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. And the
evening and the morning were the third day. -Genesis 1:11-13
I remember as a child watching the gardener work. The site upon which the seeds were to be planted was prepared. The place was not one in which water would stand (like a bog), yet neither was it a place where the water would drain too quickly leaving the earth too dry. He would break up the hard soil with his plow and continue to till the soil until the dirt was broken into soft powder. (See Where Shall I Plant in the June 1998 edition of The Shepherd s Script for more on the selected place to plant. -BH) Then, when the soil was ready, the gardener would place the seed in the prepared soil. Certainly, he did not stop with preparing the soil and wait for the desired crop without planting the seed. Corn does not just spring forth from the ground without being planted first. Not only was it necessary for him to plant the seed, but he planted particular seed according to the vegetable that he wanted to grow. That is, he would plant corn kernels where he wanted the corn plants to grow.
God started the process of propagation which has continued ever since. Notice the phrase 'and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.' The rule is that corn comes naturally from planted corn kernels. Peas grow from peas. That is, the plant produces the particular fruit for which it is known. Galatians 6:7 reads, 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' And it produces that fruit because of the nature of the seed that it has in it. An ear of corn grows forth from the corn stalk not because of the corn stalk itself, but because of the nature (or genetic composition) of the seed planted. Consider the example of the apple. The apple is the fruit of the apple tree. The tree is known for the fruit (apples) that it produces (see Luke 6:44 'For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.') Yet, it is not the fruit that yields more apples. It is the apple seeds that are within the apple that give rise to apple trees and ultimately the fruit of the tree, apples. Seeds may not look like what they are to produce, that is, trees or fruit.
But, seeds do contain the instructions and tools to build trees. The seed only needs to be planted and acted upon by that environment (John 12:24 - 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.')
Seeds carry the genetic material to reproduce not only the respective
plant and fruit, but also more of the same type seed. One of the more graphic
examples of this is corn. By planting a single kernel of corn, many more
kernels are produced. Therefore, not only can the gardener grow the corn
that he wants for one season, but from that first seed planted he will
be able to grow corn for years to come. This truth of genetics is not only
applicable to corn but to plants, animals and man! There is also a spiritual
application to this as well. Paul teaches this truth in Romans chapter
four with Abraham being the illustration of giving rise to many generations
after him, each bearing seed after their kind, that is the kind that their
father had in him. Romans 4:11-18 reads,
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness
of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the
father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness
might be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them
who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of
that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham,
or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the
promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no
law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might
be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not
to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith
of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God,
who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though
they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy
seed be.
Also, consider Deuteronomy 4:37 which reads, 'And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt.' When the gardener produces a crop of corn that he is pleased with, he keeps the seed to be planted
the next season. The corn stalk dies and the cob is thrown away, but some of the seed is retained to give rise to another generation that will have the same characteristics as the ancestor. Paul writes in Romans 9:27-29, 'Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.' The word seed refers to the word remnant in the above passage. The remnant that God saved out of the children of Israel carried the seed that was used to give rise to the Church today. By definition, the word seed used in the above passage is the translated Greek word sperma and refers to:
1) from which a plant germinates
a) the seed, that is, the grain or kernel which contains within itself the germ of the future plants; used of the
grains or kernels sown
b) metaphorically, a seed, that is, a residue, or a few survivors reserved as the germ of a new race
(just as seed is kept from the harvest for the sowing)
[Taken from Strong s Greek-Hebrew Dictionary]
That seed in Abraham, the remnant, and all believers is faith. The believer today has the same spiritual genetic code in him that Abraham had, and he does not have to be a Jew by birth. The continuing line is not carried by DNA but by faith. Faith is a spiritual seed that is not passed on through physical birth, but by the preaching of the Word of God. Romans 10:14 reads, 'How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?' Faith in God is preached and thereby deposited in the prepared tilled soil of a seeker of God. The Holy Spirit moves on that seed so that the birth of the new babe in Christ may be conceived. Paul writes in
I Corinthians 3:5-7, 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as theLord 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.'
- Brad Hill