Hebrews 12:23 And to the church of the firstborn, who have been enrolled in the heavens; and to God, the Judge of all; and to the spirits of righteous men who have been made perfect. (Recovery Version Bible)
We Christians, born of God, are the firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:18) that He has reaped in His creation. In that sense we are the firstborn sons of God. Hence, the church, composed of us, is called the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 16:23). As the firstborn sons of God, we have the birthright. This includes the inheritance of the earth (Hebrews 2:5-6), the priesthood (Revelation 20:6), and the kingship (Revelation 20:4), which will be the main blessings in the coming kingdom and which the profane, world-loving-and-seeking Christians will lose at the Lord’s coming back. Eventually, this birthright will be a reward given to the overcoming Christians in the millennial kingdom. Any worldly enjoyment, even one meal, could cause us to forfeit this birthright of ours. After such a serious warning, if the Hebrew believers had still preferred to indulge in “one meal” of their old religion, they would have missed the full enjoyment of Christ and would have lost the kingdom rest with all its blessings. (Hebrews 12:16, footnote 1 in Holy Bible Recovery Version)
