Ephesians; 1:5 – The adopted sons are the harvest of Christ, sons of light, and the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit, part 2.

Thursday April 18, 2019

 

Christ is the first fruits and the sons of God are His harvest. They are also sons of light and the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit.

 

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

 

Rom 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

 

The body of Christ is the first to have the gifts of the indwelling Spirit (baptism, indwelling, sealing, teaching, empowering, gift, filling) and so we are the first fruits of the Spirit.

 

1Co 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

 

The first fruits were a sampling of the best of the harvest. With a great harvest the first fruits would be a spectacular specimen. As they were presented to God, others would witness their greatness.

 

Christ is the first fruits of resurrection. He is the head of the church. If He resurrects then it is certain that we will as well.

 

Luk 20:36 for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

 

He is the first fruits and we’re the whole crop, the wheat.

 

Mat 13:24 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

 

Mat 13:25 "But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.

 

Mat 13:26 "But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

 

Mat 13:27 "And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

 

Mat 13:28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' And the slaves  said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'

 

Mat 13:29 "But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them.

 

Mat 13:30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."' 

 

Christ warns us that the world during this mystery age will not have the unified, divinely good condition of eternity. There will be no utopias.

 

He also warns us that the final judgment will only come at the end. We are to leave all judgment of men until then.

 

We also note that not only the field of the world, but the garden of Christendom has been sown with tares. The church, at least the professing church has a long history of greed, lust, intolerance, insincerity, superstition, pious fraud, rotten character, and the promise of God’s kingdom without the substance of the kingdom. False piety is often used as a shield for contemptable and vile aims.

 

We would ask along with the slaves, “Didn’t You sow good seed in Your field?” The answer is not that it is a result of Christianity, but that an enemy had done it.

 

Mat 13:36 Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

 

Mat 13:37 And He answered and said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

 

Mat 13:38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;

 

Mat 13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

 

Mat 13:40 "Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

 

Mat 13:41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

 

Mat 13:42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

Mat 13:43 "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

 

The devil has sowed noxious seed in Christ’s field. This was done enough throughout history as to be a thing when on man wanted to exact revenge or vent his own spite against his neighbor. It was clearly an insidious work of an enemy that wanted to ruin the joy and the hope of the landowner.

 

There is something else devilish also, in sowing the noxious seed “when men slept.”

 

The night is the time when the clamoring of man’s daily workings cool and quiet down. It is the time of quiet, hidden, or low-toned sins.

 

1Th 5:1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

 

1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord [the beginning of the Tribulation] will come just like a thief in the night.

 

1Th 5:3 While they [those in the darkness] are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

 

1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief;

 

This applies to them if the Day of the Lord begins with the Rapture (as some like Ironside hold to) or that it begins with the Tribulation (which others like Fruchtenbaum and Pentecost hold to). The term is always used negatively and in association with judgment. We conclude that there is an interim period, since the Tribulation begins when the beast makes a 7-year covenant with Israel, which beast isn’t on the scene until after the church is removed. Yet, this is only a fairly sound conjecture, and, no one knows the length of the interim period.

 

Since the Thessalonians are children of light, they would not live in the interim period between the Rapture and the Tribulation.  

 

Despite this question, the real issue is that we, the members of the body, are sons of light and are no longer to be mastered by the hidden sins of the night.

 

We understand that hidden sins can be accomplished during the day, but the point is the imagery of the night; closed doors, streets empty, no visitors, and the open facades or masks that people wear during the day are taken off.

 

The adopted son is a son of light. He is goodness, righteousness, and truth, none of which needs to be hidden in darkness. The sons of disobedience have hidden places for sin.

 

1Th 5:5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

 

1Th 5:6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

 

Naturally we sleep, and almost all of us do so at night, but the phrase “as others do,” again refers to the imagery of the secret life of man, apart from his Creator, thinking no one sees, doing what sins they secretly desire, never wanting anyone to see. The sons of light are delivered from this slavery.