By Arthur J Licursi
"Being born again, not of corruptible 'seed (Gk. sperma),' but of incorruptible (seed), by 'the Word of God,' which liveth and abideth forever" (1Peter1:23)
Peter, by divine inspiration, says men must be "born again," spiritually, and he goes on to explain why. Below Peter essentially says man's human life is like "grass" that "withereth" away, he dies; and that by contrast, "the Word" (Jesus Christ) as the "seed" of God, endures or lives forever.
"All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower (of the life) thereof falleth away: But the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1Peter 1:24-25).
This newly Seeded life in believers is a spiritual rebirth that was necessitated by the fact that all men are born into this world"dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Thus believers are not born-again in the same way as they were first born, but are born again — given new life, by believing (trusting in) the Word of God, which is Christ as Savior and as the Father's "life-seed."
As we will now see, Christ as the Word of life is the Seed of life, who is offered to men by the preaching of the gospel.
Abraham had a role in the transmission of the Christ-seed. It was through Abraham's lineage (Matt 1:1) that Jesus of Nazareth was born. Jesus came to die and then become the resurrected "Seed" of the Father by which men may be regenerated - born-again of His "Seed which is Christ."
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises (by God) made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one (seed), And to thy Seed, Which Is Christ." (Galatians 3:16)
Clearly, Jesus Christ is "the Son of God" and He is the "Seed" of Father-God. He was sent of the Father via the line of Abraham to bring redemption to Israel and all mankind. With that, Jesus' resurrected Christ-Seed brought the eternal life of God... to be seeded into believing mankind. God's "Word," in 1Peter 1:23 passage, is called "incorruptible 'seed"– this is a eternal Seed that cannot decay and die.
Scripture clearly declares that Jesus Christ is "the Word of God." Note below how that "the Word" of verse 1 is also "life"in verse 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 (Zoë, the eternal life of the Spirit of God); and "the life (Zoë)" was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
The word "life" here above is not the physical life or the psychological life, but rather the Greek word is "Zoë," meaning"the eternal Spirit- life of God."
So we've seen that;
- "the Word" of God is Jesus Christ...
- and "the Word" is also the "Seed" of the Father...
- and that "the Seed" is the eternal "life" of God...
- now in the form of "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2).
Once "the Word," which is the resurrected Spirit of Christ as the Father's "Seed," is received and implanted into the womb of a new believer's human spirit, it never dies.
The "Seed" is the everlasting resurrection life of Jesus Christ... bearing with it all the Spirit-DNA of the fullness of the Godhead. We can metaphorically use the acronym "DNA" of God because the word "Seed" is the Greek word "sperma."Thus believers have become God's literal children, born of His Spirit-loins by His "Seed (sperma), which is Christ" (Gal 3:16).
"The Word (the Christ-Seed) of the Lord endureth (lives) forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1Peter 1:25).
The "Word of God (Christ") initially takes root in one's own spirit only as one first believes the gospel. The good news of the gospel is about Christ's redemptive work and also the Seeded life that He brings to believers.
Peter goes on to proclaim this wonderful gospel for believing Israel to whom Peter was sent. Peter was sent to preach "the gospel of (for) the circumcision" (Gal 2:7) as "the Apostle to the circumcision" (Gal 2:8)... in his ministry to Israel (cf., Matt 10:5-6).
"…ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ…" (1Pet.1:18-19).
"(Christ) Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree…" (1Pet 2:24).
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to (union with) God…" (1Pet 3:18).
It is by believing the good news, that dead sinners may be "born again" by the "Seed" of God.
Peter later tells us where he got the information about redemption in the cross of Jesus Christ and Christ as the "seed" of the eternal life. It was from "the Apostle to the Gentiles," Paul (Rom 11:13).
"... beloved brother Paul ... according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all hisepistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (Twist), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:15-16)