The offering of the “firstfruits” was a symbol of the consecration of the whole harvest (see on Ex. 23:19). While the first fruits were, presumably, the best of their kind and the first to reach maturity they were also a pledge of the harvest to follow.

 Christ is “the firstfruits of them that slept,” a pledge of the resurrection to come (see 1 Cor. 15:20, 23). This expression is common in the NT (see also Rom. 8:23; 16:5; Rev. 14:4). While applying the term to the believers the apostle carefully qualifies it with the expression, “a kind of,” or “a sort of.” God’s will for men is that they should become like Him, and the duty of the church is to nurture the newly begotten Christian until he approaches “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

 That is, the gospel of salvation (see on Eph. 1:13). Paul expresses it more plainly: “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15; see also 1 Peter 1:23, 25). Conversion is the product of a full commitment to the principles of the Scriptures. The process of growing up, following the new birth, depends upon how much of the Word of God man practices in his life.

 Gr. tiktō (see on v. 15). Instead of being the ultimate cause of our sins, God is the author of all the holiness that has ever developed in the hearts of men. As earthly sons resemble their fathers, so will born-again Christians grow up to reflect the character of their heavenly Father. A true Christian is as different a person from what he was before conversion as if he were physically formed again and born anew.

 Or, “studied purpose,” “deliberate decision.” What God “wills” for us is in contrast with the will of man, which often submits to human “lusts” (see on vs. 14, 15).