Christ in the Passover; Christ in the Feast of Pentecost; Christ in the Feast of Tabernacles by Ceil Rosen & Moishe Rosen & David Brickner

Author:Ceil Rosen & Moishe Rosen & David Brickner [Rosen, Ceil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2008-01-31T17:00:00+00:00

THE FIRST BELIEVERS

Paul also uses firstfruits as a metaphor for those who first came to faith in Jesus in one geographical area or another.

So, for instance, in Romans 16:5 (NKJV) Paul passes along his greetings in this way:

Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.

Likewise, we have 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV):

You know the household of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints.

Whether or not Epaenetus was part of the household of Stephanas we do not know, though both are from Achaia (in southern Greece). Paul could have used “firstfruits” to refer not to the very first Christian individual but to the entire group that represented the first people in the area to receive Jesus. Once again, the mention of “firstfruits” implies a fuller harvest to come. Paul’s choice of words shows that he anticipated more people to come to faith.

The timing of the spiritual harvest differs from that of the physical harvest. While the farmer had a reasonable sense of a time frame for harvesting, we have less of a sense when God might move. Earlier we mentioned that some have seen Jewish missions as wasteful because relatively few Jewish people are coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah. While there has not been a mass “people movement” among the Jewish people (perhaps ½ to 1 percent of Jewish people profess faith in Jesus), at times we do see an increase—the past few decades being one of those times.

Had those first missionaries not stepped out in faith in anticipation of a fuller “harvest,” would we see as many believers in Jesus as we do today?

As was mentioned in chapter 5, Jesus told His disciples that the fields were ripe for harvest and pointed to the Samaritans, who were probably the last people the disciples would have expected to see in the harvest. It was within that context that Jesus also pointed out, “Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (John 4:37–38).

This ought to encourage us; the first results of mission work in any area should, in faith, be seen as the beginnings of a crop. Faith, Hebrews tells us, is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). This was true of the biblical heroes that Hebrews mentions as examples of faith; it was true also of countless unnamed Israelite farmers who, in faith, expected a full harvest before they could see it. Even so, Paul expected more people to come to faith in Christ, though they were known only to God.

May that be true of us: that we in faith anticipate God’s continued working for a greater harvest of believers, and be co-laborers to that end, whether our mission field is to people overseas or in the house next door.

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