Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
What is sown is not made alive unless it dies, so a seed must die before it is brought to life as a plant. God first created the seed and gave it to the earth, and by His divine power and appointment He cares for it, so that in dying the seed gives its life to the blade, which contains in itself other seeds to be treasured and put into the earth again to yield their harvest. The human agent plants the seed and cultivates the plant while God waters it and causes His sun to shine upon it until the tiny blade springs up, showing that the human agent has his own part to act and work to do in solemn and beautiful cooperation with God.
Casting the seed into the ground pictures Christ's death and the springing of the blade pictures His resurrection, a correspondence between natural sowing and spiritual truth to be taught practically to children and youth as they prepare the soil and sow with their own hands. The planting and growth of seed is the lesson God gives concerning the resurrection of the body and the renewing of the heart, so that spiritual things are learned from the development of the earthly. The resurrection is of the body, because the whole person sleeps in the grave until that event, and death is therefore not the end, but like a seed hidden in the ground the dead will rise from the dust to new life in a deathless resurrection for those who trust.
As new life springs from the seed's death, the human body laid in the grave is raised from corruption, dishonor, and weakness to incorruption, glory, and power. As the grain decays while a new kernel comes forth, the mortal body's matter need not be the same matter in the immortal body, for identity is in organization rather than identical particles, and the natural substance that decays is never raised as before. Personal identity and character are preserved with God and returned in the resurrection, so each one comes forth in the same form with the same individuality of features so that friend will recognize friend, but free from disease and every defect.
In His own time God calls forth the righteous dead, giving again the breath of life and bidding the dry bones live, and gives them a body that pleases Him, composed of much finer material, sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body as a new creation and a new birth. Flowers dying only to spring forth into new life teach the resurrection, showing that nature is filled with spiritual lessons and that all who love God will bloom again in the Eden above. A sown kernel of corn whose life is gone cannot be quickened to produce fruit even though the body of the corn remains, warning that having the form without the power will not save, for a theory of faith is not enough without vital godliness, the life and power of religion in the soul.
What is sown is not made alive unless it dies, so a seed must die before it is brought to life as a plant. God first created the seed and gave it to the earth, and by His divine power and appointment He cares for it, so that in dying the seed gives its life to the blade, which contains in itself other seeds to be treasured and put into the earth again to yield their harvest. The human agent plants the seed and cultivates the plant while God waters it and causes His sun to shine upon it until the tiny blade springs up, showing that the human agent has his own part to act and work to do in solemn and beautiful cooperation with God.
Casting the seed into the ground pictures Christ's death and the springing of the blade pictures His resurrection, a correspondence between natural sowing and spiritual truth to be taught practically to children and youth as they prepare the soil and sow with their own hands. The planting and growth of seed is the lesson God gives concerning the resurrection of the body and the renewing of the heart, so that spiritual things are learned from the development of the earthly. The resurrection is of the body, because the whole person sleeps in the grave until that event, and death is therefore not the end, but like a seed hidden in the ground the dead will rise from the dust to new life in a deathless resurrection for those who trust.
As new life springs from the seed's death, the human body laid in the grave is raised from corruption, dishonor, and weakness to incorruption, glory, and power. As the grain decays while a new kernel comes forth, the mortal body's matter need not be the same matter in the immortal body, for identity is in organization rather than identical particles, and the natural substance that decays is never raised as before. Personal identity and character are preserved with God and returned in the resurrection, so each one comes forth in the same form with the same individuality of features so that friend will recognize friend, but free from disease and every defect.
In His own time God calls forth the righteous dead, giving again the breath of life and bidding the dry bones live, and gives them a body that pleases Him, composed of much finer material, sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body as a new creation and a new birth. Flowers dying only to spring forth into new life teach the resurrection, showing that nature is filled with spiritual lessons and that all who love God will bloom again in the Eden above. A sown kernel of corn whose life is gone cannot be quickened to produce fruit even though the body of the corn remains, warning that having the form without the power will not save, for a theory of faith is not enough without vital godliness, the life and power of religion in the soul.