Because He First Loved Us
Have you ever thought about being Adam? Being the first human being? Walking with God. Or Eve, taken from the side of her mate? God put His created Word at their fingertips. Everything unmarred and unblemished. They experienced perfection.
Each day they communed with God Himself. Without sin they could stand in the presence of God and share in His Majestic Glory face to face. Just think of it, you are walking through the garden and notice the sun is getting low on the horizon. You realize the time has come again to take a stroll with your Maker. The thought of it fills you with enthusiasm. Genesis 3:8 tells us: And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Here is a picture of God wanting to be with His Creation. Our God wants to be close to us. We were not just created as toys to be cuddled, then put away on the top shelf of the closet. We are children of God. We are made in His Image. We were made for a purpose. According to God’s word, we were made for love.
How do we know this? We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). God initiated love. We know God’s love and we know how to love each other because God first loved us. We are not designed to be held at arm’s length. We are designed to be hugged. From the moment of our birth there is the need to love and be loved. This purpose was placed inside us and we will not be fulfilled unless we respond to our initial design and calling. We, like Yeshua, our Messiah, are Firstfruits.
This is not New Age consciousness. This is not feel good religion. This is a fundamental calling according to our blueprint and construction. To everything there is a purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:1). All of these purposes culminate and find their being in Him and in His love.
Our creator shows us love in intimacy. The best way to be intimate is to be with the one we love. This is how we come to know each other. What better example could we find than God sending His own Son to be with us? Again, God put His created word within reach. To walk with us in the cool of the day is God’s expression of His desire for intimacy. Since God’s walk with Adam and Eve in the garden, this has not changed.
God formed Adam (then Eve), His Firstfruits, to be His first persons, and breathed New Life within. In the fullness of time God made His only begotten Son to be the Second Adam, His Firstfruits. Thus, Yeshua walked the earth-God with us. After His resurrection, Yeshua breathed on us. This is God’s breath of eternal life. His breath of life allows us to walk in this heritage of love and extend the Kingdom of God to all who hunger and thirst for New Life. In so doing, we will sow the seed of Firstfruits first for the coming harvest.
Today, as you consider the month ahead, the time of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, I ask you to pause with me. Let us be thankful for God’s love for us, and let us love Him in the way He first loved us, by the way we first love each other. This is a simple response to who He is and whom He made us to be-His Firstfruits First. Amen.