Lord God commanded the man, saying,

‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Gn 2:16-17, ESV).

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o Death is in this world because of Adam.o “The Lord God commanded the man, saying,

‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Gn 2:16-17, ESV).

o The Israelites did not make a distinction between the physical & the spiritual.

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o Adam brought death, but Jesus brings life.

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o Adam brought death, but Jesus brings life.o This is a type/antitype in reverse.

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o Adam brought death, but Jesus brings life.o This is a type/antitype in reverse.o Jesus can bring life, for he has all life.

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o “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn 1:4, ESV).

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o “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn 1:4, ESV).

o “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6, ESV).

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WHO WILL BE MADE ALIVE?

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WHO WILL BE MADE ALIVE?

“Those who belong to Christ” (v 23, ESV).

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o Not everyone will be made alive when Jesus comes again.

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o Not everyone will be made alive when Jesus comes again.o I did NOT say that only believers will be

resurrected.

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o Not everyone will be made alive when Jesus comes again.o I did NOT say that only believers will be

resurrected.o “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming

when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out” (Jn 5:28-29, ESV).

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JUST BECAUSE ONE IS RESURRECTED, DOES NOT MEAN HE WILL HAVE LIFE.

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THAT’S HOW THE SECOND COMING WILL BE FOR MANY.

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o “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29, ESV).

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o Those who belong to Christ shall have the resurrection of life.

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o Those who belong to Christ shall have the resurrection of life.o “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever

believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (Jn 11:25-26, ESV).

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o Victor Hugo: “When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said, ‘My day’s work is done.’ But I cannot say, ‘My life is done.’ My work will recommence the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes upon the twilight but opens upon the dawn.”

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o Victor Hugo: “When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said, ‘My day’s work is done.’ But I cannot say, ‘My life is done.’ My work will recommence the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes upon the twilight but opens upon the dawn.”

o But, that’s only true if one “belongs to Christ.”

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DO YOU BELONG TO CHRIST THIS MORNING?

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THE FIRSTFRUITS OF REIGNING

vv 24-28

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o “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjections under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all

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o “things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (vv 24-28, ESV).

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o Jesus is the firstfruits of reigning in that he reigns prior to handing the kingdom back to the Father.

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o After the resurrection, the end shall come.

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o After the resurrection, the end shall come.o In English, “the end” denotes finality; in Gr, “the

end” denotes purpose or goal.

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o After the resurrection, the end shall come.o In English, “the end” denotes finality; in Gr, “the

end” denotes purpose or goal.o At the resurrection, the goal of human history—

viz., the exaltation of God & his Christ—shall be completed.

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o After the consummation, Christ will deliver the kingdom back to the Father after he has destroyed every rule and every authority and power.

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o Christ is going to hand the kingdom back to the Father.

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o Christ is going to hand the kingdom back to the Father.o The church is only one manifestation of God’s

kingdom.

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kingdom.oGod had a kingdom before the church was ever

established.

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kingdom.oGod had a kingdom before the church was ever

established.o “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and

your dominion endures throughout all generations” (Ps 145:13, ESV).

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kingdom.o The Israelites were God’s kingdom in the past, the

church is God’s kingdom now, & all the saints will be God’s kingdom when this world is no more.

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o Jesus will present the kingdom back to the Father when he has subdued all authority.

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o Jesus will present the kingdom back to the Father when he has subdued all authority.o There is much authority & power in this world.

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o Jesus will present the kingdom back to the Father when he has subdued all authority.o There is much authority & power in this world.o “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12, ESV).

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o Jesus will present the kingdom back to the Father when he has subdued all authority.o There is much authority & power in this world.o “Let every person be subject to the governing

authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Rm 13:1, ESV).

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o Jesus once subdued a great storm.

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o Jesus once subdued a great storm.o “A great windstorm arose, and the waves were

breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling . . . . [He] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mk 4:37, 39, ESV).

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o Paul isn’t talking about the forces of nature.

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o Paul isn’t talking about the forces of nature. But, we see here how easily Jesus can subdue great forces.

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o Man can subdue demonic forces.

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o Man can subdue demonic forces. We do every time we overcome temptation.

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o Man can subdue the kings of the earth.

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o Man can subdue the kings of the earth. The Founding Fathers subdued George III.

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o Man can subdue the kings of the earth. The Founding Fathers subdued George III.

o But, we cannot subdue the forces of nature!

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o Jesus shall reign until he has put the final enemy—death—under his feet.

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o Jesus shall reign until he has put the final enemy—death—under his feet.o The idea of death as an enemy has largely been

lost from Christianity.

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lost from Christianity.o “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly

away.”

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lost from Christianity.o “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly

away.”oWhile we rightfully look forward to putting away

this frail & sinful body, death remains an enemy of God.

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HOW IS DEATH GOD’S ENEMY?

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o Death provides a far greater existence than this life.

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o Death provides a far greater existence than this life.o “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that

is far better” (Phil 1:23, ESV).

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o Death provides a far greater existence than this life.o “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that

is far better” (Phil 1:23, ESV).o When we die, we put all the heartaches &

struggles of this world far, far behind us.

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o Death is an enemy of God in that God never planned for man to die.

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o Death is an enemy of God in that God never planned for man to die.o In the Garden, Adam & Eve had access to the tree

of life.

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of life.o Only after sin came, did God remove access to

that tree.

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of life.o Only after sin came, did God remove access to

that tree. God drove man from the Garden, “lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever” (Gn 3:22, ESV).

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AS THE FIRSTFRUITS, JESUS IS THE GUARANTEE THAT DEATH IS ON ITS WAY TO BEING DEFEATED FOREVER!

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o When Jesus returns the kingdom to the Father, he himself will be subjected to the Father in order that God might be “all in all.”

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o When Jesus returns the kingdom to the Father, he himself will be subjected to the Father in order that God might be “all in all.”o God will then be glorified completely.

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o When Jesus returns the kingdom to the Father, he himself will be subjected to the Father in order that God might be “all in all.”o God will then be glorified completely.o It shall then be evident to all that God has all

glory.

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glory.o “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your

name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rv 15:4, ESV).

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glory.oRv 15:4.oThen, none will have no choice but to glorify

God.

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BUT, TODAY YOU HAVE A CHOICE.

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BUT, TODAY YOU HAVE A CHOICE.

Are you glorifying God today?

Firstfruits

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