James, “the
servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, told “the
twelve tribes scattered abroad” not to “err”
concerning the “good and perfect gifts” that come down
from “the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning”. In chapter one and verse eighteen of his
letter, James declared how his readers were “the first-fruits
of” the Lord's “creatures” where we read:
Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we
should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
The
verse begins, “Of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth,...” James began with
the words, “Of his own will”
which refers to “deliberate, purposeful and affectionate desire”
“begat he” which means
“brought forth, produced and generated” “us”
which refers to “James and his beloved brethren” “with
the word” which means “speech,
voice, decree, mandate and declaration” “of truth”
or “what is true in any matter under consideration, reality,
fact and certainty”. It was God's
purpose and desire to “generate” James and his brethren with His
wonderful saving “truth”.
The
verse continues, “...that
we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.” James
added, “that we should be”
or “that James and his brethren exist, happen and were to be
presented as” “a kind”
which means “certain one and some” “of first-fruits”
which refers to “the first of the productions of the earth which
was offered to God and the first portion of the dough, from which
sacred loaves were to be prepared” “of his creatures”
or “those who have been transformed by divine power to a moral
newness of soul, spoken of true Christians as created anew by
regeneration”. James and his brethren were to be the “first” of
those who would be included in God's glorious harvest of souls.
When
we consider these words of James, we marvel that the Lord Jesus would
“desire” to make anyone His “first-fruits” because
that means there were to be “later-fruits” afterward. Those who
believe in Jesus Christ have received the truth of God because He
desired that it be so. Any and every person who yields their lives to
Him and humble themselves before Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
shall be saved, and this is God's greatest passion. May all who read
these words of James understand, he and his brethren paved the way
for us to be in the fruitful field of God's harvest, and may what He
has done for us be an example to all who will surrender to Him.
Next
time James tells his readers to be
“swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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