In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24, Jesus had just been resurrected from the dead with a glorified spiritual body. That act was called the firstfruits of the resurrection and He had been seen by Mary Magdalene near the tomb and then Mary the Mother of James, Salome, and Joanna as they went to tell the disciples and then Peter, James and two other disciples on their way to Emmaus and then the rest of the disciples in room where they were gathered.
Note that His resurrection was called the firstfruits by Apostle Paul as He was raised on the first day of the Festival of Firstfruits which occurred on the first day of the week following Passover.
So, the sheaf of the first grain is Jesus being resurrected from the dead with a glorified spiritual body. Because it was meant to honor God’s provision of an abundant harvest, Jesus’ resurrection symbolized God’s promise of a future harvest of all believer’s bodies from the ground. Here’s Paul describing this:
1 Corinthians 15: 20-23
20 But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.
Now, as the two disciples from Emmaus were telling the eleven that they had seen the Lord and spoke with Him, Jesus suddenly appears to them in the room where they were gathered. The doors were locked, and it was quite a shock to them all to say the least as they greatly feared as they thought they were seeing a spirit.
Let us read the story told by Luke in chapter 24 beginning with verse 36 where Jesus appears to them and reminds them of the promise of the Holy Spirit that they were to receive in a few days.
36 And as they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do questionings arise in your heart?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having.
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat?
42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish.
43 And he took it, and ate before them.
44 And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures;
46 and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 Ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.
50 And he led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
53 and were continually in the temple, blessing God.
Now, the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit was foretold many centuries beforehand by the prophets Joel, Isaiah and Ezekiel:
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.
One of the secrets kept hidden from everyone, even the Old Testament prophets was the gift of the Spirit to the Gentiles.
It was first promised to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 when God said to him, “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
We now know the “seed” God was talking about was His very own Son whom he fashioned into a man to suffer death once for us all. John the Baptist knew this and called Him the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world.
But here in Colossians 1:24-29, the Apostle Paul explains what God meant in blessing Abraham in that way.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church;
25 whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God,
26 even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints,
27 to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
29 whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
As Christians, we often hear “Christ in us, the hope of glory”, but what does this really mean?
We know that Jesus said he would send us another Comforter from the Father, one who would indwell us to speak truth and show us what Jesus wants us to know in living a life pleasing to him.
John 15:26
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”
Christ in us refers to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit working within us, changing us from the inside out (begins with our minds and is expressed in our actions). It means that as believers, we have a new identity in Christ being born again from on high (what Jesus told Nicodemus), no longer dead but alive in the spirit and we are no longer condemned by our past mistakes and shortcomings.
We now have an intimate relationship with God through Christ’s sacrifice of his blood on the cross. The perfect sacrifice of the man Jesus who was without sin or blemish paid the price to redeem us from our sins and now when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we take on His righteousness and we are made right or justified before God: This is God’s Grace towards us, a gift we could in no manner earn by anything we could do. We can only accept it and there is no way to boast about it but if we do boast, let us give full credit to God for what he has done for us through Jesus.
The gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s Name is the earnest payment or guarantee towards our future glorified resurrection. Having received this gift, we are free from death and members of Christ’s body and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. While we are alive in the flesh, He works in and through us to perfect us, constantly renewing our spirits daily to transform us into the very image of Christ so that we have the mind of Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we would have no power to believe and be transformed into a people holy (set apart) and without blame. Without the Holy Spirit, we could not understand the spiritual truth of God’s Word so that it transforms our lives. Make no mistake about it: The Spirit of Truth reveals in us what the mind of Christ is because He speaks the Words of Jesus Christ and not His own.
With the mind of Christ in us, we can do all of these things:
Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;
11 in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer;
13 communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep.
17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.
19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
In verse 9, what is the meaning of love without hypocrisy?
From God’s perspective, love means a wholehearted acceptance of Him and hate means a complete rejection of Him. With God, love is an action and not a feeling or thought. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another or being double-minded. In other words, God is asking us to do and not just say. If we only say we love and don’t act outwardly in love, we are hypocrites. An example of this is to see a poor hungry person and tell them to go and be filled without giving them food to take with them. James said as much and described it is a good work of faith in feeding the poor.
To “abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” means to take an action in our minds to reject any particular evil in or for ourselves; first mentally and then behaviorally. But it also means to never compromise and accept any evil as merely a reasonable personal choice for others. Unfortunately, in some cases it can mean having as little to do as possible with the unrepentant person who has fully embraced that sin. To cling to good means to constantly behave in a righteous manner that conforms to God’s commands for us to Love Him and Love our neighbor. Loving God is not a feeling but is done by obeying what He commands us to do.
In verse 10, we are told, “In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;”
This is an interpretation of Leviticus 19:18 where God writes “Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”
In verse 11, “in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;”
We are to do whatever our task might be with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in us as our motivation and as our guide. If we can do something but only cheer others on while we sit on our hands, we are being hypocritical and we lose the power to speak with conviction without serving by example wherein we motivate others to join in.
In verse 12, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer;”
Why would we find ourselves in tribulation when we love our neighbor as ourselves?
We only need to recall John 15:18-19 to understand why: “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world – on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world – therefore the world hates you.”
But Jesus gave us hopeful patience to endure and to pray when we read what he says in Matthew 10:22: “Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever holds out till the end will be preserved from harm.”
In verse 13, “communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality.”
We know that Paul travelled from synagogue to synagogue in the dispersed areas outside of Israel to collect money to take back to Jerusalem for the care of the Apostles and the poor living there. Now, we must never think that our only priority is to serve other believers in our communities, but we must make them a priority for even the world takes care of its own and as believers, we are in the world but not of the world. In other words, we are set apart for God’s work while we are here.
In verse 14, “Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not.”
This is a commandant from Jesus in Luke 6:27 where he says, “Nevertheless, to you who are listening, what I say is this: “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you…”
The point Jesus is making is that we would be no different than the rest of the world if we acted like they do. We must do the opposite and perhaps they will take notice and be willing to hear what we have to say about God. Even for Christians, this will be a struggle because of our tendency to do the opposite of what God wills for us to do. If we acknowledge it is a struggle for us, and fight against the tendency we are on our way to being the true children of God because we desire to do what is right even when there are times we don’t. It was Paul’s struggle as well as he described in Romans chapter 7.
In verse 15, “Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep.”
It is said that the true measure of caring and compassion for our fellow man (regardless of whom that may be) is to join in empathizing with that person’s experiences in whatever way they might occur. To do the opposite is evil in God’s eyes. After all, God is longsuffering and does not wish that any should perish but that all might be saved. To do this God must be empathizing with us in our fallen nature.
In verse 16, “Be of the same mind one toward another. Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits.”
Here we are reminded to be grounded in humbleness and not uplifted by pride wherein we think more highly our ourselves than others in the body of Christ or to always be comparing ourselves with others. Jesus said that if anyone wanted to be the greatest, he must be the servant of all and He demonstrated it by washing the feet of each one of his disciples at the Last Supper, even Judas who was about to betray him.
In verse 17, “Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men.”
For one thing, rendering evil for evil violates the principle of loving your neighbor as yourself and as far as being honorable in the sight of all men, a merciful person who has been dealt an evil blow by someone will be able to lead the offender into behaving more righteously, having himself being humbled by our response.
In verse 18, “If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.”
As a Believer, my desire ought to be for peace with all people and I should do every reasonable thing within my control to make that happen. I should try to see the other person’s viewpoint; and I should not take retaliatory action merely because I’ve been offended. There are limits though as it is written “if it be possible”; Provided there is a way to make peace with another party who also seeks peace, without compromising our moral principles and our relationship with God, and without passively allowing ourselves to taken over by a criminal or a tyrant, we are obligated to make every effort to effect peace to the point that our efforts are firmly rejected.
In verse 19, “Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.”
Even when we have been wronged in some way we should not seek revenge for the sake of revenge. Remember, it is God in His wrath who will judge all that a man has done and he will take vengeance on our behalf. But, in the meantime, God setup Governments amongst the nations to establish both criminal and civil laws in order to preempt vengeance of one person toward another.
In verse 20, “But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.”
In ancient times, your enemy was not always those you were in a war with but rather someone that hated you and wished to do you harm. In those times as well, people acted out of shame and honor. If you were to do some honorable thing to another, they were bound by honor to respond in kind. The heaping of coals is to show that acting honorably even though you are hated by the other person was agonizing for them.
An example of this is when Elisha led away the army sent by Syrian king to capture him. Although they could have been slaughtered, they were treated with kindness and fed and given water and sent back home with provisions. The only honorable response for the Syrian king was to stop attacking Israel until enough time had passed to repay the honor given him.
In verse 21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
To be overcome by evil means for us to give in to our evil inclinations; this will result in our burning desire for revenge. Rather God’s way to conquer both our evil inclination and doing evil in response to someone who has wronged us is to respond with love and doing good.