Firstfruits of the Spirit

“My soul yearns for You in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks You.”
Isaiah 26:9 (ESV)

Regardless of the Covenant, there have always been those who knew their need for God. Life without His presence and His wonder affecting their choices and conduct was an inconceivable existence. There remained an overriding consciousness, a sense that they were created for His presence. Regardless of their understanding and circumstances, there was an awareness that they lacked a full knowing and comprehension of HIM.

This inherent groaning for Him is not the result of the efforts of men or a religious zeal born of the flesh; it is a consequence of receiving the “firstfruits of the Spirit.”

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Romans 8:22-23 (ESV)

There is a sense and a pursuit of something greater, something deeper that calls out to the heart of man. We have an intrinsic need to participate in Him, to see Him unveiled within His Body to such an extent that His revelation transcends our own apprehension. As a result of His Spirit, there is a growing selflessness and desire to express the heart of the ONE who so loved this world that HE gave His only begotten Son to redeem it.

Paul’s great need was to express the nature and the Call of Christ to all, that men and women would see their participation “in the fellowship of the Mystery.” The Body of Christ can only arise as each member comprehends their ministration of Him into the fabric of the whole. Isolation, apathy, and indolence are the fruits of those who do not feel the pulse and power of His heart.

“And to make all men see what is the
fellowship (their participation) of the mystery…”
Ephesians 3:9
(parenthesis my addition)

Spiritual blindness is the result of living outside of the influence of His Spirit. The depth of the “firstfruits of the Spirit” working and moving within an individual is expressed in the care and the burden felt for others. It requires a life lived in the Spirit to touch His heart for His people.

Moses’ care for the children of Israel to fulfill their destiny in God, to `have His presence in their midst, was so great that he asked for his own name to be blotted out of the Book of Life if God would not go with them. Even after their great sin of making gold their God (as many have done in our day), he pleaded with God to forgive them.

“Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
Exodus 32:31-32

One evidence of the “firstfruits of the Spirit” is a passion for His people to “apprehend” their call and purpose in God. People wrapped up in themselves lead a mundane existence. The world of those who seek only their own good is small, uneventful and unfruitful.

The language of the New Covenant ministration is one of love, expressed in open fellowship (participation) with all who have been born of Him.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,
and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.”
1 John 5:1 (ESV)

It is the nature of love to involve itself in that which is the object of its desire. The selfish are focused on themselves, while those who have received His love and who “keep themselves in the love of God” become involved in that which He loves.

“everyone who loves the Father…”

The litmus test of our true love of the Father is our involvement with those who are born of Him. In this day of division and carnality, the love of Christ transcends the doctrines and egos of men’s selfish ambitions.

We see this exemplified in Paul’s writings to the Church in the varied depths at each location. To the church at Corinth, he declared that he could only minister to them the “milk of the word” because of their carnality. To the church at Galatia, he confronted legalism. To the church at Thessalonica, he expressed his deep love and comfort regarding false ministrations concerning the “coming of the Lord.”

He could not cut off His care from them because of their error or lack of understanding. Because of the love of the Father, he owed them the truth and spoke it regardless of their estimation of him.

“I will very gladly spend and be spent for you;
though the more abundantly I love you,
the less I be loved.”
2 Corinthians 12:15

To be true to God is to be true to His people. The world loves those who love them back; those who have the “firstfruits of the Spirit” love all whom the Father loves.

“God is faithful, by whom you were called
into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)

It is only in being in Christ Jesus, that we feel the sense of His Call INTO the fellowship of His Son. Our fellowship with one another reveals the light, the power and the bonds of Love we have in Him. The carnal man cannot be subject to the inexorable press of this wonder (Romans 8:7).

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another…”
1 John 1:7

Related Post: The Press of Love

“The same bond which unites believers to Christ binds them to each other. The love which is exercised towards the Head extends to the members. The union itself necessarily involves a union of affection. Those who love Christ love those who are like Him and those who are beloved by Him.”
— Gardiner Spring

Brian Troxel