Present estimates of world population are 7.8 billion. People who believe and practise as we do are few... UCG membership is about 7,000+... so that's one in a million. If you add all the other COG groups you may get 25-30 thousand. There may be other groups of people out there... But however you slice it... its a tiny number.

Is smallness indication of failure? Or, is it Christ's intention to keep the first resurrection small? I think He does.

The First Fruits Offering is Small

Leviticus 23:17 the first fruits offerings upon which the day of Pentecost is established reflect a biblical principle in which a small portion of a very large crop is presented before God. This tiny portion offered has a sanctifying effect upon the whole. Note: this small offering would be about 2 cups of four from the harvest of the entire nation.

Smallness is built into the symbolism of the first fruits!

God chooses to work with only a small portion now and leaves the rest for later. God's work of spiritual creation is rolled out in stages. It starts small... then grows bigger. In this way God distributes the work of proclamation and instruction among human beings. God likes to get others involved.

The Small Offering of First fruits is Headed for Bigger Things

The return of Jesus Christ to restore the rule of God on earth is coming soon. When that happens God will begin working with much larger numbers of people. But He will not do all the work Himself. He will distribute the task to the first fruits who have been Prepared, mentored, tested... to function as teachers, administrators, and judges.

Christ is currently training and preparing the first fruits through His Church. He is not working through isolated prophets or independent Christians. He is working through a small group of spirit begotten humans... organized and unified by His truth.

When the fullness of time comes, the Church will be raised at His return. They will become Christ's assistants, they will work with Him, implementing the will of God on earth. God has drawn you to Himself to prepare and to participate in that time when salvation  will be opened up to the vast majority of humanity.

The Church of the Firstborn Begins

John 14:15-20 I will not leave you to attempt this all alone. You will be empowered by God's spirit.

Acts 1:4-5, 8, Acts 2:1-4a ... Pentecost 31 A.D. marked the beginning for the spirit energized Church. This is a major development in how God deals with humanity. But only a tiny minority are called and then chosen to enter the program.

Access to the Holy Spirit Has Been Limited

Genesis 2:8-9 eating of this tree of life would have put Adam on the path to spiritual creation. The opportunity for access to the holy spirit was there in the beginning. But the first humans chose to eat from the other tree, which was forbidden.

Through that terrible choice humanity as a whole has been cut off from access to God's life giving spirit Genesis 3:22-24.

Without the spirit of God within a human being will never reach their full potential as a spirit born child of God. They will never go beyond flesh and blood existence.

Access to the Holy Spirit Opened Up Through Christ

For those who believe on Christ, repent, seek forgiveness, are baptized into His death, and receive the laying on of hands... a path back to the tree of life is opened up. That Spirit of Christ within you guides you into God's truth... guides you in developing the mind of Christ... and prepares you for an active role in the administration of God's will on earth when Christ returns.

The driving purpose of this present stage of God's plan is preparing for the establishment of Christ's rule on earth! That is when He begin to work with large numbers.

When Jesus came in the flesh He did not come to establish the KOG at that time. He was not going for the big numbers... He often spoke to the crowds in parables which they could not understand. He would later explain His meaning to the disciples in plain language... but not to the vast multitude of those following Him. Most remained clueless and unchanged.

The disciples were people chosen. They were first fruits called to perform a mission: preparing for the coming establishment of God's rule on earth.

If God wanted everyone to understand... then they would understand. But for now God is leaving the vast majority of humanity alone.

Starting Small

Acts 1:15 out of the tens of thousands who heard Jesus only 120 disciples were convicted and dedicated... Acts 2:1-4 through the receipt of the Holy Spirit they became the first members of God's Church and began teaching and proclaiming to others.

3,000 repented and were baptized on that day. They were not people who had been taught by Jesus. These were people who come from all sorts of different areas of the Roman empire to observe Pentecost. Acts 2:5, 8-11. These first converts were taught by the disciples who themselves had been trained and commissioned to teach by Jesus.

The numbers grew... perhaps even into the six figure category. But then persecution came as Jesus had predicted. Persecution from the Jews, persecution from the Romans, persecution from the ravenous wolves arose from within. These are all matters of recorded history.

The number of Christians who remained true to the truth of God as originally taught remained a small minority. Often forced to flee to remote places when the persecution got intense.

A Small Flock

The truth of God has remained largely obscured for the past 2,000 years. What we have in its place is a mixed bag of human folklore, philosophic speculation, and garbled half truths.

As with the parables many hear the words but do not have an understanding of the truth. Many churches out there have big numbers, fine buildings, lots of working capital... but they don't have the truth of God. What they have is a counterfeit version... looks legit... but look closely and its not.

But the truth of God is still out there, and is being proclaimed by the Church of God.

For the most part it falls upon deaf ears. But by preaching the truth we are assisting in the preparations for the coming kingdom of God on earth.

We provide a witness... ensuring that the information is out there... providing living proof that unless the Father draws a person to Himself they are helpless... and that without the holy spirit understanding is limited and mixed up.

For those who do hear and respond the Church serves as an instrument through which God draws men and women into the process of salvation and spirit born life... so that they too may be prepared for  an assisting role when God opens up the process of salvation to the vast majority of humanity Ephesians 4:11-13.

The Church's purpose is not merely to help you work out your own salvation before God... as a first fruit you are a tiny portion of the crop set apart before God so that they entire crop may be blessed.

Revelation 20:6, 1:6 ... 1 Peter 2:9 tell us the first fruits are a spirit born priesthood. 

Malachi 2:7 priests are to teach God's laws and God's ways so that all may enter into salvation.

Does God Show Favoritism By Choosing Some As First Fruits?

Consider again the role of witnessing... billions hear the truth... billions get the same biblical information you do... millions access the UCG website and have the truth explained to them... but they don't do anything about it.

But to some He gives His spirit... which gives understanding... which gives life.

To whom does God give His spirit? Acts 5:32 to keep the flame of the spirit alive you have to act on what you know.

Those who are called and chosen to be first fruits now will be exerting effort to overcome Satan, overcome the prevailing culture, overcome themselves. It requires discipline, application, careful attention, self denial, making hard choices.

Its a price most humans are not willing to pay. So they walk away.

Showing You Are Prepared

Jesus demonstrated His qualifications to rule. He overcame the flesh, HE overcame the world, and He overcame Satan.

Are you prepared to assist Christ in His rule? At first you definitely NOT PREPARED... To help you develop the skills and talents to rule/ to teach/ to judge... God has given you His Holy Spirit.

When the time is right, God will open up the salvation process to the vast majority. In the next stages of His plan the circumstances will be very different. The forces of spiritual wickedness will not rule... Christ will be bodily present as will the resurrected first fruits.

The way of the first fruits is the more difficult path... "blessed are those who believe even though they do not see me". The path is narrow and the way is hard. Many fall away.

God's Spirit Empowers The Church

For now, we have a job to do: to preach the truth, to prepare a people. But neither happens without the power of God's spirit at work.

John 14:10 it was the power of God's spirit doing the works through His human flesh

John 14:16 Jesus promises that same spiritual power to you

Not only must you have it... you must yield to it... because "those who are led by the spirit of God... these are the children of God".

The spirit does not over-ride your will... it points you in the right direction, even urging you to make the right choice... but you must make that choice.

Acts 1:8 the present and future purpose of the first fruits is to prepare yourself to participate in the KOG, and to announce the coming KOG.

If everything you are going through now were only for your own personal salvation then there would be no need for God to designate you as a first fruit. You could just as well wait for the second resurrection... after the 1,000 years of Christ's rule... the resurrection of the rest of the dead... when salvation will be made available to all.

Spiritually growing first fruits have their heart in the work God is doing... the proclamation of the truth... and the preparation of spirit born members of God's family.