Ancient Words —
Christ, the Seed
In the letter called Galatians, Paul addresses the topic of “seed” in chapter 3, verse 16. “The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person who is Christ.”
From the Ancient Words, Bible scripture, Paul is referring back to the book of Genesis where the mention of “seed” occurs in several verses. The story of creation in Gen. 1 explains the first purpose of seed as being that of reproduction. The grass, the herb, the fruit tree were created to bring forth seed in itself and after its kind on the third day. Creatures that fly and creatures that swim were created to bring forth seed in itself and after its kind on the fifth day. Creatures on land were then created to bring forth seed in itself and after its kind on the sixth day. Also (and in conclusion) on the sixth day, God created male and female to bring forth seed in itself and after their kind, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The Ancient Words further add, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Seed is always meant to reproduce after “its kind.”
In Gen. 3:15: “I (God) will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (the enmity or seed) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his (the enmity or seed) heel. The seed spoken of here is embedded or at least implied in the word enmity and the scripture verse itself is recognized to be a messianic prophecy. Christ Jesus, the Seed, will be born of woman but will be conceived by God through his Holy Spirit. Christ alone will be the seed to intervene between Satan’s seed and woman’s seed. You, Satan, may strike his heel by causing his suffering and dying on the cross, but Christ Jesus the Lord will crush your head by never having his body decay one ounce in death, by never seeing his body chained to a cold, dark grave, and instead of hopeless death, be resurrected to a glorious, immortal, and eternal life through the same Spirit that conceived him. His seed is now offered to restore eternal life to all men.
Later in Gen. 22, the account of Abraham and his son Isaac is described in great detail. Because Abraham displays complete faith and trust in God’s request, the knife is stayed in Abraham’s hand and the life of the young son spared. God then speaks, “I will surely bless you………and through Christ who strengthens me” is a statement about his seed.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” is a statement about his seed. “It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me” is a statement about his seed. “All things are yours…all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Cor. 3:21-23). May the seed of Christ indwell us all through the Ancient Words: “Words of Life, words of Hope; Give us strength, help us cope; In this world, where e’re we roam; Ancient Words will guide us home.”
(Scott Johnson is pastor at East Faulkner Church of Christ and author of the BRG Bible).
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Sparks From The Gospel Anvil
Mark 1:14
I am afraid that in the Church’s zeal, in our enthusiasm to get people into the church we sometimes lower the standard. We widen the doors, but not God’s doors, for they can never be widened.
Their limits were set on Calvary, and nobody scheming or planning or effort can move back the straight and narrow gate. I am afraid in our zeal to get people into our churches we have lowered the standard, and believe me, I would rather lose my soul in that effort than save my soul in lowering the standard to suit my own miserable, contemptible ideals and my own experience. Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ never made it easy to follow Him. To the multitudes in our day and time, it costs nothing to come into the church and it cost nothing to go out. They give up nothing when they come in and leave nothing behind when they go out.
When I came to Christ it meant something. It was a pilgrimage, warfare, conflict, a struggle. It meant an honest attempt to do the will of God and I remember reading from The Holy Scriptures about cutting off arms and plucking out eyes. There is a Scripture that talked about the cross, and something else that spoke about self-denial. It meant being a fool for Christ sake, to be slandered to be abused; it meant walking alone, to be hated for His sake; it meant tears and loneliness; Christianity meant something in my younger days; it meant business, it meant abundant life, a life that was lived in harmony with Jesus Christ. But what is it now? It is a party, a picnic, a social. May God open our eyes today! Remember, this Gospel that begins with Repentance holds the field until the Lord Jesus recalls it. And He has not recalled it, and therefore I am going to continue to preach it.
Imagine today if John the Baptist was preaching today as to how he would be treated by a local congregation. If he was arrested in his own day for preaching repentance to the people, just think as to how he would be treated today. Listen! As soon as they put John in jail, here comes the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching repentance as well. And this message was Christ before it became John’s. The first sermon that Jesus preached was on repentance. The Lord didn’t go around congratulating everyone, no, He went around expostulating. Jesus never said, “Only believe”, and the Holy Scriptures does not say it and the person that says that preaches a false gospel. It is verbal vomit from the devil himself! Jesus never said that He came to soothe the conscience, only saying ‘peace when there is no peace’. Peace, while the world is an anarchy! Peace while the heart is in rebellion! Peace, while God is defied! The Kingdom of God begins with Righteousness and then peace. Right first, and when a person gets right with God, their peace will flow like a river. We have been more anxious to count heads than hearts and there are thousands of people in America called backsliders, who never were frontsliders, sliding into the Kingdom of God. Don’t label yourself when you haven’t repented of your sins and not wanting to pick those things back up. Just because you put a ketchup label on a mustard bottle, doesn’t mean it is ketchup. Just because a person goes to church and puts on a sanctimonious act doesn’t mean they are holy! Just this past week I asked someone about their spiritual life and what their relationship was like with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they informed me that they graduated from John 3:16 ministries; I then asked again, have you been born again; and they asked me what that meant. I tried then and there to walk that person through the path of conversion/regeneration and that it began with repentance. He wouldn’t have it, and he told me that he had not done anything wrong. How can we help those that don’t want to hear the word repentance? By continuing to preach the truth without fear or favor.
(Lieutenant Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado).