The Message of Spring
The cold death of winter is God’s message, in part. Buried in snow and encrypted in our hibernation chambers, the longings for spring abound in human hearts, especially in denizens of the far north.
The promise of spring teases with the sighting of a man rumbling on a steel horse; or the unexpected song of yet unseen birds; or surprising warmth on the face of one treated to an atypical sunny day. The promise is confirmed with evidence budding on a tree branch. Even the frowzy pindan bursts with hope albeit for the fleeting blossom.
The stillborn soul, suddenly made alive, is the antitype of spring. In other words, the general revelation of the seasons bears typological witness of God’s supernatural regeneration of a soul. The dead, wood scepters of the Israelite tribal leaders were placed before the Lord, and the next morning (sunrise is also a picture of resurrection life), the rod of God’s chosen priest, Aaron, blossomed and bore fruit. New life is a work of God, but the cycle of the seasons demonstrates that we are tethered to time.
New life, caused by the miracle work of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11), causes Christians to be people of hope (Col 1:27; Heb 11:1). Natural man hopes for temporal things he cannot control, but a man made new is a new creature with new life flowing through him, like spring sap in a pure Michigan maple tree.
Spiritual life is alien to men, dead in trespasses and sins (1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1–3), but the regenerating inculcation by God, grants eternal life and buds living hope in the Christian. There is nothing uncertain about this life-giving Spirit taking up residence in a dead soul (Jn 6:63), resurrected with the stunning power seen each spring.
Trees bud, flowers blossom, rivers burgeon, lakes swell, plants sprout, and deserts effloresce in our natural world, sadly taken for granted by most people. If only we could observe the explosive power of spring from God’s perspective…what design! What glory!
Here is the secret work of the Spirit in the soul of man — new life, spiritual life, abundant life, and life eternal. Ask a born again Christian about the hope within him, and you should get an earful of spiritual sap. This is the life of God made manifest for those with eyes to see, the hearts strangely warmed.
The promise of God is sure, like spring, but if spring evidences the beginning of life, then, like living hope, there is an inherent anticipation of something even warmer, more abundant, to come.
The Christian is not content as a babe in Christ. As spring matures, under the right conditions, into summer, so with the nourishment of living water and the bread of life, comes spiritual growth for him, who was made alive and who is continuously sustained by grace (Gal 2:20).
Living hope knows that spiritual growth is guaranteed by the promise of the Vine and the Vinedresser. He who began this good work in you, grafting you into Christ, filling you with His life-giving Spirit, will produce fruit that will also hold the seed of new life for multitudes of others.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed in the spring of new life, in the regenerated child of God, can do nothing but produce more and more life. Maturity comes but also reproduced life and fruit.
This is God’s vineyard. See how it bursts forth with life and hope. May you find the fruit of faith enlarged in your heart this spring, and may you know the miracle of being grafted into the life of God in Christ, by His love, so that your home will be the garden of His grace, today, and the garden of His glory, forever. This is the message of spring…the hope of glory!
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
March 10, 2022
