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Mark 4:26-29
In Mark 4:26-29 Jesus tells a parable that compares the kingdom of God to seed that has been sown and then begins to sprout and grow. The one that spread the seed does not fully understand how the seed sprouted nor how the seed grows and matures, but that he anxiously awaits for it unto the harvest. Unlike the parable of the sower in Mark 4:3-8 which is intended to show how one receives the message of the gospel and then applies it in one’s life, the parable of the seed growing (Mark 4:26-29) is of the involvement of God in the actual growing process. It is of the mystery of how the seed (or a person) grows not just physically, but spiritually as the seed is planted: for the mystery of physical life as a person is born and grows into adulthood and ultimately to the harvest of physical death. But mostly to the seed of the gospel being planted in one’s life and then mysteriously a change is made in the life of that person and a new growth begins – a spiritual growth that cannot be explained by physical standards. We sow the seed of the message of the gospel as we do our part to fulfill the Great Commission and yet do not fully understand how this process works. But God, the ultimate Sower, does fully understand this process and anxiously awaits the growth of that person to mature so that He may harvest yet another one into His kingdom.
This is an example of the mystery of the kingdom of God.
This mystery of the kingdom of God, as described in Mark 4:26-29, exhibits the work of faith, hope, and love as none of these can be physically seen, but the results of all three are clearly seen each day in our physical lives through the spiritual influence of God’s Holy Spirit working in our lives. I believe this is directly related to what the Apostle Paul was called to ministry for as he explains in Colossians 1:24-29 (NKJV), “24I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”
The mystery of the seed sprouting and growing as Jesus explains in Mark 4:26-29, as directed unto salvation, is explained by the Apostle Paul in his calling from God to reveal (after Jesus had finished His mission in His earthly ministry through His sinless death and resurrection from the dead) to everyone, everywhere that the mystery of the kingdom of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” as Paul declares in Colossians 1:27.
God created all and is in all through His Holy Spirit. This “mystery” is derived from the desire of Lucifer (Satan) to be more powerful than God (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28). But God is faithful and just, which means that God, by His own nature, is required to give Satan an opportunity to prove himself, which is doomed to ultimate failure as God alone is omnipotent (Revelation 19:6). This “mystery” is a contest for our eternal souls; not a contest between God and Satan because God is omnipotent, but a challenge from Satan accepted by God, on a fair ground, that he could be more powerful than God.
The Apostle Paul explains this “mystery” as Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) which is the victory of this challenge over Lucifer (Satan). By putting our faith and hope in God through accepting salvation in Christ Jesus in paying for our sins (that Satan has imputed to humanity through the initial sin of Adam and Eve) and is the defeating of Satan by receiving God’s love into our lives – into our hearts that were blackened by sin – now cleansed as white as snow as God’s Holy Spirit enters our hearts through salvation in Christ Jesus and overpowers the blackened sin of Lucifer and redeems/reclaims us back to the omnipotent God who created us. To not come to a realization and understanding of this is to allow Lucifer to control your eternal spiritual life, which has already been determined as we learn in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
The blessed part of this is that Lucifer is doing all the battling because it is he who is trying to prove himself to God. Anyone who is battling to prove themselves to God is battling for the devil as Jesus did all the work for us on the cross. God Almighty in His omnipotence extends His love to us through sending His One and only Son Jesus to take care of sin for us; He did the work; He has made defeating the devil as easy as He can for us. All we have to do is believe in Him. Open your heart to Jesus today and allow Him to cleanse the sin of Lucifer from you and whiten your heart in the purity of Jesus.
Dear LORD,
We have entered into a theological lesson today that is the heart of the Bible in salvation in Christ Jesus: this mystery “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Please help us through this message to open our hearts, minds, and souls to understand and receive Christ in us, the hope of glory into our hearts, and lives – in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.