"The Primary Seed"

 "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." (John 12:24 KJV)

  "But someone may ask, "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?" What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put into the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh - one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish." (1 Corinthians 15:35-39 NLT)

 How many times I have read this verse, thinking that this just applied to us, to die to ourselves and be born anew in Christ? This was what I was told, therefore it stuck, and I have pictured it the same way, again and again. In this instance, I believe Jesus is illustrating the importance of His death and His resurrection.

 The resurrection of Christ is critically important to the church; without Jesus raising from the dead, there is really nothing to celebrate, and we are all going to die in our sins. (1 Corinthians 5:17) Jesus made the way, not only for the forgiveness of sin, but that there be the benefit for the forgiveness granted, which is eternal life with Him! 

 Yes, we must also die, which is what is illustrated by being baptized: we are submerged into the water, signifying our bodies being crucified with Christ, and we are raised up from the water, as new creatures in Christ. That is just an outward expression of an inward work that has already been accomplished; so don't think I am trying to say that salvation happens with baptism, because that's not what I believe.

 However, the body of Jesus Christ was different than any of our bodies; His was not connected to the seed of a man, but the Spirit; which seed was planted into a woman. Pretty complex and hard to peel back the layers, but nonetheless, it is the way God ordained it to be, a mystery! 

 So then what fruit does God raise from this seed? Well, He is the Judge, not I: He determines those that will be raised into everlasting life, or those that will be raised in judgement. Paul mentions this in a closing statement, speaking about those things that matter most, saying, "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)

 I know it might not seem so mighty sometimes, but that might be because we sometimes don't live in the power! Mighty is what mighty does...

"Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)" (Romans 8:5-9 NLT)