James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
God’s will for us is to experience salvation in Jesus Christ. This truth is found in God’s words to us contained in the Bible. This is a fundamental tenant of the Christian faith. God’s plan is that we as humans will experience new creation in this lifetime. This new creation is a spiritual recreation, going from death to eternal life. The rest of creation awaits its recreation. As Paul says in Romans 8:20-23, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Creation is awaiting for Jesus’ return and the full salvation of humanity. What we experience now is a “first fruits.” The quality of the first of the harvest guarantees the quality of the rest of the harvest. The first fruits were offered to God in the Old Testament. We are God’s special plan. What we experience now inwardly and spiritually (filtering outward to how we live) is a foretaste of what is to come for all creation.
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