"And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear, But when the fruit is ripe, immediately be puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come." (Mark 4:26-29,margin)
The seed-sowing contains not only the promise of the harvest, but it determines what the harvest will be. The harvest is really present in the seed sown. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7-8)
The Word of God tells us that: "All flesh is grass." (Isaiah 40:6)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to men by the power of the Spirit, "That they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 40:6) "For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." (Isaiah 61:11)
Therefore in the growth of plants from the seed we have a perfect picture of the Christian's growth in grace, or of the growth of the kingdom of God in the heart of men.
The first lesson is given by the Lord, and is found in: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:24-25)
Nothing in nature exists for itself. The sun shines to give light and warmth to the world. The grass and trees grow only for the purpose of pleasing the eyes of men, and of supplying life to all creatures. To give up and to utterly abandon self, is the law of the universe. "Even Christ pleased not himself." (Romans 15:8) "That which you yourself sow is not quickened, except to die: And that which you sow, you sow not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind: But God gives it a body even as it pleased Him, and to each seed a body of its own." (1 Corinthians 15:36-38,RV)
If a farmer should say, "I have but one bushel of wheat, and propose to keep it; I will not waste it by throwing it upon the ground," everybody would call him a foolish fellow. The only way to have it increase thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold, is to cast it into the earth, knowing that he will never see those grains again.
The same thing holds good with the grain that is eaten; we cannot get the life from it without destroying it as grain. The grain that is "preserved" is never of any use.
What is the seed whence all things come? "The seed is the Word at God." (Luke 13:11)
This is true from the very beginning. When the waters were gathered together unto one place, and the dry land appeared, the earth was empty. It could not produce a single thing. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so." (Genesis 1:11)
What was the seed which God cast into the ground, from which everything sprouted? It was nothing other than the Word of God. The Word became grass and trees, just as afterwards it became flesh.
Christ is the Word of God, the Word of Life, which was in the beginning, and from which everything proceeded. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3) "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." (1 John 1:1-2)
He is the Seed whence spring not only the plants of the field, but also the "trees of righteousness." (Isaiah 61:3)
It was as true of Him as of the corn of wheat, that He could not bring forth fruit without yielding up His life. That which the chief priests and scribes and elders said mockingly, as a reproach, was His glory: "He saved others; himself He cannot save." (Matthew 27:42)
If He had thought about himself, and had been intent on saving himself, He could not have saved anybody else, for: "Without the shedding of blood, [the giving of life,] there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22)
Nay, He would even have lost His own life if He had attempted to save it; for, having come into this wicked and lost world, there; was no possible way out except the way of the cross.
But the sacrifice of Christ goes back of this present world. He was foreordained as a ransom "before the foundation of the world." (1 Peter 1:20)
In order to become a quickening Spirit, He died. Through death He destroys death and the one who had the power of it: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14)
He is not a useless seed; He died--emptied himself--that He might bring forth much fruit. "That which you sow, you sow not the body that shall be but a bare grain: ... but God gives it a body." (1 Corinthians 15:37)
Therefore when Christ, the true Seed, came into the world, He said, "A body have You prepared me." (Hebrews 10:5)
The sacrifice was complete. Never again does He have the form that He had before coming to this earth; He was made in the likeness of men, and it was as the Son of man that He suffered the death of the cross, and was in consequence highly exalted, receiving a name that is above every name.
The work is still going on, for He is continually giving himself for mankind; or, rather, the sacrifice, which is made once for all, is eternally efficacious and active. Everything in the universe exists, and will continue to exist, only because His life flows out to it and through it.
The seed dies, and produces others of the same nature. From a single grain of corn a hundred others may come, and each one of the hundred will have the same life, and as much of it as the original seed. So it is that: "Unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." (Ephesians 4:7) "Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." (John 1:16) "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9)
And when He dwells in our hearts by faith,--when the seed springs up in us,--we also are "filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
Every believer receives all the fullness of the life of Christ, the true Seed. "As He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)
This necessarily follows from being born of His death. So the children of the kingdom are the good seed: "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom." (Matthew 13:38)
The life of the only begotten Son, who emptied himself, passes into the Seed of the woman, the Son of man; but not merely into the Man Jesus of Nazareth, but into so many as received Him. He is the "firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)
All who receive Him have the power given them to become the sons of God, and that power is the power of the resurrection; for it was the resurrection from the dead that proved Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which He had promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:1-4)
The seed by which we are born again is incorruptible, even the Word of God, which lives and abides for ever: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever." (1 Peter 1:23)
And when that Word abides in us, it gives strength, victory over the wicked one, and preserves from sin. "I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." (1 John 2:14) "Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." (1 John 3:9)
Believer's are Here in Christ's Stead
So Jesus Christ was but the Model Man. He is, in fact, "the Man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)
There is no other man, for He makes all who believe and makes them in himself "one new man." (Ephesians 2:15)
It is only in Christ that we become "a perfect man." (Ephesians 4:13)
The seed that is sown produces other seeds, imbued with the same life, that they may in turn be producers of life. So all who believe are here on earth in Christ's stead, to carry on, in His name and by the power of His life, the work begun by Him. He calls all to come to Him and drink the water of life; but He adds, "Let him that hears say, Come." (Revelation 22:17)
And, in order that their call may not be in vain, that none may come to them for life and be disappointed, He says, "He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)
Not unto the angels, but unto men, has God put in subjection the world to come: "For unto the angels has He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that You are mindful of him? or the son of man, that You visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands: You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him." (Hebrews 2:5-8)
The work of the Gospel, by which men are to be made new creatures, and a new earth prepared for a suitable dwelling for them, is committed to men. "[God] has put in us the word of reconciliation," (2 Corinthians 5:19,margin) by which men are born into the kingdom of God. The Word abiding in us transforms us, so that we have its nature, and are, in Christ, also the Word of God; so that if any man speak, he will "speak as the oracles of God." (1 Peter 4:11) "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made." (Psalm 33:6)
By the same word the heavens and earth are to be made new; but the Word that creates anew is to be in the mouths and hearts of men. God says: "I have put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, You are my people." (Isaiah 2:16)
The Word of God, the Seed that is to beget children for the kingdom, and also to prepare the kingdom for them, is to be spoken by men. But it will be by men who have died with Christ, giving up their lives, never to take them again, and whose lives are nothing but God's Word incarnate. When they speak they will speak with authority, for they will speak just what they are, yet not of themselves.
Saved Sinners: Saviours of Others
What a glorious prospect and privilege! The greatest glory of "the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our salvation," (Ephesians 1:13) is not that it saves sinners, barely drawing them into the city of refuge, but that it makes saved sinners saviours of others. God sent Christ into the world to save the world: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17)
And He says to all who are willing to be made conformable to His death, "As my Father has sent me, even so send I you." (John 20:21)
Who would count his life dear, in view of such a high calling, especially since the life which we impart to others is the eternal life that abides in us and saves us? "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have receivedmercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Corinthians 4:1-2)--Present Truth, July 19, 1900--Timeline: IV-24 (Sermon by the Sea)--Mark 4:26-29.