First Taste
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Field Notes
First Taste
By Michael E. Brooks
"…For those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted the heavenly gift, and have become
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the age to
come…" (Hebrews 6:4,5)
In early March I was privileged to visit Makaibari
Tea Estate in the hills of Darjeeling district of
India. Makaibari is the oldest tea plantation in
this region of India, having been established in
1859. I toured the processing plant, then was
invited in to meet the owner, Mr. Rajah Banerjee,
and was given a cup of the plantation's product.
After drinking it, I asked for a brief lesson in
tea (I am what is considered a typical American
over here – I don't know much about the subtleties
of hot tea) and asked what precisely we had just
drunk. Mr. Banerjee informed me that it was the
"first flush" of the season's harvest, brewed from
the very first leaves picked from the tea bushes
after their winter's dormancy. He obviously prized
this brewing as a special treat, and it was
excellent, with a very light, delicate flavor.
Taste is a sense from which we derive great
pleasure. We enjoy the rich flavor of meat, the
sweetness of dessert, or the light taste of a
crisp pastry. It is interesting that taste is used
in the New Testament of the Christian experience.
We taste "the heavenly gift" and "the good word of
God and the powers to come." Our participation in
and enjoyment of spiritual blessings in Christ is
described in terms of the pleasures of the palate.
This is particularly true of eternal life.
Jesus is described as the "first fruits of the
resurrection" (1 Corinthians 15:20,23). Though
there are other implications of this phrase, it is
difficult to ignore the great desirability of the
first harvest of a season. Food that has been
absent for a time is now restored. The danger of
famine and starvation is removed. And in addition
there is the great pleasure of the flavor of the
fresh "first fruits". In Alabama we look forward
all winter and spring for the first "new potatoes"
and the produce from the summer garden – fresh
green beans, tomatoes and corn. After a long
season with only dried or frozen vegetables, they
taste especially good.
Jesus' resurrection is the Heavenly sign that our
separation from God has ended. Spiritual life is
renewed. Hope is restored. The harvest is underway
and a time of plenty is upon us. We do not have to
wait until our own entrance into Heaven to begin
to enjoy its pleasures or to have assurance of
them. The harvest has begun. Separation from God
has ended (Ephesians 2:13). Spiritual renewal and
blessedness is ours (2 Peter 1:3,4). Notice the
explicit description in the text that follows:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his
great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and
raised us up together, and made us sit together in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Jesus has been raised from the dead as the first
fruits, and we have already experienced a
spiritual resurrection with him, resulting in
spiritual fellowship ("sitting together in the
heavenly places"). This fellowship is our
assurance of the even greater blessings ("the
exceeding riches of his grace") that God will
bestow in the ages to come.
This means that it is not just Jesus' bodily
resurrection in the first century that is the
first fruits of the eternal resurrection to come.
Rather, our own entrance into the Christian life
"in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:5)
is in every sense the beginning of the riches of
eternal life. Fellowship with God, spiritual
blessedness, and all other God-bestowed gifts
promised through Christ, begin with our fellowship
with Christ, in his death and resurrection. The
famine has ended. The harvest is underway. Let us
taste and enjoy.
----
Read this article online, tell us what you think,
see who's commenting, click here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/729955/
----
You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/