James 1:18‏

"And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself]." James 1:18‏

The birth James refers to here is very similar to that of childbirth. The verb is the same here as the one in verse 15, where "sin gives birth to death", contrasted here with "God's Word gives birth to spiritual life". And if we consider that it was God's free will all along to make us His... even while we sinned unto death... lived our lives as though He did not exist... how amazing is His love.

James' use of "first fruits", in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 2:3, Israel was called "the re'shith of His increase". In the New Testament, it refers to the first convert or converts in a particular place (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 16:15); to the Christians of that age (here in verse 18, and Thessalonians 2:13).

So if we summarize our context to this point.. To avoid deception (16) in trials, we affirm God’s sovereign goodness, especially as seen in our salvation (18)... It's interesting, that when you go through trials, how satan often attacks us on these two levels: Either God is not so good, or He must not be so sovereign.

James is saying that to stand firm, by faith we must cling to both His goodness and His absolute sovereignty. James affirms God's sovereignty in salvation as a foundational truth to get us through our trials. If God is the source of our salvation, then He isn’t going to abandon us later when we face trials.

In Philippians 1:6, Paul says. “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

James makes two points in verse 18: Since salvation is totally from God’s will and power, He will care for you through every trial. “In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth…” (18a). And since God saves you for His purpose, He will care for you through every trial. (18b) continues, “so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” As God's first fruits, He owns us and He is free to use us as He chooses. Offering the first fruits to God meant that there would be more to follow.

Let's pick up with James verses 1:19-20 next time.

I love you.