We often think of the gospel of Christ from the perspective of condemned sinners: All have sinned; the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If we are saved, we inherit heaven and eternal life; if not, we are condemned already to hell and everlasting punishment for our sins. This view is very man-centric; it’s about what WE get it of it. Christ came so WE can get life, so WE don’t have to go to hell, so WE can be saved.

Most people are first introduced to the gospel with this perspective. It makes the gospel appeal to our natural instinct of self-preservation. It is good news for US, and God intended it to be that way. He woos us with the gospel (Hos. 11:4; Isa. 38:17); he wants us to know that we are in grave danger, but that he cares for us and has made a way for us to be saved (John 10:9-10; Rom. 5:8-10). However, there is much more to the story, and God also wants us to understand that.

If God’s only interest was preserving man from destruction, then could he simply not judge the sin of man? After all, sinners are cast into the lake of fire by the judgment of God (Rev. 20:12-15). But simply ignoring sin is not an option for God. He is the Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25), and his own character dictates that he must do right—which means judging righteously. This alone should tell us that the gospel is about more than simply ensuring the survival of man for his own sake; if this were God’s highest priority, then everyone would be saved, even at other expenses (God’s justice, truth, and holiness).

God offers another perspective in the scriptures, and it is quite a bit fuller and deeper. That’s because it is HIS perspective, and it reflects HIS purpose for the gospel and for mankind. His purpose takes priority over the salvation of individual men. This is why, though God is not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9), many do perish. He is willing to save any and every man (1 Tim. 2:4), but ONLY if they align with his greater purpose. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, BUT that all should come to repentance. God’s desire is for men to repent, becoming suitable for his purpose and worthy of life. If we do not repent, we remain unsuitable for his purpose, unworthy of life; and we will ultimately perish in his wrath, contrary to his will.

Knowing God's greater purpose is critical for a Christian to understand the will of God and to grow spiritually; i.e. for Christ to be formed in us (Gal. 4:19). With only the man-centric perspective of the gospel, people think it is only about "getting (me) saved" by the means of some one-off trick, and they tend to say, "Thanks for saving me, Jesus. Now excuse me while I go live my life." Let me do what I think is the bare minimum to keep ME out of hell, so I can still enjoy MY life in the flesh.

But Jesus didn't die to save us for ourselves. He redeemed us (Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9); he bought us with the price of his blood (1 Cor. 6:19; Acts 20:28), so that we belong to God (1 Cor. 3:23), and not ourselves. Only with an understanding of God’s purpose can we know what Christ’s salvation really means and consists of. We need this understanding to take up our cross and follow Christ (Matt. 16:24); and, with him in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), say to our Father, "Not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) We must learn to deny ourselves in favor of God’s will and purpose, or we will never truly be Christians, Christ’s disciples.

In this article, we will expound one such scriptural perspective: "the planting of the LORD" (Isaiah 61:3).

~

Throughout the scripture, men are often likened to plants, branches, or trees; for example, in Mark 8:24: "I see men as trees, walking."

Using this theme as an illustration, the simplistic, man-centric view of the gospel might be something as follows. God looks into the forest and sees a multitude of dead trees, sinners. As they are good for nothing (Matt. 5:13), indeed only cumbering the ground (Luke 13:7), God resolves to cut them down and destroy them by fire (Luke 3:9). However, Christ intervenes, becoming yet another dead tree (dying for our sins); and God accepts his sacrifice, burning his tree instead of ours. The epilogue? We continue on in the forest as dead trees, forever thankful that Christ has taken the penalty of our sins. What does God receive? Praise and thanksgiving from a forest of dead trees? A feeling of generosity at having saving a bunch of dead trees from himself? Not quite.

Again, this is a man-centric view of the gospel, which presents God as merely the Saviour of man, the principal subject. Many people think of God this way, as if he exists to be good to us, to save us, to serve us. While God IS the Saviour of man, he is much, much more than that. It is HE who is the principal Subject: man was created for his purpose, and not the other way around.

God’s greater purpose in the gospel is revealed to us in Isaiah 61:1-3. The first verse and a half are quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:16-21, announcing himself as the Messiah who would effect the gospel. The rest of the passage continues into verse 3, declaring God’s ultimate purpose for anointing and sending him: "…that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."

It is shown by these verses:

• that man’s condition is dire: brokenhearted, captive, bound, mourning, in ashes, in heaviness
• that God’s Christ ("anointed") is prepared and sent to remedy man’s dire condition
• that man must be restored by Christ to accomplish his purpose: to be trees of righteousness, planted by the LORD, to give him glory

Aha! That is what was missing from our earlier picture. God has a purpose in the salvation of man, and it is not merely to rescue man and allow him to continue existing for his own sake, for his own agenda, doing whatsoever his little heart desires. It is for man to become what God intends him to be, for his own purpose and glory.

Paying attention to certain descriptions, illustrations, and parables in both the Old Testament and the New, we can get a fuller understanding of God’s purpose in the gospel of Christ as "the planting of the LORD".

(I will highlight in bold the applicable terms to help us trace this theme through the scriptures.)

~

Let's start in Job 14. Job begins to describe the natural man, "man that is born of a woman". He is of few days: his lifespan is short. He is full of trouble: man has an awful penchant for spreading mischief and corruption. He asks, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." (Job 14:4) Job recognized that man had become an unclean thing, and there was no chance of bringing something clean out of him. (Jesus would say something very similar later on.) But then Job digresses from describing man to talking about... trees? "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant." (Job 14:7-9) Ah, if only man were like a tree! then there would be hope for him. Then, even if he were to die, and be cut down, he could sprout again with life, and have a tender branch, given the right conditions. Whether Job fully understood what he was saying, or whether he spoke mysteries unbeknownst to him, he was describing what God had assayed to do in the gospel: to grow a tender plant, after the image of Christ (Col. 3:10), in what had been dead trees.

In Genesis 1:11, God establishes by his word what a seed is, and how it works: "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." Plants yield seed. Fruit trees yield fruit after their own kind, and the seed is in the fruit. The seed becomes a new plant of its kind, reproducing itself; and the cycle continues. This is the cycle of nature. God set it up to continue on and on. But how did the cycle start? God had to intervene by his word, and begin the natural cycle supernaturally.

In Isaiah 55:10-11, God says that the rain comes down, and waters the earth, making it bring forth and bud, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater; and that his word is like it. In this, God begins to give an understanding of his word, which comes down from him and results in both bread to the eater (for man to live by: Luke 4:4) and seed to the sower (to multiply and grow: Acts 12:24).

Isaiah 9:8, after declaring the identity of Messiah as a child born, a son given, who is called the mighty God and everlasting Father, says that the Lord sent a word down to light upon (set down on) Jacob, or Israel. This is how he began to plant the seed of the Word of God: he became flesh to dwell on the earth as that child and son (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35).

Isaiah 53:2 says that he would grow up before the LORD as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. This "dry ground" gives us a picture of the state of mankind: a desert, void of life. The other trees are dry and withered, having no life in them (John 6:53). In contrast to this barren landscape around him, Christ grows up as a tender plant, having life in himself (John 5:26).

Jesus spoke of men as different kinds of trees, and taught us to identify them by their fruits. A good tree brings forth good fruit; a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit (Matt. 7:16-20). He explains further in Matthew 12:33, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit." This is the same natural pattern that was established in the beginning. A tree brings forth fruit matching its kind, with its seed in itself, to reproduce after its kind. An apple tree brings forth apples. An apple tree doesn’t become an apple tree by producing apples; it produces apples because it is an apple tree! It is the same with a man, as Jesus continued on to say: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil" (Luke 6:45).

As mentioned before, God’s purpose in the gospel is to transform men into trees of righteousness: trees that will bring forth good fruit rather than evil fruit. In order to do this, God had to plant a seed that could bring forth fruit after his kind. Jesus said in John 12:24: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jesus himself, the Word of God, became this corn of wheat, the seed (Luke 8:11) which God planted: which died, and was buried, and rose again to bring forth much fruit.

The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). The corrupt trees, which have brought forth evil fruit, must die; and they do. (Remember our illustration of the forest of dead trees, the "dry ground".) Mankind is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1); and the corrupt tree, the corruptible body, must also perish by this rule (1 Cor. 15:50). Sin brings death.

In order to save these dead trees, Jesus - who knew no sin - had to be made sin for us. He did this on the cross, identifying with us by being numbered with the transgressors (Mark 15:28), literally being nailed to a dead tree (Deut. 21:23; Acts 5:30): "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree..." (1 Peter 2:24a) Jesus himself died in faith, believing and knowing that he would rise again; and that, through his offering and sacrifice, many others would be saved (Heb. 2:9-10; Heb. 5:7-9).

Having died for our sins to reconcile us to God (Col. 1:20-22), the body of Jesus Christ was buried, planted in the earth as a seed. Three days later, he rose again. (1 Cor. 15:3-4)

"...the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:1-4)

Being planted by God as a seed, Christ rose as a tree - a tree of righteousness and of life (Prov. 11:30); he was declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection. In doing so, he brought forth much fruit, much seed, which would also be sown to plant more trees after his kind. We, too, will be sown in death, and raised again incorruptible with Christ.

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (Romans 6:4-5)

"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Psalm 17:15)

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. [...] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. [...] For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 49, 53)

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (John 15:8)

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." (1 John 3:9)

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1:12)

Thus we can see that God planted his spiritual seed, the Word of God, in the form of his Son. By his fruit, which brings glory to God, the seed is planted for many others to be reproduced in his likeness, also becoming sons of God. Then, by our fruit, bringing glory to God, the seed is planted for many others to be reproduced after our kind... and the cycle continues...

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." (1 Cor. 3:6)

"Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;" (2 Cor. 9:10)

"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." (Jas. 3:18) "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matt. 5:9)

"Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." (Luke 20:36)

Ultimately, it is because we become trees of righteousness in Christ that we are preserved from destruction. Righteousness results in life (Prov. 10:11; Prov. 10:16; Prov. 11:19; Prov. 12:28; Rom. 8:10), makes us worthy of life (Luke 20:35; Acts 13:46; Prov. 21:21; Matt. 25:46), and allows us to find grace in the eyes of the Lord, to be saved thereby (Heb. 11:7 & Gen. 6:8; Rom. 5:21).

~

That is the ultimate purpose of the gospel of God. From one perspective, it is the LORD planting trees of righteousness. From another perspective, it is the Son of God giving us power to also become the sons of God. And there are many such perspectives given in the scriptures to help us grasp and understand the full picture: God wants to expand his Spirit and multiply his qualities in us, so that all the earth would be filled with his glory, reflecting his beautiful and glorious character. He is worthy!!!

"Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

"But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD." (Numbers 14:21)

"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:21)

"And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen." (Psalm 72:19)

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4:11)