 Hi, I'm David Rosales, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chinavalli. This week we'll continue our journey through chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians as we focus on the doctrine of the resurrection. In verse 20, the apostle Paul said, But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The point he's making in this verse is simply that Christ is risen from the dead. Since Jesus is risen from the dead, the leavers do not need to be pitied as he addressed in verse 19. Since he's risen, the resurrection of his disciples must also take place, which Paul refers to as those who have fallen asleep. Now the term fallen asleep is used here to describe death. This is the third time in this chapter that Paul has spoken of death as sleep and he'll say it again later in verse 51. Now you may be wondering why Paul chose to refer to Jesus as the firstfruits. In the Old Testament, firstfruits refer to the representative sample of the harvest that was to come. Under Jewish law, they could not harvest their grain until an offering was made. This is known as the firstfruits offering. We see this in Leviticus 23 verses 10 and 11, where it says, When you come into the land which I give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of your firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf. In Jesus' death and resurrection, he made himself an offering to the Father on our behalf. And as the firstfruits, Jesus has paved the way for the harvest of the rest of the crop. We are the rest of the crop. His resurrection was not an isolated event, but foretold our coming resurrection. In Romans chapter 6 verse 5, it says, For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. May we be encouraged by the assurance of our coming resurrection, and may we live our lives with thankfulness as Christ has paved the way as the firstfruits of the harvest. God bless you.