Genesis 1:11-13 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind… I. THAT IT IS THE RESULT OF A COMBINED INSTRUMENTALITY. 1. There was the Divine agency. It was the power of God that gave seed and life to the earth. For it is very certain that the earth could not have produced grass, and herb, and tree of itself. 2. There was the instrumentality of the earth. "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass," etc. So when called by God the most barren instrumentalities become life-giving and verdant. When the Divine Being is about to enrich men, He gives them the power to help themselves. II. IT IS GERMINAL IN THE CONDITION OF ITS GROWTH. "Seed." Fertility never comes all at once. God does not give man blade of grass or tree in full growth, but the seeds from which they are to spring. Germs are a Divine gift. God does not give man a great enterprise, but the first hint of it. The cultivation of germs is the grandest employment in which men can be engaged. III. IT IS FRUITFUL IN THE PURPOSE OF ITS LIFE. "Yielding fruit." 1. Life must not always remain germinal. The seed must not alway remain seed. It must expand, develop. The world is full of men who have great thoughts and enterprises in the germ, but they never come to perfection.The fruit must be — 1. Abundant. 2. Rich. 3. Beautiful. 4. Refreshing. IV. IT IS DISTINCTIVE IN ITS SPECIES AND DEVELOPMENT. "Fruit after his kind." The growth will always be of the same kind as the seed. There may be variation in the direction and expression of the germinal life, but its original species is unchanged. This is true in the garden of the soul. Every seed produces fruit after its kind. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. |
    |