When God is First, everything
comes into order. If you don't give it back to God, you will lose it
anyway.
1. In the Old Testament, the first born male animal was sacrificed
or redeemed.
If a clean animal had
a 1st born, it was sacrificed.
If an unclean animal had a 1st born, then it was redeemed by a clean animal
sacrifice.
Exodus 13:1-2 (NKJV)
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Consecrate to
Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of
Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”
Exodus 13:12-13 (NKJV)
12 that you shall set apart to the Lord all that
open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you
have; the males shall be the Lord’s.
In the Old Testament, the first born male was redeemed by a first
born male clean animal.
13 But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a
lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its
neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
In the New Testament, God's first born Jesus, was born clean.
We are unclean.
Jesus had to be sacrificed for us, so we could be
redeemed.
Jesus is our sacrifice today instead of
animals.
2. The first fruits must be offered.
Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV)
9 Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the first fruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And with the first fruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Exodus 23:19 (NKJV)
19 The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into
the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat
in its mother’s milk.
You can't give what doesn't belong to you, so you
must bring.
Genesis 4:3-5 (NKJV)
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain
brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel
also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.
And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but
He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his
countenance fell.
Cain gave what he wanted when he wanted.
God couldn't accept Cain's offering because it was outside His character.
3. The tithe must be given first.
God can't change because He is already the
best. God can't think the way we think because He knows everything at the
same time. God can't accept the second because He is pre-eminent.
Leviticus 27:30 (NKJV)
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of
the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy
to the Lord.
Is God 1st in your heart? Do you
give to God first?
Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Robert Morris, Guest speaking at Church of the
Highlands
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/the-principle-of-first
