About First Fruit
Posted in Prosperity, Spiritual Growth on Mar 11, 2018
Happy New Year Church. 2018 is SHOUTS OF VICTORY for us. I have been asked what the ‘first fruit’ means and if we believe and practice it as a church (CFC).
The answer is YES! We believe and practice ‘first fruit’ offering. We have to understand is that first fruit is different from the tithes.
- The first thing about first fruits is that it is primarily an act of WORSHIP rather than LEGALITY. It has to be approached in FAITH and not just as a duty!
Genesis 4:4 (4) And Abel, he also brought of the FIRSTLINGS of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
The purpose of this offering was to worship God. Hebrews 11:4 lets us know that it was an act of faith because it says, “By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain...”
Genesis 4:4 says Abel brought the FIRSTLING. The word ‘firstling’ is an old English word which means, ‘first of its kind to be produced or to appear.’ In the Hebrew it means ‘birthright.’ When we bring our first fruit offering to God, we are giving Him our holiest and relinquishing our rights to any form of inheritance as an act of faith and by so doing, we are looking up to God as our inheritance. Remember that Abel offered this first fruit even before the Law was given!
- The second thing about the first fruit is that it is an ACT OF HONOUR FOR GOD. Honor is a deeper depth of love. You can love with words but you can’t honour without substance.
Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) 9 HONOR the Lord with your wealth, with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your crops;
The firstling is referred to in the bible as ‘first born’ or ‘first fruit’ as we can see from this scripture in Proverbs 3:9. It means, “the first, in PLACE, TIME, ORDER or RANK i.e. beginning, chief, principal thing.”
The first fruit is the first of whatever God brings you into with respect to time, order or rank.
TIME which could be the beginning of a new year, ORDER with respect to the first of anything you get into e.g. your first profit on investment and RANK which could be a new office that you come into as a result of a promotion.
Your first fruit could be your first salary on getting a job or promotion. Your first fruit can also be the first of your produce, sales! Under the Old Covenant they gave their animals and crops (Deuteronomy 18:4) because it was agrarian society but we live in an economy where everything is quantified in money.
- The third thing is that by giving our first fruit we are consecrating what we have and do to God and we are declaring that we see God as our Source and we are putting Him first in our affairs because the first things belong to Him by principle (Exodus 22:29-31).
Romans 11:16 16 For if the FIRST FRUIT be HOLY, the LUMP is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are THE BRANCHES.
To be ‘Holy’ means to be ‘consecrated’. We consecrate our jobs, businesses, family (i.e. lumps and branches) and everything that we have and do to God when we give our first fruit. It is an act of our faith.
God saw you and me and offered Jesus! Before any man ever got saved, Jesus was the only begotten of the Father (John 3:16), He went ahead and offered Him and today He stands as the FIRST begotten of the Father because many of us are now begotten in Him (Colossians 1:18; Revelations 1:5).
- Finally the first fruit is MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU BELIEVE THAN JUST WHAT YOU GIVE. Hebrews 11:4 says, “By an ACT OF FAITH, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It WAS WHAT HE BELIEVED, not what he brought, that MADE THE DIFFERENCE. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice. (MSG)
What do you believe?
As you give your first fruit, believe that God is your source. Believe He is your El-Shaddai. Believe you will never run dry because of Him regardless of what goes on in the economy! Believe that Jesus has paid the price for you to be rich and be abundantly supplied for. Believe that He will never leave you nor forsake you! Believe He is your defense in 2018. Even if you are doing a bank transfer, make sure you take time to speak to God what you believe and worship God before making the transfer! Let your heart connect with what you do and vocalize it by faith.
In 2018 there are shouts of victory in our finances. As you yield to God in faith, expect multiple doors of finances opened in Jesus name.