First Fruits

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15: 20

Firstfruits are the best of the crop and flock to be turned over with gratitude to God.   There is no stinting or pushing forward the flawed or blighted.  It must feel like a sacrifice to be a sacrifice.
Abraham was willing to offer up his son but was stopped from having to go through with the sacrifice.

God was willing to offer up His perfect Son and absolutely did so.

So we offer ourselves, pitiful as we are, dead through Adam, but saved by that firstfruits sacrifice of Christ.  We are swept into His basket of offering and presented alongside Jesus the Man, blessed by the grace and mercy of Jesus the Messiah.

We who have fallen asleep, dead and hopeless in the ground,  are awakened with the tenderness of the Father, to rise and bloom, reflecting His glory.

A grounded rainbow of life shines in the new kingdom.