How Knowing Christ as the Grain of Wheat Can Change Your Life

You’ve heard that Jesus died on the cross as the Lamb of God to save you from sin and God’s judgment (John 1:29). That’s precious to every believer. But have you ever heard that He also died as a “grain of wheat”?

Before going to the cross, Jesus spoke of Himself as the grain of wheat falling into the ground to die. In John 12:24  He said,

Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

This profound word reveals a mysterious and often overlooked aspect of Christ’s death—the “grain of wheat.” It is this aspect that touches the depth of God’s purpose for us. As our Redeemer, Christ meets our need, but as the grain of wheat He meets God’s need and fulfills God’s eternal plan.

So in this post we’ll consider what it means for Christ to be the “grain of wheat” and how knowing Him in such a way can dramatically change your life.

How Christ became the one grain of wheat

A grain is a container of life, a seed good for reproduction. But if it never gets sown into the ground, it’s hidden life element can never be released and reproduced.

By His incarnation, Christ, Who was the eternal God, came in the flesh (John 1:1, 14) becoming a “grain” full of life.

When Jesus said that He was a “grain of wheat,” He meant that in His humanity, He was a seed, with a “human shell” containing God’s eternal, divine life. In 1 John 5:11 it says,

“And this is the testimony, that God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son.”

Jesus walked on this earth for 33 ½ years as such a “grain of wheat” containing God’s reproducing life. He was waiting for the time when He could “fall into the ground and die” to release that divine life element concealed within His humanity.

Then, at the time appointed by God, Jesus died on the cross for us. First, His death paid the full price required by God for our redemption. In this way Christ removed all the negative things between us and God.

Second, on the positive side, Christ’s death released the divine life. When Christ, the only begotten Son of God died (John 3:16), the life within that “grain” got released for multiplication.

Take a moment to thank the Lord for dying for you:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me on the cross. Thank you for shedding Your blood, that I might be redeemed and my sins might be forgiven. Thank you also that through Your death You released the divine life concealed within the shell of your humanity so that I could receive You as the divine life.”

How we, His believers, become the many grains

Christ’s death as the one “grain of wheat” was for the purpose of bearing “much fruit.” The “much fruit” was the “many grains” brought forth through the multiplication of Him as the one grain.

It’s interesting to realize that before Christ died and resurrected, He was called God’s “only begotten Son.” But after He resurrected, He was called the “Firstborn among many brothers?” Paul referred to this title in Romans 8:29 where he said,

“But those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.”

For Christ to become God’s “Firstborn” means that there are more sons. That is, He must have brothers who share the same life and nature.

How could the resurrected Christ impart His divine life into us? It was by His becoming the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:45b, Paul said,

“The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.”

Have you been regenerated with Christ’s resurrection life? If not, take a moment to pray,

“Lord Jesus, thank you that by your death as the one grain You released the divine life from the shell of Your humanity. Praise you that in your resurrection You became the life-giving Spirit so that You could impart Your divine life into me, to make me one of the many grains. Lord, come into me as the resurrection life and make me one of the many grains.”

The second stanza of a hymn by Witness Lee, gives an excellent summary of this point:

By Thy death and resurrection,

Thou wast made God’s firstborn Son;

By Thy life to us imparting,

Was Thy duplication done.

We, in Thee regenerated,

Many sons to God became;

Truly as Thy many brethren,

We are as Thyself the same.

How the many grains form one bread, Christ’s one Body

But what was God’s intention in regenerating Christ’s believers to be the “many grains”? First Corinthians 10:17 gives us the answer,

“Seeing there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

Our regeneration, or being born anew with Christ’s released divine life, was that we might be formed into one bread—Christ’s one Body! It is only by our partaking of Christ as the one bread that we as His believers can be formed into one Body, one corporate bread, the church.

The third stanza of the same hymn says,

Once Thou wast the only grain, Lord,

Falling to the earth to die,

That thru death and resurrection

Thou in life may multiply.

We were brought forth in Thy nature

And the many grains became;

As one loaf we all are blended,

All Thy fulness to proclaim.

How seeing the vision of Christ as the grain of wheat can change your life

Possibly in the past, you felt that Christ’s death was only to save you from sin and judgment. And no doubt it does that. But, seeing the vision of Christ as the grain of wheat goes much further. It make you one of the many grains to be blended and formed into the one bread, Christ’s one Body.

Seeing this vision will change you!

The Lord, as the one grain, willingly laid down His soul-life so that many others might receive His divine life. Now as the many grains, His reproduction, we must follow Him by laying down our soul-life for His Body (John 12:25).

When we see this vision of the one grain, the many grains, and the one bread,  we’re constrained to put ourselves aside, enjoy Him as the divine life, and be ground and blended together with the other grains to form the one bread, His one Body, the church. It’s good to tell the Lord,

“Lord Jesus, I want to know You as the “grain of wheat.” Make me willing to follow You in losing my soul-life for Your Body. May I daily enjoy You as the resurrection life in me so that I can be blended together with Your many brothers to become the one bread to satisfy Your heart’s desire and fulfill God’s eternal plan.”

If you’ve helped by knowing Christ as the grain of wheat, please share it in a comment. You can also join the conversation on the Holding to Truth Facebook page.

References and Further Resources:

• This post was inspired by the last point in the first message of a conference on “The Mending Ministry of John.” You can obtain a free PDF of the outline here.
• For a further presentation of this topic you may want to read a  related post entitled, Christ as the One Grain Died to Produce us as Many Grains in His Resurrection at the Normal Believer in Christ blog.
• Here are a couple of hymns that enrich the point of this post:
  • In the bosom of the Father and  View Lyrics
  • Lamb of God so pure and spotless
• Photo Credit: Wheat by Jayneandd (creative commons)