James 1:17
“Father of lights” -God is the source (“the father”) of light both natural (Gen. 1:3, 4,14-19) and spiritual. His word and His son are lights to illuminate the darkness of corrupt humanity, Psa. 119:105; John 1:4,5; 3:19. Since He is the source of that which dispels sin, far be it from Him to induce us to do that which He is working so hard to dispel.
“No variation or shadow due to change”–God does not waver between leading to sin and providing good gifts. He is constant, always working for our betterment, Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:6.
v. 18 “Of His own will”—He voluntarily provides a way of salvation for us; it is what He wants to do (“of his own will”) without pressure from anyone else. In fact, God finds great pleasure in kindness and delights to show mercy to those who love Him and keep His commands, John 1:13; Eph. 1:5,9, 11; Micah 7:18.
“Begat he us”- —God, a father, has begotten children, the believers. They have been reborn and now are His sons and daughters, cf. John 1:12,13; 3:3,5-7. Note the implications of this rebirth for our way of life; the adopted children are expected to act like their new Father, V. 19 and Matt. 5:44,45; Eph. 5:1. “With the word of truth”–this is the agent by which God has accomplished the rebirth, cf. 1 Peter 2:23.
“That”—a flag word for it signals that what follows is God’s reason for acting as He has. Why did He beget children?
“That we should he a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” -the perceptive among James readers would have immediately seen the significance of such an allusion. Reference is to the feast of firstfruits celebrated 50 days after Passover. But if they had gone back to Leviticus 23 they would have seen a point that is wonderfully inspiring in the promise it contains.
At Passover time, part of the offering was to be “a sheaf of the firstfruits” (Lev. 23:10); that is, a single confirmation of the harvest to follow. Then seven weeks later “Ye shall bring out of your habitation two wave loaves . . . they shall be of fine flour . . . they are the first-fruit; unto the Lord.” (Lev. 23:17). The first stage of the main harvest had begun with the grain being beaten and molded together, many parts making up one whole, in the loaves that were offered.
Now James says, the believers were “a kind of firstfruits.” And so they are — the saints, many individuals making up one loaf of believers are the firstfruits of the great harvest of sanctified people that God will reap from His creation. The main bulk of the harvest will wait upon the millions who will be instructed in godliness during the millennial age with those who respond being glorified after the 1,000 years are over (Rev. 20:7, 11-15) .
But what of the sheaf, that initial guarantee of the bounty to follow, who does it represent? Jesus Christ! the first begotten from the dead whose coming and death and resurrection assures all who follow that God will reap the first-fruits and then the full harvest.
In the light of this certain purpose of God, what folly to think that He would induce us to sin. Far from provoking us to evil thoughts and evil actions, God, of His own will, has begotten us as His children to be His firstfruits. His entire desire is that we he partakers of His divine and perfect nature. It is to this end, and this end alone, that He is working in our lives.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One