How are we the firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:18)?

Then in opposition to lust, and shewing the action of God, which is not to tempt, but, on the contrary, to produce good, James tells us that "every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures," v. 17, 18. As I have said, he owns grace as the sole and divine source of the good that is in us, as born of God, and that through faith, since it is by the word of truth. By it we are born again; it is a new life, and that by the will of God. We belong to the new creation; we are its first-fruits. Immense blessing! which belongs not only to a new position, though it is that, but also to a new nature which makes us capable of enjoying God. James does not speak of righteousness through grace, but of an entirely new nature, which comes from God.

By the word of truth He has begotten us to be the first and most excellent witnesses of that power of good which will shine forth hereafter in the new creation, of which we are the firstfruits. This is the opposite of being the source of corrupt desires. The word of truth is the good seed of life; self-will is the cradle of our lusts — its energy can never produce the fruits of divine nature; nor the wrath of man the righteousness of God. Therefore we are called to be docile, to be ready to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, to lay aside all filthiness of the flesh, all energy of iniquity, and to receive the word with meekness — a word which, while it is the word of God, identifies itself with the new nature that is in us (it is planted in us) while forming and developing it according to its own perfection; because this nature itself has its origin from God through the word.

"Begat he us with the word of truth." (See 1 Peter 1:23–25; John 3.)

"That we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." God will reconcile all things to Himself; His creation, and His elect. And we, begotten by the Father, are the firstfruits of this reconciled creation. In a sense Adam would have been, after his sin, the firstfruits of fallen creation.

"That we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." God will reconcile all things to Himself; His creation and His elect. We, the begotten of the Father, are the firstfruits of that reconciled creation. In a certain sense, Adam after his sin may be said to have been the firstfruits of fallen creation.

Hence we are told (James 1:18) that God of His own will begat us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruit of His creatures. By-and-by new heavens and a new earth will display the glory of Him Who is the Father of lights, from Whom every good giving and every perfect gift come down. Believers are now a sort of first-fruit of it, the product and witness of His grace. His will working by His word is the source of the everlasting boon; as our will issues in lust, sin, and death.

But His purpose is to have the world governed righteously. This cannot be according to God till His Son, the Lord Jesus come forth to make good the kingdom, the world-kingdom in power and glory; as He has already vindicated His God and Father in obedience and suffering that He might save to the uttermost. Of this the Old Testament prophets have spoken amply, and the New Testament reiterates the truth in all plainness of speech, as it shows also the more distant and glorious vista, when all evil shall be done away and the new heavens and a new earth shall be, not in measure and pledge only, but in fulness. For government shall yield to everlasting righteousness dwelling in unbreakable peace, after all judgment is executed by Him to Whom it is given. Of this we are a certain first-fruits already, for we are begotten by the word of truth, and this nature is holy. But there is another which we ought never to ignore, and which, if not judged, breaks out into sins; so that, till we are changed at Christ's coming, we can only be called "a certain first-fruits." We follow Christ's steps and ought to walk as He walked; but we shall be like Him when we see Him as He is.

These wave loaves are said to be "the firstfruits to the Lord." This does not contradict the fact that the wave sheaf (offered 50 days earlier) was the sheaf of firstfruits, typical only of Christ raised and glorified. From this viewpoint Christ stands alone. But when the people are considered, the firstfruits from among mankind focuses upon the Church, which is the first result of the work of Christ. So James 1:18 tells us, "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." This has taken place before the general harvest which will involve Israel and the nations.

These wave loaves are said to be “the firstfruits to the Lord.” This does not contradict the fact that the wave sheaf (offered 50 days earlier) was the sheaf of firstfruits, typical only of Christ raised and glorified. From this viewpoint Christ stands alone. But when the people are considered, the firstfruits from among mankind focuses upon the Church, which is the first result of the work of Christ. So James 1:18 tells us, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” This has taken place before the general harvest which will involve Israel and the nations.

By the sovereign will of such a Father -- faithful and dependable -- we who are saved have been begotten of Him. Of course this is new birth, so that we are blessed with the same marvelous life that in the Father is sublime perfection. It is "the Word of truth" that is the direct agent in such birth, that which has vital, transforming power. This bears fruit of most precious character, and in the present day believers are a kind of first fruits of God's creatures, manifest as His children before the day when Christ is manifested in His millennia glory, and Israel born again as children of God. This will of course be the full fruition of God's ways with that nation, but in many Jewish believers He had already wrought, as a kind of first fruits.

Moreover, the Apostle James tells us that it was “with the word of truth” that we were begotten of God, the word of truth entering the soul and producing the new nature by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s object in this great work is “that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” When the day of eternity comes everything shall be according to the will of God. The flesh will have gone for ever, and only what is of new creation will remain. In that day we shall possess bodies of glory like Christ’s, but even now we have His life, as born of God, and so are a kind of firstfruits of all who shall have part in the eternal scene.