Firstborn and Firstfruits in the New Testament

[Minister Monardo]

Looking for insights from the use of these two terms in the New Testament.

[G4416]=prototokos=firstborn. Primarily assigned to identifying Christ Jesus.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4416/kjv/tr/0-1/
Examples:
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
Let all the angels of God worship Him.

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from
the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[G536]=aparche=firstfruits. Also used in descriptions of Christ, but also at times
applied to members of the church.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g536/kjv/tr/0-1/
Examples:

Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption,
the redemption of our body.

Romans 11:16 For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root
is holy, so are the branches.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we
might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they
are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These
were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Use any of the New Testament scriptures that you are most familiar with and have
sound knowledge of, as well as any Old Testament types to elaborate, compare/contrast.
I did a study on the firstborn last month, and this week on firstfruits and learned
quite a bit. But I can’t help but think there is much more to glean from the knowledge
of them, so I would like to throw this out to the forum to see what we can learn from
one another. Shalom

 

[HTacianas]

Looking for insights from the use of these two terms in the New Testament.

[G4416]=prototokos=firstborn. Primarily assigned to identifying Christ Jesus.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4416/kjv/tr/0-1/
Examples:
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
Let all the angels of God worship Him.

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from
the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[G536]=aparche=firstfruits. Also used in descriptions of Christ, but also at times
applied to members of the church.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g536/kjv/tr/0-1/
Examples:

Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption,
the redemption of our body.

Romans 11:16 For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root
is holy, so are the branches.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

James 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we
might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they
are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These
were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Use any of the New Testament scriptures that you are most familiar with and have
sound knowledge of, as well as any Old Testament types to elaborate, compare/contrast.
I did a study on the firstborn last month, and this week on firstfruits and learned
quite a bit. But I can’t help but think there is much more to glean from the knowledge
of them, so I would like to throw this out to the forum to see what we can learn from
one another. Shalom

First fruits and first born are terms used in the ancient Jewish sacrificial system. We could consider it today as a "tax". The firstborn of the animals were sacrificed in the temple, while the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat, etc., were donated to the priests. They are both essentially the same. It is the same as if we said today your first ten percent of income goes to the government as a tax. The firstborn of children also belonged to the temple -or God- but could be redeemed by offering a substitute. The substitute varied based on the means the person had, see Leviticus 12:1-8.

Firstfruits is used in the new testament as something of a slang term to describe those who accept the sacrifice of Christ. James 1:8 describes those as "a kind of firstfruits" rather than firstfruits. That Christ is seen as the firstfruits of the dead refers back to the sacrificial system when the first of anything was given over to God.

 

[3 Resurrections]

Looking for insights from the use of these two terms in the New Testament.

[G4416]=prototokos=firstborn. Primarily assigned to identifying Christ Jesus.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4416/kjv/tr/0-1/

Absolutely, this "Firstborn" title belongs only and exclusively to Christ for all time. Good to see that you are drawing a line of distinction between these two titles of the "First-born" and the "First-fruits", because they mean two different things.

This "First-born" title for Christ was the anti-type fulfillment of the heavy emphasis all throughout the OT of the consecration of the firstborn male child that a family was blessed with. God called these firstborn ones "MY children" whom the Israelites were giving in child sacrifice rituals - a great insult to God, since the "firstborn" son was supposed to be dedicated to Him, not to a pagan idol. There was great significance in the required redemption of the firstborn son (Exodus 13:13). All those firstborn sons that "opened the matrix" were symbolic of Christ becoming the "firstborn of every creature" and the "First-begotten from the dead".

There is a curious reference in the OT in the LXX to Christ being "begotten" in heaven at His ascension on His resurrection day. It actually tells the time of day that Christ ascended and was "begotten" by the Father - the very first resurrected human body that had ever appeared in heaven to stand before God, even though many had been bodily resurrected to an incorruptible form before Christ. Something was "born" in heaven that morning after Christ's resurrection that had never arrived there before that time. It was on that occasion when Christ was ordained our Great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Psalms 110:1-4 (LXX) reads:

"The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (As Peter on Pentecost Day said that Christ had already been seated at God's right hand at His resurrection - Acts 2:32-36).

"The Lord shall send out a rod of power for thee out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." (This being the "rod of iron" wielded by Christ, caught up to His Father's throne in Revelation 12:5.)

"With thee is dominion in the day of thy power" (As in the dominion, glory, and a kingdom given to the ascended Son of Man being brought before the Ancient of Days - Daniel 7:14)

"in the splendours of thy saints:" (Which were the resurrected group of Matthew 27:52-53 saints raised that same day as Christ was resurrected.)

"I have begotten thee from the womb before the morning." (Early that morning after His resurrection, Christ ascended to His Father before the day dawned, just after He told Mary He was ascending in John 20:17. He then returned to earth shortly afterward.)

"The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." (This was Christ's ordination as our Great High Priest, after the deathless order of Melchisedec, which launched the New Covenant and the consequent "change in the law" that day - Hebrews 7:12.)


As for the "First-fruits", this applied to the "First-resurrection" event (Revelation 20:5) and that comparatively small "remnant of the dead" who rose the same day as Christ's resurrection (the Matthew 27:52-53 saints).

Paul mentioned these same "First-fruits" saints in Romans 8:23, who were still present among the early church. They were serving as functioning "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor, and teachers" (those living "gifts" given to serve the churches in Ephesians 4:8, 11-12). Paul said the church "HAD the First-fruits of the Spirit";(not the same as the "Fruit of the Spirit), and these were providing living examples of the church's future hope for their own "redemption of the body" in the next resurrection.

Romans 11:16 For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Here, Paul was looking back to the OT "heave offering" sacrifice of the cake of the first-fruits of the Israelites' bread dough (Numbers 15:17-21). A portion of this dough was to be "heaved" before the Lord as a representative of the rest of the dough. If that "First-fruits" of the dough was considered holy, then of necessity the entire lump which it came out of was considered holy also.

Just so with the "First-fruits" Matthew 27:52-53 resurrected saints coming from those various Jewish tribes. If THEY were "Blessed and holy" as being the "First resurrection", then all the rest of the dead OT saints were also considered holy (out of which bigger "lump" the 144,000 First-fruits "remnant of the dead" was only a small portion).

Also, if the "root" (which was faithful Abraham) was considered holy, then the "branches" or the "children of faith" were also considered holy, along with faithful Abraham.

 

[3 Resurrections]

Here's one reference I'm sure you know about which was not on the list above concerning the "First-born". It's found in Hebrews 12:23 (YLT), and I believe it not only mentions the "First-born" Christ, but also refers to the Matthew 27:52-53 resurrected saints who had received perfected, glorified bodies.

"But, ye came to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the company and assembly of the first-born, in heaven enrolled, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men made perfect..."

The company and assembly of 144,000 Firstfruits Matthew 27:52-53 saints connected to Christ the "First-born" were "enrolled in heaven" (they had been "sealed") but had not bodily arrived there yet in those glorified bodies. These were still among the church as the "spirits of just men" who had been given their "perfected" bodies in a resurrection process. Just as Christ had also been "made perfect" by His bodily resurrection (Hebrews 5:9).

Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Somebody in the eschatology section just asked about this peculiar reference to "virgins" who were "not defiled by women". They wanted to know if these were all males.

The reference to these "First-fruits" being "not defiled by women" was speaking about a lascivious cult of the early church called the "doctrine of Balaam". It had been started by the infamous Simon Magus of Acts 8:9-24, who was joined later on by a woman called Helen coming from a brothel in Tyre. Together, these two had contrived a dangerous, corrupt mixture of sensual practices combined nominally with the Christian name to make it tempting to naive church members. Helen was the "prophetess" nicknamed "Jezebel" in Revelation 2:20 who was teaching and seducing Christ's servants to commit fornication, and to sacrifice to idols.

Eusebius mentioned Simon Magus and Helen in his "History", blaming Simon for the bulk of the corruption in the early church. Indeed, Peter had once predicted that Simon Magus would become a "gall of bitterness" and a "bond of iniquity", (Acts 8:23) and this came to pass with his corrupt "doctrine of Balaam".

Paul had once expressed the wish to present the believers as "a chaste virgin to Christ" (both men and women). Those in the church who did not follow this "doctrine of Balaam" could claim that state of innocence. But the temptation to fall under this corrupt doctrine would not have even been an issue for the 144,000 First-fruits resurrected saints, who were immune to any kind of sensual temptation to commit fornication, being in a state of glorified perfection. They would not have become "defiled by women" who were either teaching or believing this doctrine of Balaam. What's more, anyone in a resurrected body (such as the 144,000 First-fruits Matthew 27 saints) would have had a virginal status anyway, (both men and women) since there is "no marriage nor giving in marriage" in the resurrected state (Luke 20:35).

 

[Minister Monardo]

"But, ye came to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the company and assembly of the first-born, in heaven enrolled, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men made perfect..."

Now that you mention it...
The Church Of The Firstborn