Christ: the Firstfruits

As the second part in a series on firstfruits (Part 1), I'd like to focus on a scripture which links Jesus Christ to the concept of firstfruits:

1 Corinthians 15:20-21
But now Christ is risen from the day, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

In this post, I'll examine the role of Christ as the firstfruits of God's harvest and the connection with the wave-sheaf offering, as well as make some comments about the harvest analogy itself.
Among God's Holy Days, listed in Leviticus 23, there are two on which an offering of firstfruits was required: the Feast of Firstfruits (known more commonly among the Churches of God as the wave-sheaf offering) and the Feast of Weeks (known also as Pentecost). The Feast of Firstfruits occurs each year on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread:

Leviticus 23:10-14"You shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf to the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it... You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor new grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God"

During this time, Israel's barley would be just beginning to ripen for the spring harvest, and it is from this that the sheaf of firstfruits was taken.

Jesus was crucified on the day of Passover, the day before the Days of Unleavened Bread, and, as such, the Sunday on which He first appeared to the disciples was none other than the Feast of Firstfruits. And on that day, John 20 records that Jesus would not allow anyone to touch Him in verse 17, stating that He had not yet ascended to the Father, but then allows the disciples to touch Him later that same day in verse 27, indicating that He indeed did so on that day.

Just as Christ's death occurring on Passover makes it clear that Jesus is our Passover Lamb, so also Christ's ascension occurring on the Feast of Firstfruits makes it clear that Jesus is the Firstfruits of God's harvest; however, this is a concept that few fully grasp the significance of.

A Harvest is Not a Self-Contained Event

Paul likens his ministry to a process of sowing and watering crops:

1 Corinthians 3:6-9
I planted, Apollos waters, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his reward according to his own labor.

We have to be careful here, because Paul is using a different harvest analogy than the one that Jesus Christ represents the firstfruits of! In this particular case, the "increase" of this harvest refers to people coming into the faith, not their resurrection from the dead. The point in bringing out this scripture, rather, is to support the premise that a harvest is the end product of a long process, which involves first a planting or sowing and then a process of growing to maturity before the harvest is ripe.

The Fruit is Superior to the Seed

If a seed fails to mature fully, then whatever work went into it was a waste: this is because the only value of a seed is its potential to mature into its desired end product. Thus, the fruit is superior to the seed. In the same chapter wherein Paul called Jesus "the firstfruits" of the harvest from the dead, he commented on exactly this point:

1 Corinthians 15:42-46
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body... However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 

In this life, we are seeds whose only ultimate value is to become mature and ripe for God's harvest. Therefore, it is evident that what is harvested is superior to what is sown: we look forward not to an existence of weakness in the flesh as we have now, but one of strength and perfection in the Spirit.

As the Firstfruits Are, So Shall the Fruits Be

And this analogy leads in to an amazing yet often overlooked truth of scripture: that there is no discernible difference in the composition of fruits and firstfruits! The bible states very plainly, "we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when [Jesus] is revealed, we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2). Paul goes on to say this in his own way in 1 Corinthians 15 after using the harvest analogy:

1 Corinthians 15:47-49
The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

If I were to hand you two apples, one having ripened before the other, you would not know the difference; but God gives special status to those fruits which come first, saying "they shall be holy to the LORD" (Leviticus 23:20). The awesome truth is that God's plan is for us to have the same nature, character, power, and existence as our risen Lord, Jesus Christ! There will be no difference in these respects. Rather, just as the firstfruits of a harvest are the most honored because they indicate the coming of the whole harvest, God has exalted Jesus because He is the firstfruits of the spiritual harvest. And not only for this reason, but He is given even greater honor because His sacrifice made our maturity and harvest possible!

To Summarize 

We, as human beings, are planted by God when He calls us into His way of life. The life that we live from that point on is a process of growth to maturity until we are ripe for harvest. At that point, we shed our mortality and, with it, our human weaknesses that cause us to fall short. We are then put on an equal plane of existence with our older brother, Jesus Christ, being a fruit of the same harvest of which He is the firstfruits!