Firstfruits

Ever think, "Man, if Adam just hadn't taken that apple?"? I have, frequently. I wonder what it would be like, all of us living in an Edenic earth, walking and talking with God. Of course, maybe we'd all still be naked, which would make it less fun.

Ever think, "It doesn't really matter?" No, I never did either, until today, reading 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. There Paul says, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man." Meaning Jesus of course, the risen Christ who Paul calls here the firstfruits.

Of course it matters in the sense that I struggle daily with sin. It would really be nice if I didn't have to.

But it doesn't matter in the sense that God took care of it anyway. As long as I belong to Jesus, the end result will be the same. God worked it out so that Adam's apple-eating, that act of making a choice that turned him (and us) from God, was taken care of. Jesus paid the price I was supposed to: death. But as we saw yesterday, death was a comma, not a period. Jesus rose, and in so doing became the firstfruits, the first of many sons and daughters to be welcomed back home by the Father.

Paul says there's a period of time when Jesus will be busy conquering his enemies. I think that's now, although I've never made a study of the end times. But whether that is done, is ongoing, or is still to come doesn't matter either. The point is, in this passage belonging to Jesus means eternal life. That's the good place to be.

Judgment Day is coming. When I stand at the gates, I'm eager to hear Jesus say, "He's with me."