Almonds photo credit Vassilis http://www.flickr.com/
A Soul is like a Seed
It must open in order to produce new life.
By Craig C. White
A soul is like a seed. Or perhaps I should say that a seed is like a soul. I think that God created seeds to illustrate how life renews itself and how our own souls live and also all too often die. God gave the first living thing a seed!
Genesis 1:11 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.
A seed is designed to produce new life. It has a hard outer shell and a center that is capable of becoming a whole new plant. Our souls are similar. Our hearts house and protect our spirit. Our spirits are capable of growing into something greater. Regrettably, most souls never yield new life. Jesus compared a person’s soul to a wheat seed.
John 12:24-25 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. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
In order for a seed to grow it needs to open its outer shell. If it doesn’t open its shell then it cannot become anything more than a seed and it dies. In the same way, our hearts must open to God’s spirit in order to renew our life. If our hearts remain closed then our spirits cannot be renewed by the Holy Spirit of God.
Did you know that a seed opens from the inside? When conditions are right the embryo swells and breaks open the outer shell. Our hearts must also open from the inside. The Spirit of God is always outside of our hard hearts beckoning us. When we hear him we must push our shell apart in order to let him in.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
When you sow seeds into the ground you have expectations that they will grow back up out of the ground and produce new life and fruit. The seed will be gone but a new plant will grow in its place. If a seed represents a soul then the fleshy fruit represents our body. In the same way that a seed becomes a plant, our bodies will become something greater. If our bodies are sown into the ground they will be raised up again but they will be changed. Our bodies will be raised in much better condition. They will endure forever!
1Corinthians 15:42-44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
A seed doesn’t just become another seed, but it becomes something much more. If our souls are germinated by God’s Spirit then we will also become something greater.
1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Because of sin our spirits cannot regenerate our bodies alone. We need God’s everlasting Spirit. Without God’s spirit our souls and bodies will wither and die. If our souls hold the Spirit of God, then even though our bodies die they will be made alive again!
Romans 8:10-11 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Jesus’ own resurrection is proof that if we receive God’s Spirit in our souls then our bodies will also be made whole. Our body may wither and die but because our soul has been made alive by God’s everlasting Spirit, our body will also one day be renewed.
1Peter 1:23-25 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
If a person never receives the Spirit of God then he will never be renewed. He will be dead forever. As you can imagine, being dead forever is really bad. Unfortunately it’s even worse than that. When a plant is dead it is used for firewood to be burned. When a person is dead God also tosses him into the fire.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Just like the rain falls on every seed, God’s Spirit is offered to every heart. If a person hardens their heart to God’s Spirit, then their soul and body are cast into hell to be burned.
Hebrews 6:7-8 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
If the soul of a man resembles a seed, and man was also made in God’s image (Gen 1:26), then perhaps God is like a seed. Does that sound farfetched?
Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
In the verse below, the apostle John calls Jesus the Word. The Word was with God. The English word with is translated from the Greek word pros. Pros means to be facing or toward. Pros can be translated literally as being face to face. So the Word (Jesus) was face to face with God.
John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
If you have ever cracked open an almond you have noticed that the nut has two halves. Just as the two halves of a seed are face to face; Jesus was face to face with God. Jesus was very near to God. Jesus was God. You know, you might even say that God was a nut! But you probably shouldn’t say that in church!
A soul is the spiritual seed of a man. It can grow into something new or it can wither and die.
