LESSONS FROM A ROCK

Jesus said of Peter, "upon this rock I will build my church

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Matthew 16:18

So this same Peter is the one we read her in I Peter, 

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, 

but of incorruptible, by the word of God

which liveth and abideth for ever.

'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.

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.'

And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

I Peter 1:23-25

It's nearly Spring and all thoughts turn to seed.  I don't know about you, but I can get my hands dirty with dirt that is permanently imbedded under my nails, dig, plant little bitty seeds, and even water them, but half the time those seeds must be duds because they never appear above ground due to my not so green thumb.  They don't even grow so they can wither and so the flower can fall off.  So seed can mean that which can be planted to make things grow--or not, as in my case. 

It can also mean the seed implanted by man in a woman that can also make something grow, as in a baby.  I've had three of those.  It's how we can get descendants.  But not even Abraham's seed can produce the guarantee of eternal life.  This term seed is not commonly used nowadays.  It's more Bible-speak.  

When the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin Mary and overshadowed her, she conceived "the holy thing begotten."  This is the seed which is imperishable, incorruptible.  They planted Jesus in the ground three days before He rose out of there, breaking the power of sin and death proving that the Word is imperishable.

As humans, we will be like that grass which withers or like the flower that falls off.  Don't even get met started on how I am withering.  Yet, when we were born again, everything changed.  We too are not born of imperishable seed through the Word of God that endures forever.  

"What which was from the beginning which we have heard; 

which we have seen with our eyes,

which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,

of the Word of life."

I John 1:1

There is the mystery of the virgin birth, the conception by the Holy Spirit.  But there is also a mystery when we are born again by this same Spirit, not in the womb, but by the Word of God.  With baptism we are washed clean and water the seed.  We nurture growth by reading the Word, and it is this Word that promises that we will endure forever, a promise given and a promise kept.  In other words, the peanut shell perishes, but the nut goes to heaven, some glad morning when this life is over.