During spring time we can often still see people as they put seed in the
ground or plant something in their garden or in the fields. The cold time of
the year is over, frost no longer to be expected, and the time has come to
plant and to sow seed so that later on during the summer and in the fall a
harvest can be gathered.
When we stop for a moment and really ponder this matter and think about the
tremendous thing that is happening after a seed is planted, we realize how
great God's working in this really is. The seemingly very small and
insignificant seed is put in the ground, and after some time goes by a plant
springs up and it begins to bloom or blossom and then later it bears fruit
which again has seed in itself. There really is a tremendous power in that
small little seed. Think about it – it is planted deep into the ground and
then it breaks through the ground.
The seed is sown or planted. This is one of the parts which man has in the
whole process. After that, the growth process starts in the seed and in the
plant itself. Man has really nothing to do with the main process of the growth
which takes place inside the seed and the plant. After the plant has grown a
little bit, man can perhaps water it, he can losen the ground a bit. With trees
or brush a few other necessary steps may be taken, such as cutting the branches
or putting up some supporting sticks. Nevertheless, the plant really grows
because of the life and the power which is already in the seed and thus in the
plant.
There are a few passages in the Bible in which the sowing of seed or planting
is used as an illustration in reference to the Word of God. In this study we
want to closer examine some of these passages so that we can gain a greater
understanding how the Word of God can also bear fruit in our lives.
First of all, we want to look at a parable which Jesus taught his disciples,
when he expounded a few aspects about the working of God's Word in their lives.
Luke 8:5–8:
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
In these verses the picture of a sower is drawn who is going out to sow his
seed. Then Jesus recounts what became of the seed in various situations. In
some cases the seed did not even spring up properly. In some cases the seed did
come up, but because something was lacking the plant did not continue to grow.
In another case the plant was choked by thorns. In other cases the plant could
and did bear fruit.
The explanation or interpretation of this parable is then given by Jesus
shortly afterwards.
Luke 8:11–15:
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Jesus Christ explained the parable to his disciples. The explanation
concerns the Word of God and how it is received by those who hear it. People
and their different reactions to the preaching of God's Word are expounded with
this parable.
"The seed is the word of God" – what a powerful statement right
at the outset! The matter solely and completely concerns the Word of God which
is "sown". But the Word of God doesn't just fall by it self from
heaven onto some field. A sower is needed. The sower goes forth and sows.
Without him there would be no sowing, without him there would be no Word of God
sown. His duty is to sow, he is to preach the Word of God, to proclaim the good
news. The seed which he sows is the Word of God. The sower is responsible to
God for rightly dividing God's Word, because otherwise he would not have the
true Word.1 He is not to propound his own
interpretations, but the Word of God as it is to be interpreted by the
Scriptures themselves and how it is in harmony with the Scriptures as a
whole.2
Those who hear the Word of God may utilize the Word of God differently.
Remarkable and noticable is the fact that all these categories of people spoken
of did "hear", but not all were holding on to the Word of God they
heard. With some, the devil was even able to steal the Word of God out of their
hearts before they really got to believing and being saved. Others heard and
received the preaching with joy and excitement, and as long as everything was
"fine and dandy" they seemed to be doing well. However they did not
take root and that becomes disastrous once persecution arises on account of the
Word of God. Another category is described as those who hear the Word of God
but who aare either choked under the cares of this world or the riches of this
world and in either case cannot bring forth fruit. But these three examples
describe not all of what can happen when one hears the Word of God! In contrast
to these three categories there is one other — "they, which in an
honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit
with patience"!
What a simple yet remarkable and important lesson is contained in these
statements of Jesus. We are not only to "hear" the Word of God, we
must "keep it in an honest and good heart". This is the prerequisite
for being able to have fruit in our lives. The Word of God is called "the
seed" here. The Word of God has in itself the necessary power. It is a
Word which increases, grows and unfolds, becomes manifest, brings life and
works effectually of it is kept in the heart and believed.
Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
1 Thessalonians 2:13:
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
The Word of God is quick, alive, and powerful. The Word of God works effectually in men who believe it. The Word of God, the preaching of Jesus Christ, is God's power to save those who are otherwise lost. Men are not saved because of their own works, not because of some human ideas – no! The Word of God, the good news of the accomplished redemptive work of Christ which he fulfilled at the cross, is the power of God to save those who believe on him, who believe the preaching of the gospel of Christ.
Romans 1:16 and 17:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
1 Corinthians 1:17 and 18:
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Besides salvation and eternal redemption, God has made promises concerning the earthly life to those who believe on Christ. With those promises, the same principle remains valid. God's Word is powerful, it is mighty, it will accomplish what God has sent it to accomplish.3
Another section of Scripture in which planting is mentioned in the Word of God is in 1 Corinthians 3, where the topic was a correction of certain wrong ideas and practices which had led to differences and schism in the church.
1 Corinthians 3:4–7:
For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
All those many arguments and fights which we unfortunately find in Christian
circles and in which the point of discussion is "to whom one belongs and
with whom one would like to take a stand" quickly lose their "great
importance" once we take these statements here to heart. Paul and Apollos
– they both were servants, and in the way which God had given to each one
of them: One had "planted", the other had "watered". They
had worked one after the other at Corinth, but none of them gave the increase!
God gives the increase, only He does! He works through His Word. Paul had
preached the Word of God at Corinth, it was he who so to say had "planted
[sown]" it in the hearts of them who heard it. A short while later,
Apollos came to Corinth and continued to instruct them in the Word of God which
here is termed "watereth". The growth, the increase however was not
effected by any of them, that is solely God's job.
His Word begins to work in those who keep it and believe it in a pure and
honest heart. The seed begins to grow in those who do not allow themselves to
be stolen from, it begins to develop and increase in those who do not "run
off" because of persecution and are not choked by the cares, nor by the
riches of this life. God is at work by means of His Word.
In this context I would like to consider a passage in 1 Peter which has an
important part in the instruction regarding the new birth or being born again.
1 Peter 1:23–25:
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
In the past, I used to link the word "seed" in verse 23 in my
teachings to the gift of holy spirit which each believer on Christ receives in
the new birth. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible [seed -- holy spirit] …" This was not only what I have
taught but what also is taught about this verse by other teachers and scholars.
One can easily arrive at such an interpretation by including some other
scriptures into the considerations about the topic of salvation and new birth.
From those scriptures it can easily by seen that a man, when he believes on
Christ und confesses Jesus as Lord, receives from God the gift of holy spirit,
power from on high.4 This gift of holy
spirit is also called a "spirit of adoption" or "spirit of
sonship" by which we become sons of God.5 As children of God we receive eternal life. Since
it is eternal life which we receive as a gift of God, it of course is
"incorruptible". We are therefore not the children of God one day and
the next, because of a sin perhaps, we are not the children of God - no! We are
born of God and have by means of God's gift of holy spirit eternal life! Our
sonship, our being sons of God, is based on "being born" of God, the
new birth. Our sonship is therefore incorruptible, we remain God's children, no
matter how we behave as His children. These great truths are seen however from
those other scriptures rather than the expression "incorruptible
[seed]" in 1 Peter 1:23.
If one considers the immediate context of 1 Peter 1 carefully, one can
recognize that this passage is not really speaking of the gift of holy spirit
which we receive at the new birth. The term "seed" is not linked to
spirit here, but rather as in other passages in the Bible which we already have
looked at in this study, it is linked with the Word of God. This becomes even
more evident when we read on and include the verses immediately following.
Verse 23 already states "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for
ever." The connection is made with the word "by", the being
born again happens by (through, by means of) the Word of God. And, very
remarkable, the incorruptability of the Word of God is then stated in different
words, namely with the expression "which liveth and abideth for
ever." God's Word is a "living Word", i.e. it provides or gives
"life", and it is an "abiding Word", i.e. it is
incorruptible.
In verses 24 and 25, even more is said about this "incorruptible
seed", where we can read, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower
thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." This Word of
God "endureth for ever" – which describes in a few words what
"incorruptible" is all about, and it again reiterates the connection
between the word and the seed!
This section of Scripture deals clearly with the Word of God as the
incorruptible seed and it shows, that the Word of God is the basis for
believing and new birth, as could be also seen from Romans 1:16,17 or 1
Corinthians 1:17,18 where the Word of God, the gospel of Christ, the word of
the cross, is called the power of God to save or to salvation.
The Word of God which we preach is the necessary seed for the new birth. This
reminds us of the truth that faith comes by hearing, i.e. be hearing the Word
of God that is preached.6 Those who hear
the Word of the Lord, the preaching of Christ, and believe it are saved. This
salvation is a new birth, for the seed of the Word of God brings about a
"birth of God" in the believer, by which God makes us to be His
children, we become His property, His own, and we are given and receive the
promise of eternal life.
This perhaps is seen a bit more clearly in a statement made in James, where we
can once again read about the new birth and the Word of God being linked to it.
James 1:18:
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
God has begotten us of His own will "with the word of truth". The
Word of Truth is this seed which brings us life and gives us life, when we
believe the message of His Word.
What we can receive from God is revealed and made known in the Word of God.
There we can learn what He has made available. This seed – God's Word with
its promises – must be sown or planted in the heart of a man or woman.
When we then believe God and allow God's Word to grow in us, then it will
produce the designed fruit in our lives! Some time may pass, and during that
phase we must with patience keep and hold on to the promises of God in our
hearts.
1 Cp. 2 Timothy 2:15.
2 Cp. 2 Peter 1:20 and 21.
3 Cp. Isaiah 55:10 and 11.
4 Cp. Romans 10:9 and 10, also Ephesians 1:13 and 14.
5 Cp. Romans 8:15 and 16.
6 Cp. Romans 10:17.