As the nation of Judah/Israel celebrates Shavuot this week, among the many important topics that are pertinent to the Feast there are a few which I would like correlate to us, who have received the "first fruit of the new creation" through our Messiah, who is our First Fruit.
When the disciples were with Yeshua on the Mount of Olives, ten days before Shavuot, they asked Him when He was going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. In response He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they would receive power, through the Spirit of Holiness, and become His witnesses of this restoration (ref Acts 1:8). When Shavuot arrived they did receive that which was promised; the Spirit of Holiness came upon them as a mighty rushing wind. But what does the receiving of the Spirit have to do with the Kingdom and this "First Fruit" Feast?
In Romans 14:1 Paul weaves all three into one statement: "the Kingdom of Elohim is righteousness, peace and joy [the fruit] in the Spirit of Holiness" (emphases added). In addition, he elaborates on the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians: "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22-23). In 2nd Corinthians Paul connects this first fruit concept to the new creation: "Therefore if any man is in the Spirit of Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (5:17 emphasis added).
When the disciples received the power that Yeshua had promised them, they received the fruit/nature of the New Creation. Peter declares: "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1: 3-4 emphases added). Once again in 2nd Corinthians, we read: "For Elohim, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' [the same "let there be light", pronounced on the first day of creation] is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Elohim in the face of Messiah [the living Torah]. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of Elohim and not from ourselves" (4: 6-7).
If we have received the Spirit of Holiness, we have also received in our hearts this "First Fruit" of righteousness, which is the Fruit of the Spirit and is the Life, Light, and the nature of He who is the "first fruit/first born" Messiah Yeshua. In reference to the fruit and to the firstborn Paul writes: "[You are] being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are in Messiah Yeshua, to the glory and praise of Elohim" (Phil. 1:11), through Him who is "the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn over all creation" (Col 1:15). "For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new [firstborn/first fruit] creation" (Gal. 6:15). "Therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor 5:17).
When Yeshua died, we died too (ref. 2 Cor 5: 14), and thus it is no longer we who live but Messiah Yeshua, who is our life, lives in us (ref. Col 3:4; Gal. 2:19). Therefore those who believe this gospel have also been raised to newness of life, and are given opportunities every day to experience "the dying of Yeshua so that the life and nature of Yeshua may be made manifest in and through our mortal bodies" (2 Cor 4: 10).
Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, says that YHVH's feasts are a shadow of things yet to come (ref Col 2:17). Thus, if the First Fruit of the divine nature is in our hearts, and issues forth from us, we are actually living in the "light of Shavuot" and no longer in the "shadow" of the Feast (ref. Col 2:17). We trust that through faith in our Heavenly Father's provision, in His Son, we who have received the power of the Spirit of Holiness can now "walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, and [thus] have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1John 1: 7).
When the seven weeks of the Omer counting were completed, the Torah of Elohim descended via the Spirit of Holiness penetrating the heart of Messiah's talmidim (disciples), embedding itself within them and empowering them to become the First Fruit of a New Creation Order, fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot. Now to us it is given to expand and extend the Kingdom of Elohim by embracing the three-tier truth and power of this Feast which signifies First Fruit, giving of the living Torah, and the Restoration of the Kingdom to all Israel.
Ephraim
When the disciples were with Yeshua on the Mount of Olives, ten days before Shavuot, they asked Him when He was going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. In response He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they would receive power, through the Spirit of Holiness, and become His witnesses of this restoration (ref Acts 1:8). When Shavuot arrived they did receive that which was promised; the Spirit of Holiness came upon them as a mighty rushing wind. But what does the receiving of the Spirit have to do with the Kingdom and this "First Fruit" Feast?
In Romans 14:1 Paul weaves all three into one statement: "the Kingdom of Elohim is righteousness, peace and joy [the fruit] in the Spirit of Holiness" (emphases added). In addition, he elaborates on the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians: "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22-23). In 2nd Corinthians Paul connects this first fruit concept to the new creation: "Therefore if any man is in the Spirit of Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (5:17 emphasis added).
When the disciples received the power that Yeshua had promised them, they received the fruit/nature of the New Creation. Peter declares: "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1: 3-4 emphases added). Once again in 2nd Corinthians, we read: "For Elohim, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' [the same "let there be light", pronounced on the first day of creation] is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Elohim in the face of Messiah [the living Torah]. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of Elohim and not from ourselves" (4: 6-7).
If we have received the Spirit of Holiness, we have also received in our hearts this "First Fruit" of righteousness, which is the Fruit of the Spirit and is the Life, Light, and the nature of He who is the "first fruit/first born" Messiah Yeshua. In reference to the fruit and to the firstborn Paul writes: "[You are] being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are in Messiah Yeshua, to the glory and praise of Elohim" (Phil. 1:11), through Him who is "the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn over all creation" (Col 1:15). "For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new [firstborn/first fruit] creation" (Gal. 6:15). "Therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor 5:17).
When Yeshua died, we died too (ref. 2 Cor 5: 14), and thus it is no longer we who live but Messiah Yeshua, who is our life, lives in us (ref. Col 3:4; Gal. 2:19). Therefore those who believe this gospel have also been raised to newness of life, and are given opportunities every day to experience "the dying of Yeshua so that the life and nature of Yeshua may be made manifest in and through our mortal bodies" (2 Cor 4: 10).
Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, says that YHVH's feasts are a shadow of things yet to come (ref Col 2:17). Thus, if the First Fruit of the divine nature is in our hearts, and issues forth from us, we are actually living in the "light of Shavuot" and no longer in the "shadow" of the Feast (ref. Col 2:17). We trust that through faith in our Heavenly Father's provision, in His Son, we who have received the power of the Spirit of Holiness can now "walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, and [thus] have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1John 1: 7).
When the seven weeks of the Omer counting were completed, the Torah of Elohim descended via the Spirit of Holiness penetrating the heart of Messiah's talmidim (disciples), embedding itself within them and empowering them to become the First Fruit of a New Creation Order, fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot. Now to us it is given to expand and extend the Kingdom of Elohim by embracing the three-tier truth and power of this Feast which signifies First Fruit, giving of the living Torah, and the Restoration of the Kingdom to all Israel.
Ephraim
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