Matt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Prov 3:9 Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase.
As I thought about the New Year 2020, which will be the beginning of a New Year with new things to come. I began to pray and the LORD gave me an important word to share with you and it is: “The Law of the First.” What is the law of the first? Well we do know that everything in the earth that was created must first have a beginning. There is always a start, a beginning, or establishment of a thing, which is always the first.
There are many people who don’t understand “The Law of the First” so I want to show you what the Bible says about first things as it pertains to your life! For example, we have all seen something created in the world where people are excited when they are the first to purchase it! It could be a brand new first Samsung, iPhone, watch, computer or even a car.
Of course these are material things, but many people understand the excitement and joy of their first love, first home, first new car, first child that was born, first job, first promotion, or anything else in your life that was significant and first! The reason why the first is important is because the first precedes that which is to come later.
Anytime you get a first big blessing, you are looking for the second one to follow! This is why the first is always important, because it always sets a precedent for that which you are expecting to come! As I searched the Bible, I found over 400 scriptures that pertain to the word: “First”
-The LORD had a lot to say about the first according to scripture because he is the first! As a matter of fact he says in the book of Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Because God is the first, he desires that we give him the first of all that we have, because the first is holy unto the LORD.
How many of us know that God is not second, will never be second, and we cannot treat him as second! God even said in Exodus 20:
Exo 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
Exo 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
In other words, I am not another god. I am the First and the Last God, and you shall not have another god or idol in your life that takes first place! Did you know that the LORD himself instituted the law of the first in the earth! As a matter of fact the law of first is a biblical and spiritual principle. Look what the scripture says in Genesis, the first book of the Bible:
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
In the very beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It was without form, void and there was darkness upon the face of the deep. Then look what God said first! Let there be light! Light is truth! Light gives clarity. Today I want to shed some light, clarity and truth on “The Law of the First.”
As I stated before, there are over 400 scriptures throughout the Bible that pertain to the law of the first. I have listed some of the scriptures here for your Biblical reading and understanding as well. I find that the book of Exodus chapter 12, is particularly interesting because the LORD speaks to Moses about the “first” and mentions it over seven times in chapter 12. Seven is the number of completion and perfection. We also know that Exodus 12 is a powerful chapter that speaks of the Passover Lamb, who is symbolically Jesus Christ the Lamb of God!
John the Baptist said the following about Jesus in John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Paul confirms it by saying in 1 Cor 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.”
Take a look at Exodus 12:
Exo 12:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exo 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.
Exo 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
Exo 12:16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you.
Exo 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
There are other scriptures that speak about the first as well that are profound!
Exo 22:29 “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.
The New Testament also gives us wisdom as it relates to the law of the first to the LORD:
Mar 10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Mar 10:44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
Mar 12:28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Mar 12:29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
Mar 12:30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.
The New Testament also gives us wisdom as it relates to giving the first to the LORD:
1 Cor 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
2 Cor 8:5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
2 Cor 8:12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
The New Testament also gives us wisdom as it relates to Gods judgment and the first:
1 Pet 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
The New Testament also gives us wisdom as it relates to Gods love and the first:
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
So what does this mean for you and me? Well the Bible is clear for us as believers in Christ. Everything that we acquire or do first, we should first give glory to God and give it back to him. Jesus confirms everything we have said with one very profound scripture:
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
I have a question for each and every one us reading this. What priority does the Kingdom of God have in your life? Do you give God honor and praise through prayer when you arise first thing in the morning? Do you honor and give God a first of all that you earn on your paycheck after the government takes their 15-20% in taxes?
It is amazing to me that we don’t complain when the IRS takes their 15-20% or higher in taxes, but we will complain and gripe when the church asks us to give 10% of tithes and freewill offerings cheerfully to the LORD!
Solomon the wise man said something interesting in Prov 3:9, “Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase.”
This means that every time you get an increase, you honor God by giving back a portion of it to the Kingdom of God which could be your local church, or a reputable non-profit organization that is doing Kingdom work for Jesus Christ.
Why is this important, because it shows honor and gratitude to the Most High for all that he has blessed and graced us with. Giving God the first says that I love you LORD and I acknowledge that it came from you, and I am only giving back first to you, that which belongs to you!
So on this Sunday, the first Sunday of the year 2020, the LORD desires that we pray, and follow the Biblical precedent that was set by cheerfully giving the first fruits of all of our increase to the LORD. What increase is that you ask? If you get paid a paycheck, a disability check, a retirement check, a refund check, a second job check, a blessing check, or whatever check or cash you receive monetarily, give the first 10% to God to say, LORD I believe your Word over man’s word, and I give back to you what belongs to you. Remember King David a man after God’s heart understood this and said the following:
1Ch 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all.
1Ch 29:12 Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
1Ch 29:13 “Now therefore, our God, We thank You and praise Your glorious name.
1Ch 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.
Saints remember that the law of the first is not only an important principle for the beginning of the year, but it is an important life principle that you should follow as a child of God each and everyday of the year when you get blessed!
Giving God the first says, “LORD I honor you because you blessed me and supplied my need, and I give it back to you, so that you can bless everything I own, and every increase and blessing that I receive today, tomorrow, and forevermore!
Blessings in Christ, Pastor Jamal E. Quinn