First-Fruits; Happy Easter

April 17

Read: 1 Cor. 15

Resurrection Sunday

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (V.20)

HAPPY EASTER!

The central hope of Christian faith has always been the resurrection of the dead and eternal life for those who are in Christ Jesus. The “good news” message of Christ is that the Kingdom of God has come and is invading time and space. Jesus is our “firstfruits” example… the forerunner… the prototype and proof of what is in store for all of God’s children: resurrection and eternal LIFE! This is what we celebrate on Easter. Praise the Lord for this because we need desperately to be reminded of HIS LIFE since there are so many examples of DEATH around us.

“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.” (v.21,22) The curse of Adam is plain to any who care to look for it. It is so easy for us to become fixated on “the curse” that we need a special day to remind us of the blessing… of the resurrection of Christ… of LIFE. There is indeed LIFE all around us as well. Examples of the way that the Kingdom of God is moving… growing… conquering. We celebrate this truth today as well: the resurrection of Christ inaugurates a power “bursting forth” and in-breaking of the Kingdom of God. Imagine a hole breaking open in a huge dam… with water flowing violently through it. It is like the stone rolled away from the tomb and as Jesus burst forth so did a powerful flow of the Kingdom of God!

There is an order to this process though: “But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 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.” (v.23-25) Jesus is destroying every rule and every authority and power. He is “bringing under his feet” every bit of the enemy and death… every bit of the brokenness that we see around us. (v.27) He is doing this work- in part -through his “body”… through the people of God. Jesus is using us to fight back against the brokenness of this world and bring to him every enemy that needs to go “under his feet”. We do that today as we worship JESUS and celebrate… as we look back upon his death, burial, and resurrection and we look forward to his coming again.

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (v.26) We know this truth deep in our bones. Every time we mourn the death of a loved one we are reminded of this reality - death has not yet been brought under the feet of Christ. The battle was won at the tomb… the war will be won at his second coming. SO we endure… as Jesus’ brothers and sisters. We persevere as God’s children. We do not mourn as those without HOPE. (cf. 1Thes. 4:13,14) Jesus is calling us to “rule with him, like him, and for him”. (Thanks Jim Thompson!) Today we celebrate the coming victory… the truth that one day EVERY ENEMY including DEATH will be put under Jesus’ feet and the Kingdom of God will have reached its final state. We will walk the streets of this “new heavens and earth” in the “city of God” in new body. We too will one day walk out of the grave. Easter reminds us of this. Praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus… our “firstfruits” of the harvest of God. I pray that you will find HOPE in this message today. Love you guys. - JDP