“THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD, LIVES IN YOU. AND JUST AS GOD RAISED CHRIST JESUS FROM THE DEAD, HE WILL GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY THIS SAME SPIRIT LIVING WITHIN YOU.” Romans 8:11.

Jesus also said this in John 5:28-29: “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”

Yes, God’s Holy week, appointed for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is all part of a much bigger plan than most of us could ever imagine. These dates, along with several others, were appointed on God’s calendar 3500 years ago to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Our traditional resurrection date was decreed by the Roman Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., to be celebrated on the Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. That date is still used by many today, even though it wasn’t celebrated in America until the 1870’s.

April 18 morning on our 2022 calendar is the anniversary of the 16th day of God’s first month on His calendar, appointed as the Resurrection Day of Jesus Christ. Right this very moment, we stand in the earth-shattering magnificence of the unfathomable power of God’s Word as He continues to announce the resurrection rebirth of His entire creation through His Only Begotten Son!

Consider these extraordinary words of John about Jesus. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Incredibly, over 2000 years ago, Jesus became flesh, and came back to live among the people of His creation! He came to fulfill God’s Word given 1500 years before to the fledgling people known simply as the Israelites. In Jesus’s own words, He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20.

3500 years ago, the blood of the sacrificial lamb marked 600,000 households of our ancient ancestors who were to be “passed over” from certain death that very night in Egypt, the land of their bondage. The event called “Passover” was appointed by God to be celebrated forever on the 14th day of His first month as a reminder that He alone would always deliver His chosen people from their bondage. Those of us who believe that Jesus is our Passover Lamb, literally stand as the continuing generations of “passed-over” and “saved” children. The death angel will not claim us. Paul says it so perfectly in 1 Corinthians 5:7 “…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” https://www.facebook.com/fontanacommunitychurch/posts/5026242724122543

On the day after Passover, God appointed the week-long festival known as Unleavened Bread to begin on the 15th day, also the weekly Sabbath. Its unusual name is a timeless reminder of the first Passover when the firstborn of every family in Egypt died and Pharaoh came to the Israelites in the middle of the night, urging them to leave so quickly they didn’t have time to even properly prepare their bread, the mainstay of their diet. They just packed the lump of raw, unleavened dough and headed out into the desert, depending on God's promises and His provision. “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.” Exodus 12:17-18.

When Jesus was raised from the dead on the 16th, the day after the Sabbath following the Passover feast, but had not yet ascended to the Father, He was on His way to God's Throne as the “Firstfruit” of the resurrection of mankind, an event also marked by God on His calendar 1500 years before. “…Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those those have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthinans 15:20

The word "firstfruit" in Hebrew is “bikkurim” which means “promise to come.” God declared many times in the Bible the importance of the first and the best being set aside and presented to Him. That included His chosen people, and their animals, harvest crops, wine, and oils. Even the "firstfruits" of their bread dough belonged to Him. Each and every one had a plan and purpose to advance His kingdom on this earth. In Numbers 3:13, God states emphatically, "...All the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel."

God appointed “Firstfruits” to be an offering unto Him forever in Leviticus 23:10,14: "...When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; ... it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

A clearer picture of "firstfruits" emerges when we add to the Leviticus scripture the understanding that a sheaf of grain had been used previously to typify a person or persons, as evidenced in Joseph's dream recorded in Genesis 37:5-11. The lone sheaf of the Firstfruit Offering was called "the sheaf of the first fruits." The sheaf was to be presented to God "the day after the sabbath." Leviticus 23:11.

Though there is some discussion as to exactly what day that was, the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus, pins down the date emphatically. "But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them." Antiquities of the Jews 3.10.5. Remember Jesus's statement to Mary in the tomb? "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father..."

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-26.

“THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD, LIVES IN YOU. AND JUST AS GOD RAISED CHRIST JESUS FROM THE DEAD, HE WILL GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY THIS SAME SPIRIT LIVING WITHIN YOU.”