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23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming

24 Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

“Christ the firstfruits.” No one else arose as Jesus did. John 11:43 tells how Lazarus was raised. Jesus was there by the tomb of Lazarus, and the Bible says, “He cried with a loud voice, and said, Lazarus come forth. And Lazarus came forth.” But do you know what? Lazarus died again. He didn’t have a resurrected body; he had a resuscitated body. The same thing is true of the widow’s son, the widow of Nain. The people were actually on the way to the cemetery to bury this lad. Jesus met them on the way, and the Bible describes it for us in Luke 7:11-15:

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

Now Lazarus and this widow’s son both died again. They were raised from the dead, but not like Jesus was raised from the dead. As He was speaking to John on the Island of Patmos, the Lord Jesus made a comment to John as he lay at Jesus’ feet. Jesus said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:17,18). Now that’s different. Jesus has a resurrected body, and so He could say to John, “I will never die again. I am alive forevermore.” Lazarus and the widow’s son did not have resurrected bodies. They had resuscitated bodies. And so they died again. Do you see what I mean?

We notice that Jesus is the firstfruits. In the Old Testament times, at the time of the harvest, the Jews were to bring a sheaf of grain of the first to be harvested and dedicate it to God, with the high priest’s service.

One time we were in Israel at the time of the harvest of firstfruits. We were to be at a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As we came, they gave each of us a barley head to help us to understand that this was the offering of the first fruits. Well, that’s what they did in those Old Testament days, and still do.

When Jesus is called the firstfruits, that means He is the guarantee of the resurrection of all the dead. Our text says He is the firstfruits and afterwards they that are in Christ at His coming. The Greek word for “afterwards” epeitais a temporal adverb. The length is not specified, just sometime afterward, after the resurrection of Jesus, then they that are His at His coming. Paul did not know when this would occur. He did not know how long. But he knew that it would occur. It is nearly 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus. And so far they that are His have not been resurrected, but they will be. We can be confident of that.

The apostle goes on then in the next verse to say, “Th...