Compelling Love

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul declares, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. … But each in turn: Christ is the firstfruits; then when he comes, those who belong to him.”  This is a promise that those who belong to Christ will be raised up in resurrection bodies when He returns.  A study of the feasts of Israel  sheds light upon the historical and prophetic significance of the Resurrection and its meaning for our lives here and now.

1 Corinthians 15 (NKJV)
²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn:Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For he “has put everything under his feet” [Psalm 8:6]. Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. ²⁸ When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

The feasts of Israel were also called God’s “appointed times”.  The appointed time of Firstfruits came right after that of Passover and Unleavened Bread.  John the Baptist speaking of Jesus in John 1:29, declares: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  Likewise, Paul refers to Jesus as “our Passover” in 1 Corinthians 5:7.  Sam Nadler writes in his book, “Messiah in the Feasts of Israel”, page 56:

Just   as   Passover   was   to   mark   Israel’s   redemptive
beginning  as  a  nation,  so  also  the  Lamb  of  God  is  your
redemptive  beginning  when  you  believe  in  Yeshua:
“if  any  person  is  in  Messiah  he  is  a  new  creation,
old  things have passed away, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

John 3:16 (NKJV) says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  New abundant life begins the moment one truly receives Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Paul writes in Galatians 4:4, that when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to bring us redemption and adoption to sonship.

Galatians 4 (NIV)
⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

The Feast of Firstfruits, celebrated the day after the Sabbath of the Passover week, involved the Priests offering the best  first grains to the Lord.  No one could eat any of the harvest until the firstfruits were offered in the Temple before the Lord.  God promised to then bless the harvest.

The seven feasts, or appointed times, prophetically depict the times when the Messiah would be revealed to His people and the world.  By keeping the feasts, Israel was rehearsing the times of the Messiah.  The first four prophetic events have been fulfilled, the last three are yet to come.

The 8-day observance of Unleavened Bread beginning on the first day of Passover points to Jesus as the Bread of Life.

On the day after the Sabbath of the Passover week, Jesus rose from the dead as the firstfruits of the harvest to come, the same day the High Priest was waving the firstfruits sheaf offering in the temple to God.  Then the rest of the harvest could commence.

The timing of the Resurrection parallels the offering of the firstfruits in the temple, with its promise of God’s blessing for the harvest to come.

Jesus is our Passover Lamb, the Bread of Life and Firstfruits Resurrection for all who believe in Him.  In His first coming, we see the fulfillment of the Spring feasts and of Pentecost, when believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The prophetic fulfillment of the Fall Feasts –  Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles – will commence when He comes again.

Prophetic Fulfillment of the of the Feasts of Israel by Yeshua the Messiah

Get ready!  … Looking forward to the second coming and the fulfillment of the Fall Feasts, 1 John 3:2-3 declares: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  …  Get ready!

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 4/1/2018,https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
studygrowknowblog.com/2014/04/18/resurrection-sunday-is-actually-first-fruits-according-to-jewish-calendar-not-easter/  (first photo)
wordofmessiah.org/messiah-feast-firstfruits/  (photos 2-6)