Jesus Christ stands as the central figure of Scripture, the very Word of God, and the focus of all biblical revelation. He is the Firstfruits, a title that signifies His preeminence and role as the initiator of God's spiritual harvest. As Paul declares in I Corinthians 15:23, Christ is the Firstfruits, the first to be resurrected, embodying the epitome of God's harvest. This designation not only highlights His chronological primacy as the firstborn from the dead, as seen in Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5, but also His unmatched quality and authority. He is the prototokos, first in preeminence, privilege, and everything, truly all in all. In the context of Pentecost, Christ is both the Firstfruit of the wave sheaf offering, marking the beginning of the harvest, and the model Firstfruit on this holy day. He is the standard par excellence, the One Whom the elect must emulate. His life sets the trail for others to follow, blazing a path through the wilderness of this world to glory. As the Archegos, the captain of our salvation, He leads by example, showing the way to the Kingdom of God. His call to "Follow Me" is the first duty of His disciples, urging them to imitate Him in service, suffering, and obedience to God's commandments. Christ's role as the Firstfruits extends beyond Himself, pointing to others who will follow. As I Corinthians 15:23 states, after Him come those who are His at His coming, indicating that those whom God calls and chooses can also be resurrected to spirit and glory as firstfruits in His image. This is reflected in the Old Testament types, such as the wave sheaf offering and the Pentecost offering in Leviticus 23, where both the barley sheaf and the two wave loaves are called firstfruits to the Lord. Though these later firstfruits, symbolized by the wave loaves baked with leaven, are subordinate and come after Him in time, they are of the same kind, united in purpose under His leadership. As the dispenser of the Holy Spirit, Christ holds the responsibility to equip those who repent and are baptized, enabling them to walk the path He has forged. His desire is for brethren, a bride, to join Him as firstfruits at His return. Through His example, instruction, and the strength of His Spirit, He makes it possible for His followers to grow in righteousness, to abide in Him, and to become like Him. On Pentecost, He remains the center, the focus, for if we are to be firstfruits of God, we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on Him, following His way—the only way—to the Kingdom of God.

There has been a subtle doctrinal shift in how the Church of God counts to Pentecost, like the cultural rebranding which switched the political colors of the two major political parties during the 2000 U.S. election. Leviticus 23 commands God's people to count to Pentecost "from the morrow after the Sabbath" culminating on the day after the after the seventh Sabbath. Historically, God's Church followed the Sadducean practice anchoring the count to the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, with the Days of Unleavened Bread, even if the offering occurred on a holy day or a high Sabbath. In 1974, the church surreptitiously aligned itself with the Karaite practice of always putting Wavesheaf day within Unleavened Bread. Proponents tried to link Christ's resurrection with Unleavened Bread, at the cost of overriding clear, well-established, biblical commands. Unlike the change of observing Pentecost from Monday to Sunday, this additional subtle change was never explained publicly. Herbert W. Armstrong never publicly spoke or wrote about this second change. God's called-out saints must return to the original method for 1.) Scriptural integrity-the Sabbath refers to a weekly Sabbath rather than a high day. 2.) Historical and Theological Consistency-The Sadducees, who controlled the Temple at this time, used this method. 3.) Practical Faithfulness-the Wave Sheaf signals a task reserved for a workday rather than a Holy Sabbath. 4.) Guarding against doctrinal drift—just as slight changes in tradition can obscure core truths, such as Sunday worship replacing God's Sabbath, and adding requirements not found in Scripture, risks the danger of making the commands of Almighty God "of no effect." The count to Pentecost in 2025 and every year thereafter, must begin on the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread.