Parable of a growing seed

 Parable of a growing seed

 

Mark 4:26-29『And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And he should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.』

Here, the kingdom of God is “he basileia to deu” (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ), meaning the kingdom of God the Father. God the Father gives the kingdom of God to “saints who have built a new temple in their hearts.” Man means God. Land means people made of dust. God created the shape of the earth and poured the Spirit into it. So, the shape of the earth became “a person with the image (temple) of God.” However, due to the sin of leaving God, the image of God disappeared. The temple in a person's heart has become an old temple (old person) without God. So, in order to give the new temple, God predestined Christ, and Jesus Christ, the last man, Adam, came to the world in the flesh and gave the resurrected body (new temple).

Those who gain the new temple become those who believe that “the old man (old temple) dies (destroys) with Jesus, is resurrected with Christ, and is born as a new man (new temple).” When a new temple is built in the hearts of believers, Christ will return and enter that temple. The “second coming and entering” means the establishment of the kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you do not believe in the present resurrection, the new temple will not be built. So, the resurrection of Christ is said to be the first fruit, and then the saints continue to bear the fruit of resurrection. And then the saint again bears fruit to others.

『For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself.』 Rather than God bringing forth fruit, man, the earth, must bear fruit himself. That is faith. Faith is “believing that something that cannot be hoped for will come true.” That faith is directly connected to the faith of Abraham. Romans 4:18-22 『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. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body his now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but he was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.』

When Abraham first believed, he heard the voice of God saying, “Leave your hometown, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.” Abraham makes the surprising decision to leave his hometown, but takes his relative Lot with him. If a believer does not give up being the master, he will continue to believe according to his own will. We follow the Lord's commands only to the extent that we obey them. God made a promise to Abram. He caused the offering to be split open and showed fire coming down from heaven and going into and out of the offering. Abraham cannot help but believe God's promise. Abraham then receives the covenant. He receives the covenant, but Abram gives birth to Ishmael. It is not possible to obey the words of the Lord. He listened to Sarai, took Hagar, and gave birth to Ishmael. God spoke no more until Abraham became dead to God's promise. He says this until he is 99 years old. Apostle Paul explains this story in Romans chapter 4, saying, “Abraham received the faith that makes him righteous by faith when he was 100 years old.”

Abram laughed inwardly at the words of the Lord. This is because Abram was full of faith and love for Ishmael, the life he gave birth to as a human being. He was one with Ishmael. So there was no room for the words of God's promise to enter him. He had no faith in God's covenant at all. He said, "How will Sarah bear children since her womb is dead?" He said to God, "Let Ishmael live before you."

Today, we hear and see countless churches saying, “Believe in Jesus, believe in the merits of Jesus, believe in Jesus and you will be justified.” That statement is not complete. Even though Abram experienced victory over the war and had a spiritual experience of meeting Melchizedek, he could not obey the word of God. Because those who do not repent trust themselves like Peter. Even though Jesus said to Peter, “You will deny me three times tonight,” Peter, out of self-confidence, said, “Even if I die with you, I will not deny you.”

Peter trusts himself. In the eyes of others, Peter may be seen as the person who believed in Jesus the most out of all humans, but in the eyes of Jesus, Peter believed in himself more. This is what a person who does not repent looks like. Repentance is turning to the word of God. God saves those who believe the words of his Son. The Son's words are to unite with the cross and resurrection. God's will is to die in present union with Him on the cross, and to become fruitful people in present union with Him through resurrection. However, many believers today do not believe in present resurrection. Because they value the body. This is because they expect the body to come back to life after it dies. In John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; You must remember that the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.