| One Seed Only 9/4/06 George Poulo Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises Made. He saith not, And to his seeds, as of many; But as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Gal3:16 There is only one seed. There is only one tree. There is only one fruit. The good seed produces a good tree which produces good fruit. That seed is Christ. That tree is the kingdom of God. That kingdom is shalom: wholeness, completeness, soundness, nothing missing, and nothing broken. That kingdom is love, peace, faith, power, and dominion. The fruit is eternal life. The truth that there is only one seed, not many, is an offense to the spirit of the world which wants to suggest that there are many seeds, producing many kinds of trees, producing many kinds of fruit that will lead to heaven. Jesus, however, states otherwise: "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (Jn15:5) Christ is the only seed that will produce eternal life with heaven as its reward. Due to the faith of Abraham and the grace of God, Abraham received the blessing. The blessing was the anointing. That blessing proceeded to Isaac, Jacob, to Joseph, and to David and to all the promised, and to Jesus and from Jesus to those who belong to him. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to The end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not To that only which is of the law, but to that also which Is of the faith of Abraham; who is father of us all, Rm4:16 The blessing of Abraham, the anointing, the Christ, which came on the children of promise, �in Isaac shall thy seed be called� also came on the Gentiles who have received the Word, Jesus in their heart through the preaching of the cross. The parable of the sower (Mark4) suggests that the word is the seed that must overcome a hard heart, persecution, riches and the lust of other things to enter the fertile ground of the heart or spirit to reap an eternal reward. Peter likens the word to incorruptible seed which produces new birth: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but Of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth And abideth forever. 1Pt1:23 When one receives the "incorruptible" word of God into one�s heart, one's spirit, that one is born again and enters God's kingdom. No other seed, no other word, can produce that kind of tree and that kind of fruit. The heart must be cultivated to have the seed enter and bear fruit. Preaching the cross for repentance is the means of preparing the heart to be born again of incorruptible seed. Jesus, "the word made flesh" must enter the heart. There are many voices in the world, many seeds, many words, many ways, and many theories. Scripture, however, is emphatic. Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Only Jesus is the true seed and the true kingdom. Only the blood of Christ grants for both Jew and Gentile access into the kingdom. Only those Jews and Gentile who receive the word in their heart become church. Some might believe, however, that one can gain entrance into the kingdom without the blood. Matthew indicates otherwise: And when the king came to see the guests, he saw there a Man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto Him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding Garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the Servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast Him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing Of teeth. For many are called but few are chosen. Mt22:11-14 The blood of Christ is the garment that clothes us with righteousness. The blood of Christ wipes away our sin and is the robe of our salvation. The point of the parable is this. Keeping the law might get us all the way to heaven, but keeping the law will not keep us there. One may very well be a good Jew, a good Buddhist, a good Muslim, a good Catholic, but good does not gain us heaven. Righteousness of the law can not and will not save. Only the righteousness that is of faith saves. It is only faith in the work of Christ, his blood shed on Calvary that will gain for us entrance into the Promised Land. We become grafted into the tree of Christ, the seed of Abraham, when by grace through faith we receive our salvation and accept Jesus as Redeemer and Lord of our life. That is how the Gentile is grafted into the family of God. That is why there is only one seed and that seed is Christ. Amen. |
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