Introduction
One of the very first biblical principles God introduced in His Word is the principle of sowing and reaping (Genesis 8:22). For you to sow and invariably reap, you must have a seed. You can’t plant if you don’t have a seed.
Often times when we talk about sowing and reaping, the focus is usually on people being careful with their actions so they don’t reap consequences that can be very disastrous or on believers sowing generous financial seeds so we can reap a bountiful financial harvest. But today we want to look at another dimension of sowing. We want to look at sowing from the perspective of God. What happens when God is the One that does the sowing?
Looking closely at Genesis down to Revelation, you will discover that there are quite a number of seeds God has sown. The Word of God is one of God’s seeds. 1 Peter 1:23 says “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” When God sows, He doesn’t sow with seeds that can spoil or decay. God’s seeds also require us taking a big step of faith for them to germinate. For example in Genesis 12:2, God planted the seed of greatness in Abraham. God told Abraham that He would make him a great nation, his name would be great. Every seed needs water, correct temperature and a good location to grow. The place Abraham was even though it was a place he was very familiar with, would have stifled this seed of greatness. In order for the seed of greatness in him to bear roots, shoot up and sprout, Abraham had to take a step of faith and move to an unknown and unfamiliar place. Thank God Abraham obeyed. More importantly, thank God that through Christ Jesus, we are all partakers of this seed of greatness God sowed into Abraham’s life (Galatians 3:14). I pray God releases upon us the spirit of obedience and fills us with a heart of faith so we too can see the seed of greatness on the inside of us put forth its shoots.
There are times in church or in your family that there is a pressing need. You know quite all well that this is not some trivial or materialistic need. It’s a need that requires someone to urgently sow a financial seed in order for the problem to be solved. It could be a family member who desperately needs to undergo surgery or a church that needs to pay the salaries of staff and some utility bills but the required funds aren’t available. You really want to help, but you are constrained. You don’t have the seed or money to meet this need. But there’s a kind of seed God has sown into our lives that irrespective of our financial status, we can always sow this seed. We can plant this seed into any situation that comes our way and there will definitely be a harvest; a time for reaping the benefits. This seed is THE SEED OF CHRIST. The seed of Christ is God’s most precious seed.
In Acts 3:1-10, there was a crippled man who used to beg from those going into the temple. This man was more or less saying to those entering the temple, please sow into my life. The same way he had been begging from so many people, he did the same to Peter and John on this particular occasion. Here was an opportunity for Peter and John to sow to a needy man. These were men who had been personally schooled by Jesus Christ on the laws of harvest and the principles of sowing and reaping. Jesus had told them about the Parable of the Sower and other kingdom secrets about sowing (Matthew 13: 1-9, Matthew 13:24-32). They knew quite alright that if you don’t have a seed, you can’t sow. If you have a seed and you eat your seed or refuse to sow your seed, you can’t expect any positive results or a harvest. So what did they do? They didn’t say well since we don’t have any money; any financial seed with us, there’s nothing we can do to help this man. They must have said to themselves, we don’t have a financial seed but we have a much bigger and better seed. They remembered what Jesus told them about Himself. Speaking about Himself in John 12:24, Jesus had said that “…Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jesus is the seed of God that had to die to produce many more seeds, many more blessings and testimonies. The revelation came upon Peter and John that they had a seed with them, they had an imperishable seed, they had the SEED OF CHRIST. They understood that by His death and resurrection, Jesus has become a glorified seed of God and whenever you plant Christ into a situation, you can expect the name of the Lord to be glorified.
What Happens When the Seed of Christ is Sown or Planted?
Four things happen when you sow the seed of Christ into a life or situation. Four things happened when rather than walking away, because they didn’t have any money, Peter and John planted the seed of Christ into the crippled man’s life.
1. Expectations are exceeded:
In Acts 3:4-6, the crippled man looked at Peter and John with high expectations. He was expecting to receive something from them. He was expecting them to give him some money however small. Instead Peter said “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). What happened to the crippled man was something much bigger than what he was thinking and hoping for. Complete healing and restoration wasn’t part of what he envisaged he would get that day but it came his way because the Seed of Christ was sown. Jesus is much bigger than our biggest dreams. Jesus bits our imagination. Jesus exceeds our expectations.
At the point when Peter told the crippled man silver and gold I do not have, the man who had been looking earnestly and excitedly at Peter and John, must have put down his head in dejection because he felt his hopes had been dashed, he wouldn’t get any money from them. He didn’t know this wasn’t the full story; this wasn’t the conclusion of the matter. He didn’t know something bigger and better was coming his way. By the time Peter and John were through ministering to the crippled man, his expectations were exceeded. Just like that man, a number of us have put our head down in disappointment and dejection because we have been expecting a particular situation to change or need to be met but it hasn’t materialized. God’s Word to you today is something much bigger and better is coming your way. What is happening in your life right now isn’t the full story; it isn’t the conclusion of the matter. By the time God is through with you, God would have exceeded all your expectations.
2. You receive a testimony that makes you jump for joy
In Acts 3:8, the man who had spent the greater part of his life begging at the temple gate, went into the temple courts jumping and praising God. His was jumping for joy because God did a new thing in his life. He had spent many days at the temple gate but none inside the temple until the day the Seed of Christ was sown into his life.
If the seed of Christ is on the inside of you, if Jesus dwells in your heart as your personal Lord and Saviour, you can be assured of one thing. God will do a new thing in your life that will make you jump for joy (Isaiah 43:19).
When a seed is planted in the soil, you don’t notice the initial stages of growth. You won’t know when the seed is developing root hairs or the first shoot emerges from the soil. What may get your attention is when the first true leaves appear. When God is working in our lives and something new is about to spring forth, we won’t be aware of the underground work that is going on. When the crippled man was put at the Temple Gate that day, neither the man nor those who placed him at the temple gate, had an inkling that day would be the last day the man would be placed at the temple gate to beg. He wasn’t aware of all the underground work God had done just for him to be healed. The underground work began when Jesus chose Peter and John to be His disciples and gave them special training and development on the principles of sowing and reaping. The underground work continued when Jesus ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit was poured on Peter and John. God’s underground work which culminated in the crippled man being healed, involved God getting Peter and John to be at the Temple Gate the day and time the crippled man would be there. Peter and John could have been anywhere else but God made sure they were at the right place at the right time because there was someone there God had prepared a testimony for that would make the person jump for joy.
Do you have the Seed of Christ in you? What have you been doing with this Precious Seed of Righteousness? If you have been planting Christ into every situation that comes your way, calling on that name Jesus to help you, save you, deliver you from affliction, calm every storm in your life, then get ready for the springing forth of a testimony that will make you dance for joy. God has been doing a lot of underground work on your behalf. “Root hairs” you can’t see or aren’t even aware of have been growing in your life. The crippled man went through years of pain, suffering and discomfort. But when the seed of Christ was sown into his life, the pain and discomfort was brought to an end. What sprouted forth was a testimony that filled people with wonder and amazement (Acts 3:10). The Seed of Christ will put an end to the pain, reproach and affliction in your life. Very soon a beautiful plant will shoot out; a testimony that will fill people with wonder and amazement will spring forth. The seed of Christ is the seed that gives joy. 1 Peter 1:8 says “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”. The Lord Jesus will give you a testimony that will fill you with indescribable joy. He will give you a testimony that will keep you jumping, dancing and singing for joy.
3. The works of the devil are destroyed
Speaking prophetically about Christ in Genesis 3:15, God said “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”. Jesus is that seed that bruises the head of the serpent, that frustrates and destroys all the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 tells us that the reason why Jesus appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
The crippled man was a man that the devil had crippled every area of his life not just his legs. His finances had been crippled; this was why he was always begging. His strength and health had been crippled; he depended on people to move him from place to place. His destiny had been crippled. Acts 3:2 tells us he was crippled from birth. From day one of his life, he was living with an impediment which affected what he did, who he knew, where he went. But the moment the Seed of Christ was sown in him, the works of the devil where shattered and destroyed, he was released from all the evil yokes and chains that had held him captive.
I prophesy into your life that as you call on that name JESUS, the head of that serpent that has been trying to deceive you and lead you astray (Revelation 12:9), will be smashed. The head of that serpent that has been lying unnoticed in your home, family, business and ministry waiting to eat you alive, will be crushed today. The Seed of Christ, our Lord Jesus is here, He is with you. As you call on His powerful name, He will crush to pieces every chain and yoke the devil has used to tie you down and cripple your mind, finances, marriage and ministry. The day the Seed of Christ was sown into the crippled man’s life, was the day of his deliverance. Today is your day of deliverance from every siege and hold of the enemy.
4. Harvest of souls takes place
This is the main reason why God sowed the Seed of Christ. God was seeking a bountiful harvest of souls. More than our healing, deliverance, financial or any other breakthrough, God is most concerned about our soul. The Seed of Christ translates people from the grip of Satan, dominion of darkness and brings them into the Kingdom of light; the Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13).
After the Seed of Christ was sown into the crippled man’s life and he was healed, there was a harvest of souls. The people were astonished and wanted to know how this man had been healed. Peter told them it was faith in Jesus and the power in the name of Jesus that brought complete healing to the crippled man (Acts 3:11-16). Peter and John were locked up by the Sadducees, but as they continued to talk about the power in the Seed of Christ, many who heard and had seen the testimony of the crippled man, turned to Christ. On the day of Pentecost 3000 people were saved. The day the crippled man was healed, an additional 2000 people were saved and the number of followers of Christ grew to 5000 (Acts 4:1-4).
God understand the principles of sowing and reaping much better than any of us. God knows that when you sow beans, you reap a beans harvest. You can’t sow oranges and reap a harvest of potatoes. God sowed a child, He sowed the Only child He had, so that He could reap a harvest of children (John 3:16).
Imagine what would have happened that day if Peter and John didn’t sow anything because they didn’t have silver and gold. The crippled man wouldn’t have been healed, he would have continued to remain under the bondage and oppression of the devil, and all those 2000 people that were ripe for salvation, would not have been plucked out of the enemy’s cage.
Jesus is a seed too precious to bury. Keep planting this seed everywhere you go, any situation you find yourself and the serpent who is out to destroy won’t be able to wrap his ugly self around you and your family. Keep planting this seed and you, your family and those God brings your way, will definitely have reasons to dance and jump for joy.
