"And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip,...and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew; and again Andrew and Philip told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 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." (John 12:20-24)
By the reading of these words we are reminded of a similar statement made by the Apostle Paul, in reply to a foolish question about the resurrection. "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? You fool, that which you sow is not quickened, except it die." (1 Corinthians 15:35-36)
It is said that "Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die it abides alone, but if it die, it brings forth much fruit." (John 12:24)
Is that true? Here is a principle of natural history that is not found in pagan philosophy. It can be found only in the Bible: for it is contrary to the natural supposition. We have been apt, in reading it, to put a sort of mental interpretation upon it. We have thought, "Of course, it does not really die; for if it should actually die that would be the end of it."
Thus our carnal understanding takes the heart out of the Scriptures, by explaining them away. But the word says that if the corn of wheat die, it brings forth fruit. "That which you sow is not quickened, except it die." (1 Corinthians 15:36)
We know that there is no power in any creature to perpetuate its own existence. Whence then must the life of everything come? We read in Job 12:10 that in God's hand is the life, or soul, of every living thing.
Now we have seen it demonstrated that a corn of wheat put in the ground will bring forth much fruit. We have seen hundreds of grains, from one single corn of wheat. This is a fact that all know. Taking the Scriptures as the guide in natural philosophy, we know that death must have preceded the fruit bearing. Did the grain die and then bring itself to life again?
Life is there plainly enough, as shown by the green blade and the ripening ear. And we demonstrate that there is life in it by taking it and eating it. When we are so weak with hunger that we are half dead, and cannot work, we eat of the grain, and our spirits are revived.
There is life there; but that grain had to die before the life came. Where did that life come from? The whole thing is involved in this question. Does the grain come to life? No; because: "That which you sow, you sow not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain; But God gives it a body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed his own body." (1 Corinthians 15:37-38)
The apostle is here speaking of the resurrection. We read that sometime all that are in the graves will stand on the earth again. They had actually died, and they could not bring themselves to life. What brings them to life? The word of God. They hear the voice of the Son of God. "For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." (John 5:28)
The life that will be manifested in those who are now turned to dust is not anything that is in that dust. The life comes from God. The whole process is stated in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, where the Lord speaks, and bone comes to bone, and again He speaks, and flesh and sinews come, and then at His command breath comes into the bodies, and they live.
The resurrection of the body is illustrated by the grain, in the verses read from 1 Corinthians. This means that the man who dies has no life in him, and no power in him to bring himself to life again. Life will be manifested there, because God puts it into him, just as He puts life into the seed that dies.
In the 1st chapter of Genesis we read that God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass." (Genesis 1:11)
Here we see that all life comes directly from God. In His word is life and He has given to every seed a body as it has pleased Him. It has troubled many minds to see how God had to do with every little thing in the world, that He was personally concerned with all things; but the joy of life is the recognition of the fact that God is concerned with every little thing, and that His life pervades all things.
Christ said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground; ... and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. For the earth brings forth fruit of herself," (Mark 4:26-28) or automatically, as "of herself" signifies. The word of God being in it implies growth, and the growth of the kingdom,-- of the Gospel--is just like the growth of a plant. But the plant growth, we have seen, illustrates the resurrection.
Our Life
Is there any difference between the final resurrection life, and the life of Christ in men now? Not a particle; for in order to live with Christ we are to know the power of His resurrection: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection." (Philippians 3:10)
We are to pass from death unto life: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death." (1 John 3:14)
Every man out of Christ is dead in trespasses and sins. But not every man recognizes this. Before man can partake of the life of Christ, therefore, he must reckon himself dead. And he who will reckon himself dead will live. "If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him." (2 Timothy 2:11)
It is the same life that is given, and as in plant life death must precede the giving of it.
The Glory of God
In the Psalms we read: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them has He set a tabernacle for the sun. ... His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." (Psalm 19:1-8)
The immediate source of all the heat and light, and so of all the life, to this earth is the sun. "There is nothing hid from the heat thereof." (Psalm 19:6)
The shaded soil, shut away from the light and heat of the sun is barren. Christ says of himself, "I am the Light of the world." (John 8:12)
The glory of God is actual, the visible light. Men who have seen that glory in abundant measure, as Paul in the road to Damascus, have been blinded by it. When the Lord comes at the second advent the wicked are destroyed with the brightness of His glory. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
So we read of the New Jerusalem that it has no need of the sun to shine in it: "For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Revelation 21:23)
God says of himself that He is a "Sun and Shield," (Psalm 84:11) and Christ is "the Sun of Righteousness." (Malachi 4:2)
Christ the Light
Going back to the beginning we find that in Christ all things were created, and in Him all things consists. When He made the sun He made it a light-bearer and clothed it with light. But the sun did not originate light. The light came from
God before the sun was created. He said, "Let there be light." (Genesis 1:3)
And it came from himself by His word. Then all the light that shines upon the earth comes directly from God. Not simply that He owns the light, but it is of and from himself. He puts His own light in the sun. There is, of course, only a portion of His glory there--as much as the world can endure. "The heavens declare the glory of God." (Psalm 19:1)
In the 60th of Isaiah the Lord says, "Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
The chapter begins in the present condition of the earth, and ends in the new earth. In the beginning darkness covers the earth, and in the end light covers all. The light which He says, "is come" is the same as that in which the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the New Jerusalem; for "the glory of God did lighten it." (Revelation 21:23)
And the word here in Isaiah is "the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
His glory is the light that has come. If we will receive it now, it is the same light. But the light of God has always been shining; for God "lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:9)
And His light is His life. "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)
The terms light and life are interchangeable. Light is life. Therefore we get light from the Scriptures only when we get His life.
The Light of Law
In the 19th Psalm, which we have quoted, the Psalmist goes right on from talking of the light of the sun and of the firmament to the perfection in the law. But there is no break in the thought. "The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light." (Proverbs 6:23) "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:130)
Now we have not taken this to mean a real light. We have thought of it as some sort of an effect upon the intellect. But the Bible says, "The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light." (Proverbs 6:23)
Now if we believe and know that the law of God is the light of God, then we must know that the law of God is an actual light, such as the eye can appreciate. The light of the Lord is simply the manifestation of His life; and His life is the law; for in the life of Christ we find the law of God. "Out of the heart are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)
Christ says, "Your law is within my heart." (Psalm 40:8)
So the life of Christ was the law, and His life was the light of men. Christ lived the law before men, and it was said, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." (Matthew 4:16)
Says Christ, "I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 7:12)
The commandment is light, and the Word is a light to our path.
Gospel Light
Of the heavens the Psalmist says, "There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." (Psalm 19:3)
The speech or words come from the heavens. Whose words? The words of God, assuredly. In the 10th of Romans Paul quotes this verse, and says that the heavens are proclaiming the Gospel. And the proclaiming of the Gospel is the proclaiming of the glory of God. "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:6-7)
When the angels came to announce the Gospel to the shepherds, they proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest." (Luke 2:14)
He who receives the Gospel is receiving the glory of God, that God may be glorified. "The heavens declare the glory of God," (Psalm 19:1) and Paul says that their words have gone out to all, preaching the Gospel. Is there any difference between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the law in Christ? No; for the Gospel proclaims life in Christ, and in Him was the law dwelling in all its fullness. Therefore the proclamation of the Gospel is the proclamation of "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8:2) making free from death. The heavens, then, are preaching the Gospel. The Gospel is God's glory; His glory is His righteousness.
Righteousness is shown by the law. The law of God is indeed His righteousness. Then the heavens declare His righteousness, His law. So the Lord has put His law and His Gospel, His light, in the heavens. And he who will recognize the glory of the heavens as the living light of the living God, with gratitude and thankfulness, to him it will be righteousness.
The man who is constantly--momentarily--thanking God for the light of the sun, and His glory in the heavens and the things that He has made, will not be sinning. The recognition of the fact induces thankfulness. Only when men were not thankful they fell into sin. "Because that when they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful ... their foolish heart was darkened." (Romans 1:21)
We can glorify God by recognizing that the glory of the sun is the glory of God, and so of all His works. So if we continually recognize the light as coming from God, and thank Him for it, and the same with the air we breathe and the food we eat, every conscious moment recognizing that He is our life, and that He gives us life in the sunshine, and air, and food, our life will be to the glory of God, the law of God will be manifested in our life.
Changed by the Glory
Thus we see how the Psalmist can go on from the glory of the firmament to the law of God. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." (Psalm 19:7)
In the sunlight we recognize God's glory, and in that is the law of God. While we are beholding the glory of God, we are "changed into the same image": "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)
As we have seen, it is only a portion of the glory that we see in the heavens and the works of God. Christ was the brightness of the Father's glory. If He had appeared on earth in all the brightness of that glory it would have destroyed all. Therefore He veiled His glory in the flesh, and yet He was constantly manifesting forth the glory in His works.
Of His first miracle it is said, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory." (John 2:11)
His works were works of graciousness and helpfulness. God's glory is to help and to save.
And when we recognize God's glory in the heavens,--all is placed there that the eyes can endure,--and are thankful to God in that recognition, and take it as His life, yielding ourselves to Him that He may do His will in us, He will live in us the same life that He lives in himself. This must be so or else He would deny himself.
As we are yielding to Him, looking at His glory, that glory is working in us. This is the law of Christian growth. Really is there any difference between natural law and moral law? The law of plant growth is the life of God. This makes it grow. The law of our life is the life of God. It is the law for every created thing. The same law works in everything the purposes of God for that thing. It is the same life in all creation working God's purposes for that created thing. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." (Psalm 19:7)
How God has put himself on all creation! and when we recognize His life it works peace and joy. The plant is the offspring of the life of God. God works in every plant just what He will. He gives to every seed his own body.
The fruit tree, for example, bears beautiful flowers, but the flower is not the ultimate end of the plant. The fruit is to be produced. God could have made the plant bear fruit without a sign of a flower. What is the flower? It is the beauty of the plant. God delights in beauty, in the variety of form and diversity and blending of color. And since the life of the plant is the life of the Lord, the beauty of the flower is "the beauty of the Lord." It is some of the beauty of the Lord's life revealed to us in the plant. The Psalmist prays, "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish the work of our hands upon us." (Psalm 90:17)
The beauty of the Lord is shown in what He works in the believer. "He will beautify the meek with salvation." (Psalm 149:4)
It is not simply joy, theoretically, that we get in this, but there is life in it. There are hard things for some of us to meet. We have burdens to bear, and crosses to endure. Our whole flesh is opposed to God: "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." (Galatians 5:17)
We are coming close to the end, face to face with the coming of the Lord, and eternity. The flesh cannot go there, and we will not go there either if we cling to the flesh. We cannot take it with us.
Before the Lord comes, when we will be delivered from this earthly tabernacle, and be clothed upon with the house from heaven, we must have crucified the flesh. That is a practical, everyday work. Paul doesn't say, "I was crucified with Christ," but: "I am crucified with Christ." (Galatians 2:20)
There was a constant crucifixion, and constantly a springing up of life. "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)
Paul sought that He might "know Him, and the power of His resurrection." (Philippians 3:10)
We must make this a practical thing now.
Living the Life
We know this, that as we breathe we are taking in the life of God. As our eyes greet the sunlight, it is the light of His life. As we eat the food He gives, it is His life in it that gives the strength. So all the life we live, we live by God. Said Paul, "In Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
The life is the light, and the light lightens every man that comes into the world. So the life of Christ is the life of every living soul. Someone may say, "How can I get the life of God? How can the connection be made?"
How often have we wished that we might get hold of that life in some way. Now the news comes that we have that life, only hitherto we have refused to recognize it. We have perverted it, and have used it to think and speak and do what God would not do. "We have turned everyone to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6)
We have used God's life in doing it. Now we must say continually, "The Lord is my light." (Psalm 27:1)
He is my life, recognizing Him in everything. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
This life is already here. All we have to do is to acknowledge it. With this we can understand what the Psalmist meant when he said that the Lord had brought him out of the miry clay, and set his feet upon a rock and put a new song in his mouth: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." (Psalm 40:1-3)
A temptation comes to us. "Whose life have we?"
God's life. We will simply say, "The life is yours, Lord, live it in your own way."
It is not the old life that is meeting the sin, but God's. Cannot God work victory in us? He can if He can live in us. But this He does all the time, He gives us life, breath, food; and in the air, and sunlight, and food, and all His works, God has meant to teach all creation how He is able to live in men. If we submit to Him He will work in us the perfection of His life, and actually as He is, so will we be in this world. "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)
This solves the question of the evangelization of the world. "Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
What is the glory? His life, His law. What is the light that is come? The life of Christ. What will be the next thing? "And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:3)
The life is here, for the light is come. Take it. Rejoice in it; and while we are recognizing it, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, and we thus become the light of the world. The world will see it and recognize the light of the Lord, just as the scribes and rulers recognized that Peter and John had been with Jesus.
Do not let one soul dare to lift up the voice to proclaim the truth until he knows he has the life of God. And then when He says "Go," what will be carried? The life and the light.
Men were convinced by Christ because there was power in His words, and if we go thus, the words we speak will be like the oracles of God, and with the power of God's life. So that we, wicked and sinful as we are, may speak with the same authority, the same convincing power that Christ spoke.
Then life will be carried to men. Men may reject it, but they will be forced to acknowledge, as the Jews did, that there is power there.
This is the power of the Gospel Message. The light has come to enlighten the world. The power from on high is ours and we can speak the life and shed the very light of God to the world if we will but yield to it.--Present Truth, January 25, 1894.