Firstfruits: The Resurrection of JESUS Is For Our Justification & Celebration
Resurrection Day tomorrow is The Feast of Firstfruits. And we must celebrate It with GREAT thanksgiving and praise unto THE LORD. Hallelu-YAH!
Why? Because He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:25.
The Feasts of THE LORD celebrate now: The Sacrifice, Resurrection, Giving of THE SPIRIT, Second Coming, Thousand-year Reign and Eternal Dwelling with man of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
We will also celebrate them in The Age To Come.
The Feast of Firstfruits
- This Feast celebrates The Resurrection of our LORD JESUS CHRIST from the dead. Oh, say Hallelu-YAH!
- In The Old Testament, one was to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of harvest to the priest, who then waved it before THE LORD;
- It is celebrated on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath of The Passover weekend.
Firstfruits Celebration Actions
- REJOICE and exceedingly praise GOD for raising our LORD JESUS CHRIST for our Justification;
- Seek to know THE LORD and The Power of His Resurrection. Seek THE LORD, seek His Face evermore;
- Have Resurrection Fellowship and Dinner;
- Worship THE LORD as the women did when He met them soon after He had risen from the dead;
- During The Meal, take The Communion with reverence, GODly fear and thanksgiving;
- In celebrating this Feast, our LORD presented Himself and His PRECIOUS BLOOD to THE FATHER to reconcile us to Him. Therefore, THANK GOD for THE BLOOD. Also, as we are chosen to do, sprinkle THE BLOOD by faith and prayer to your family household, Church household, and all other things that concern you;
- Talk delightfully about JESUS and His Resurrection.
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN! And He is alive FOREVERMORE! Glory to GOD!
When our LORD JESUS CHRIST rose from the dead, He presented Himself with His PRECIOUS BLOOD to THE FATHER in Heaven on our behalf, (John 20:17; Hebrews 9:11-12), so that WE can now go to THE FATHER through JESUS by His BLOOD! Hallelu-YAH! (Hebrews 4:15,16;10:19–22).
The Resurrection of JESUS and The Presentation of Himself and His PRECIOUS BLOOD to THE FATHER, fulfilled The Feast of Firstfruits, during which one would bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest to be waived by the priest to THE LORD.
As our LORD JESUS CHRIST rose from the dead and presented Himself to THE FATHER, so shall we at His Coming.
As written,
“CHRIST the Firstfruits, afterward those who are CHRIST’s at His Coming.” 1 Corinthians 15:23.
THE LORD Himself explained it so wonderfully with great Insight and Wisdom: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain,” (John 12:24).
“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain — perhaps wheat or some other grain. But GOD gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.” 1 Corinthians 15:35 -38.
But what does it mean that CHRIST is The Firstfruits? JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, is The First Person Who rose from the dead bodily and lives forever, in Bodily Form.
Many people rose from the dead in the Bible. Elisha raised the dead (even his dead bones did).
Our LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself raised Lazarus and others from the dead. In fact and truth, the very moment JESUS died, the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had died were raised; and coming out of the graves after His Resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53).
However, all these people died again. We raise the dead today but they die again when it is their time. BUT CHRIST having risen from the dead IS ALIVE FOREVER MORE! Glory to GOD!
CHRIST, The Firstfruits from the dead, fulfilled Leviticus 23:10,11, in which GOD commanded the children of Israel concerning The Feast of Firstfruits, saying: “You shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before THE LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, “on the day after the Sabbath“, the first day of the week, rose from the dead and ascended to THE FATHER and, as our High Priest, “waved” (presented) Himself, “CHRIST The Firstfruits from the dead” to THE FATHER on our behalf, (John 20:17; Hebrews 9:12; 8:2, 3).
This was when He inaugurated a NEW and LIVING Way by His BLOOD to GOD for us, (Hebrews 10:19-22). Hallelu-YAH! GLORY, GLORY, GLORY to GOD!
How to Celebrate The Feast of Firstfruits
During The Feast of Firstfruits on the first day of the week when THE LORD JESUS CHRIST rose from the dead, starting with the women, the disciples repeatedly sought Him. And He repeatedly appeared to them, starting with the women. (Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1– 9; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1-8).
JESUS never fails to appear to those who fervently, unrelentingly seek Him, like Mary Magdalene. By The Grace of GOD, I have this testimony, as does many other believers around the world.
As He did then, as many as will believe, pray and seek THE LORD during this Feast (and any other time), He will appear to them. JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, today and forever.
“And THE LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before THE LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to THE LORD. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to THE LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your GOD; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Leviticus 23:9-14.
Under The New Covenant, to “offer on that day…a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to THE LORD”, means to pray and present, ”CHRIST…an Offering and a Sacrifice to GOD for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Yes, pray and present THE LAMB Who was slain “an acceptable Sacrifice well-pleasing to GOD.” (Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 4:18).
As the angel did to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, during this Feast (and beyond) declare The Amazing, Miraculous and POWERFUL Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, saying: “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see The Place where THE LORD lay.” (Matthew 28:6).
This declaration is a GREAT Sacrifice of Praise to GOD, and is of all DEVASTATING destruction to the devil and his angels, because it enforces and executes their destructive defeat by The Death and Resurrection of our LORD.
Declare Resurrection POWER to every dead situation or area of your life, and experience life from the dead in everyone of them. Hallelu-YAH!
To His praise and glory, celebrate JESUS, that He is RISEN! Praise GOD for what He has done for us through His CROSS and His Resurrection.
With reverence and GODly fear, greatly thank GOD “Who raised up JESUS our LORD from the dead,” (Romans 4:24). Praise Him exceedingly for The Sacrifice of CHRIST and His Resurrection.
For He,
“was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:25.
Furthermore, to “bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest,” we must give witness to The Resurrection of “CHRIST The Firstfruits from the dead,” during this Feast (and at other times as led by THE HOLY SPIRIT) by saying only what, where, when, how and to whom we are sent by THE LORD.
During The Feast of Firstfruits, we must give witness to The Resurrection of THE LORD JESUS with Great POWER like the apostles. And Great Grace be upon us.
“And with Great Power the apostles gave witness to The Resurrection of THE LORD JESUS. And Great Grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33.
Also, by “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest,” we are to do what THE LORD commanded us: to “pray THE LORD OF THE HARVEST to send out laborers into His Harvest.” (Matthew 9:38) as well as reap the harvest of souls ourselves as THE LORD commanded us:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in THE NAME of THE FATHER and of THE SON and of THE HOLY SPIRIT, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen”: Matthew 28:19-20.
Reverentially additionally, “drink offering shall be of wine” symbolises The Offering of THE BLOOD OF JESUS, (Matthew 26:27-29).
During this Feast, our LORD presented His PRECIOUS BLOOD to THE FATHER to reconcile us to Him. And, as priests, we are chosen by GOD for Sprinkling of THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, (Revelation 1:5–6; 1 Peter 1:2).
Therefore, as part of celebrating The Feast of Firstfruits, undertake Sprinkling of THE BLOOD by faith and prayer to your family household, Church household, and all other things that concern you.
Furthermore, engagingly talk about JESUS and His Resurrection among yourselves, reverentially discussing what this POWERFULLY means for us in Him. THE LORD is certain to be in your midst as you do this.
“Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that JESUS Himself drew near and went with them.” Luke 24:13-15.
Another thing. When JESUS rose from the dead during The Feast of Firstfruits, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
Then He ascended to THE FATHER with His Own BLOOD for our redemption and access to GOD, came back later the same day and appeared first to two disciples on the way to their village, Emmaus, and then to the eleven and those who were with them gathered together as “they sat at the table“ in Jerusalem (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:33).
The Word says that, that evening, they were gathered together as “they sat at the table“.
They were having dinner!
Peter confirmed this, saying that GOD showed JESUS openly to various chosen witnesses, “even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.” (Acts 10:41). (They ate and drank with Him on subsequent occasions as well).
This was the order of the day — literally, on Resurrection Day. Because, earlier, THE LORD had Himself “sat at the table with them [the two Emmaus disciples]… took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” (Luke 24:30).
Therefore, during The Feast of Firstfruits we must be “sat at the table“ to have Resurrection Fellowship and Dinner as family and friends or as a Church household.
THE LORD then released two Promises of GOD to the congregation: Peace and THE HOLY SPIRIT, (Luke 24:36; John 20:19-23).
Earlier, He had also appeared to the women and said to them:
“REJOICE!” (Matthew 28:9).
Therefore, during this Feast we must rejoice, pray and ask THE LORD for His Peace and THE HOLY SPIRIT in The Church, as well as in our life, family and the earth, proclaiming: “Glory to GOD in The Highest, and on earth Peace, Goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14).
Again, ask THE LORD to appear to you and be in your midst just as He appeared to the various disciples during The Feast of Firstfruits on Resurrection Day.
Thus, in those appearances during The Feast of Firstfruits, THE LORD did a lot of things, showing what we must also do when celebrating It.
THE LORD expounded The Scriptures to the two Emmaus disciples, sat at the table with them to have dinner and served The Communion to them in their house in Emmaus.
In addition to knowing THE LORD in His WORD and by His HOLY SPIRIT, we can also KNOW Him in The Breaking of Bread (The Communion).
This was the experience of the two Emmaus disciples who encountered THE LORD on Resurrection Day after He had returned from presenting HIMSELF and His BLOOD to THE FATHER in Heaven:
“Now it came to pass, as He sat at The Table with them, that He took Bread, blessed and broke It, and gave It to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.” Luke 24:30-31.
“So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “THE LORD is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.” Luke 24:33-35.
And so, as led by THE HOLY SPIRIT, when taking The Communion, pray (among other things) that your eyes be opened to know THE LORD, that He is known to you in The Breaking of Bread.
Pray “that I may know Him and The POWER of His Resurrection, and The Fellowship of His Sufferings, being conformed to His Death, if, by any means, I may attain to The Resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11).
Hear this, brethren: The Communion is as important as THE LORD Himself, for It is “The Body and Blood of THE LORD”! (1 Corinthians 11:27).
“Communion” means fellowship, sharing.
When we take The Communion, we are literally sharing the very Life of GOD; His Body and Blood. Yes indeed, The New Covenant in His BLOOD. This is why He served The Communion just before and after THE CROSS to the twelve and the two Emmaus disciples respectively.
In Jerusalem, later that evening during The Feast of Firstfruits, THE LORD was in turn served broiled fish and honeycomb in the assembly of disciples, (Luke 24:41-43).
Therefore, whether in your house or a Church meeting, the Resurrection Fellowship and Dinner must be unto THE LORD with rejoicing.
During the dinner, discuss/expound The Scriptures, and take The Communion with reverence, GODly fear and thanksgiving to GOD for The Resurrection of THE LORD JESUS, The Firstfruits from the dead.
Pray that THE LORD be known to you in The Breaking of Bread (The Communion).
On the culinary side of things, a delicious dish of broiled fish would be WONDERFUL indeed. For THE LORD ate broiled fish and honeycomb during The Feast; the disciples must have likewise done so, for they gave Him what food they had at the table. (But please don’t make religion out of this).
Invite family and friends to the dinner (including a sleepover, if possible), just as the two Emmaus disciples invited THE LORD to their home to be their Guest for the night.
Above all, exactly as the two Emmaus disciples invited THE LORD, you also invite Him into your house, your heart and every area of your life, and let Him stay always and dine with you as He has said:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My Voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20.
Come on then. Hear THE LORD and open the door for Him.
He is waiting at your door, if you haven’t yet opened it for Him.
This Word was initially published and titled: “Celebrating The Feasts of THE LORD: Firstfruits“.
This version has been updated and titled for The Feast this year.
Postscript
Below are links to Words on The Feasts of THE LORD:
- Introduction
- THE LORD’s Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- The Feast of Firstfruits
- The Feast of Weeks (The Day of Pentecost)
- The Feast of Trumpets
- The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew)
- The Feast of Tabernacles
Free Download: You may download the book “Know and Celebrate The Feasts of THE LORD as a Christian ꟷ Now and Forever!” by Jacob Addison Awagah as a PDF file in any of the options below:
- A4 Letter Size — 33 pages.
- A5 Book Size — 62 pages.
To request an editable copy of the book file, or send a query, please contact Jacob via: ObeyJesusAlways@gmail.com
“The LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:22.
“Farewell” Acts 15:29.
~ Jacob Addison Awagah
Like John, I like to put my head to The Heart of JESUS so as to know and do His Will always. What’s in His Heart is what matters now and FOREVER. His Heart’s Desire is my only desire. My will is to do His Will.
As John was, I am the disciple whom JESUS loves. And like Paul, I am “the prisoner of CHRIST JESUS” (Ephesians 3:1) for His Purpose forever: to obey Him always.
NB. Surely, the disciple whom JESUS loves and “the prisoner of CHRIST JESUS”, like ALL The Promises of GOD, are available to every believer to obtain, just as John and Paul did.
“And having been perfected, He [JESUS] became The Author of Eternal Salvation to all who obey Him,” Hebrews 5:9.
I thank you, Jacob Addison Awagah for such deep teachings. I didn’t read everything that you wrote. However, I read enough of it to know that you truly know Jesus Christ. That we may all know Him in such a way …