A Word in Season: The Firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20)

The Word of God’s Contrasts and the Shift from Error to Truth

The Word of God is full of striking contrasts designed to bring truth before our eyes in a punchy and deliberate way. The shift may be from error to truth, from confusion to clarity, from fear to certainty.

Often it's introduced with language that flags up the fact that we've got this step change now that's taking place. The Apostle Paul, for example, uses language like but God or but now, and he does that in 1 Corinthians 15 and chapter 20, one of the sweetest and richest of these contrasts in the scriptures, where he says but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The Logic of the Resurrection and the Collapse of Christian Hope Without It

In the context he's dealing with a situation in Corinth where the resurrection of the dead is simply being denied, a blanket declaration. That's it, full stop, no questions. And Paul presses home the logic of such a foolish and devastating conclusion, because if there is no resurrection then Christ himself is not risen, and if Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

We've really got nothing to say and what you've responded with is is pointless. Yes, more than that, we've found false witnesses of God. These men whose ministry is grounded on their integrity as testifying of the risen Christ Jesus, they're actually deceivers and liars if the dead don't rise, for if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen, and if that's so your faith is futile.

It's empty, it's vain, it's pointless. There's no saviour, there's no salvation if Christ is still in the grave. You're still in your sins, and furthermore those who've fallen asleep in Christ, those also have perished utterly and entirely.

There's no hope, there's no future, there's no prospect. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. If this is it, if this is as good as it gets, then Christian religion is fraudulent, it's foolish, it's fake, it's pointless.

There's no substance to it, there's no beauty in it, there's no value to it. Why would we be what we are and do what we do if this is everything? Here's the contrast. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and that changes everything.

Christ Is Risen as the Firstfruits of the Harvest

It reverses everything that Paul has just been saying. Christ is risen, so our preaching is substantial, and so is your faith. Yes, we're true witnesses because Christ has been raised up, and if Christ is risen then your faith is sweet and saving, and you are no longer in your sins.

And those who have fallen asleep in Christ, they have not finally perished. Yes, there's been a separation of body and soul, but that is not the end. We do not only have hope in this life, and therefore we are not to be pitied.

Now Christ is risen from the dead. He is seen, he is known, and he is declared as the man who has conquered sin and death and hell. And he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The firstfruits in scripture aren't just an indication that the harvest is coming.

They're a promise of everything that follows after. They're the first offering to God. They're a token, if you will, of everything that will follow afterwards. And that's what Christ is as the resurrected Lord.

Paul would go on to explain how we're going to bear the image of the heavenly man, and it all flows out of this reality, that on the first day of the week, the Lord Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.

The Hope, Joy, and Certainty Grounded in Christ’s Resurrection

And our religion, the true religion of Christ Jesus, hangs upon and hinges upon that glorious reality. That's what our hope is, that's where our joy comes from. Our present blessings and our future expectations are because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

We should not doubt it. We have no need to do so. It is not impossible with God that a man should be raised from the dead. It is in fact the great demonstration of the fact that the claims of Christ were true, and that the work of Christ was accomplished.

So on this resurrection day, let us remember that now Christ is risen from the dead, and ground our hope in the fact that he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.