"And 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. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:11-12) "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knows not how. The earth bears fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest is come." (Mark 4:26-29,RV) "Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently; Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." (1 Peter 1:22-24) "To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your Seed which is Christ." (Galatians 3:16) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... In Him was life ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." (John 1:1,4,14) "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up; Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth; And when the sun was up they were scorched: and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them; But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear. ... Hear therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony pieces, the same is he that bears the Word, and anon with joy receives it; yet has he not root in himself, but endures for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns, is he that hears the Word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the Word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matthew 13:3-9,18-23) "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 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 61:10-11)
From Mark 4:26-29 we learn that in the growth of corn from the sowing of the seed to the harvest we have a visible and perfect presentation of the kingdom of God. From the visible we learn of the invisible. The power of God, which is the Gospel, is seen in the things that are made. (Romans 1:20,RV; For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity.) "The earth bears fruit of herself," (Mark 4:28) that is, literally, "automatically." But an automaton, so-called, does not manufacture its own power. The power which runs an automaton is furnished by a spring that is wound up, so that although no application of power can be seen, the machine acting as a living thing, there is in reality a constant application of power from without. Through the spring, the force of the man who wound it is being constantly exerted. "Power belongs unto God." (Psalm 62:11) "There is no power but of God." (Romans 13:1)
The earth therefore brings forth by the power of God. Something is necessary before the earth can bring forth fruit of herself, and this is set forth in the parable. It is this: seed must be sown. The earth bears fruit of herself, but not until seed has been placed in it. If there were no seed in the ground, the earth could never bring forth anything.
Now when the earth was first created, there was nothing in it. When the dry land was separated from the water, it contained no seed, and had it been left alone, it would never have brought anything forth. What did God do, in order that the earth might bear fruit? He spoke to it. He sent forth His Word into the earth. The seed, therefore, whence everything comes, that grows out of the earth, is the Word of God. "And 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. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:11-12)
Take a handful of corn, and cast it upon the ground. If the conditions are favorable, it will spring up and bear fruit. What is the life of the seed,--that which gives it germinating power? It is the Word of the Lord. The real seed of everything that grows is nothing other than the living Word of the living God. We see therefore that the Word of God is very real, although we cannot see it. There is nothing real except the Word. "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)
Thus we find that when we are told that the new birth is effected by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever, it is not a figure of speech, but the statement of an actual fact, and the reality of it is shown to us by the corn growing from the seed that is cast into the earth.
The fact that we cannot see the seed which God places in us for our regeneration, and that we cannot explain how it is done, makes no difference with the fact, nor with our faith. We cannot see the life of the seed which we cast into the ground. Nobody can tell by looking at seed whether it has life in it, and will germinate or not. And when it is sown, nobody knows the mystery of growth. "So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; ... and the seed should spring and grow up he knows not how." (Mark 4:26-27)
No farmer refuses to sow seed, because he cannot tell how it grows and multiplies; but if he should refuse to sow seed until he could understand and explain all about how it grows, he would be no more foolish than the man who refuses to accept the Lord until he can understand how the Lord can speak righteousness into his soul, and cause it to grow and multiply. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... In Him was life." (John 1:1,4)
Christ is the Word, and the Word is the seed; hence Christ is the Seed. "To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your Seed which is Christ." (Galatians 3:16)
This is true in every sense. The Word from which everything grows which God has made, is the life of Christ. So it is that in eating bread (good bread, of course) we are eating the body of Christ.
"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)
God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth just as the earth brings forth her bud, that is, by speaking to the souls of men, just as He does to the earth. They who hear shall live. If we consciously yield to the Word of God as completely as the earth does involuntarily, we cannot fail to bring forth fruit unto eternal life.--Present Truth, September 22, 1898.