We are continuing our meditation about the resurrection of the body. When a person comes to Christ, something happens within the core of their being. They are regenerated or born-again by the Spirit. Jesus said that without this experience of being born again, or born from above, no one could see the kingdom of God:
Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3).
The apostle Peter wrote, “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3 emphasis mine). When we give our lives to Christ, a spiritual seed begins to grow in us from that point, slowly transforming us through the word of God, and our trials and life experiences, into the image of Christ:
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:23).
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).
The characteristic of this living seed is spiritual life but more full, abundant, eternal and imperishable. The Greek word translated “life” in the above passage of Scripture is the word zōē. It means: “to live.” My Key Word Study Bible says of this word:
"It is a somewhat metaphysical term which denotes the very life force itself, the vital principle which animates living beings. Zōē is used most in connection with eternal life. This life is the very life of God of which believers become partakers."[1]
I don't understand how words can be seeds, but I do not doubt the power of words. God spoke His Word, and the world was created. Throughout Genesis chapter one, the creation was brought about by God speaking His Word. For instance, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). The words, "And God said" are written of God’s creative acts, showing forth that there is great power in the spoken word of God.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes that God is the One who determines what the seed will become when it grows up (v. 38). He says that there are different kinds of physical bodies on planet earth, men, animals, birds, and fish. All physical creatures that are born on earth come from seeds. I see Paul making two different analogies when he talks about a seed:
Our resurrection body will in some way be able to be recognized as us. Paul writes, “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else” (1 Corinthians 15:37). Within the seed is the DNA of the physical body. Oranges do not grow from apple seeds. There is a continuity of life shared between the seed and the body it will become. Our heavenly resurrected bodies will be somewhat like the seed of our earthly fleshly body. We will recognize one another in our resurrection bodies, but it will be vastly different from the seed out of which our resurrected body has come. Our frail bodies will be renewed into a powerful, transcendent body. That’s good news! Let’s carry on this thought tomorrow.
Taken from the series Insights into Eternity. Click on study 3 or the link: The Resurrection Body
[1] Key Word Study Bible, AMG Publishers, Page 1630.
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