The First

Galatians 5:1 NIV

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

John 8:36 NIV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:

The First

1. The First Born Must Be Sacrificed or Redeemed.

Exodus 13:1–2 NIV

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

Exodus 13:12–13 NIV

12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

The Old Testament is an example for us .

Exodus 13:12-

1 Corinthians 10:1–6 NIV

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

The first is brought to God

!

Is it clean - Yes then it is sacrificed

Unclean - yes then it has to be redeemed with a clean animal

This adds extra meaning to our salvation.

We are all born sinners and there is a need for redemption. It would take the clean to come and redeem the unclean.

Jesus the perfect one came to redeem us who were unclean. His perfect sacrifice mean that we are now acceptable in his sight.

2. The first must be offered. Bring the tithe

Exodus 23:19 NIV

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Bring to the house of God.

Not to an missionary organisation or visiting ministry or charity organisation but to the House of God.

Malachi 3:10 NIV

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.

So there is food in my house.

Test me in this.

See the floodgates of heaven opened and poured out blessing.

Proverbs 3:9–10 NIV

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Honour the Lord with your first fruits - then your barns will overflow and vats will brim over.

Earthly kingdom says give out of your over flow, Kingdom of God says give first and it will create the overflow.

The curse is lifted when we choose to honour God with our best.

Malachi 3:6–12 NIV

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Cain and Able

I use to have trouble with the story of cain and able. Thinking that is was unfair as they both brought offerings to God yet Able’s offering was accepted and Cain’s was not.

I thought it may have been to do with animals and vegetables but came to realise it is all about first offering and just an offering an offering. Honouring God.

Genesis 4:3 NIV

3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.

Genesis 4:1–7 NIV

1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

3. The tithe must be first.

The tithe lifts the curse, it removes the curse

If the tithe is not brought into the store house then God does not curse us, we live unprotected and with tithing we see protection and the overflow.

What we focus on is important

Hands up if you know who these people are.

Michael Kennedy

Michael Scanlon

Thomas Lonigan

What about this one Ned Kelly

We focus on the tithe thinking that we have given it to God yet the truth is it always belonged to God and we bring it to him. We are blessed and freed from the curse and able then to give out of what is ours.