“Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit three that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind; And God saw that it was good.  So the evening and the morning were the third day” (Genesis 1:11-13). 

God is the creator.  “God” is expressly mentioned 32 times in Genesis one.  Without God, there would be nothing. 

God is the creator of plant life.  As examples of this, three specific types of plants are mentioned: grass, herb and fruit trees.  These categories probably do not exactly correspond with modern taxonomy.  One writer suggests that in this passage, “The term ‘grass’ is intended to include all spreading ground-covering vegetation; ‘herb’ includes all bushes and shrubs; ‘trees’ include all large woody plants, including even fruit-bearing trees” (Henry Morris, The Genesis Record, p. 63).     God created plants for man and animal (Genesis 1:29-30; 2:16-17).  The Bible tells us that man may use plants for: (1) food (e.g. Genesis 1:29; Deuteronomy 20:6; 2 Timothy 2:4).  (2) shade (e.g. 1 Kings 4:25; Jonah 4:6); (3) lumber (e.g. Deuteronomy 19:5; 1 Kings 5:6); (4) fire (e.g. Isaiah 44:14-15; John 21:9; Acts 28:2-3).  These are only a few of the ways plants may be used.                        

God creates plants with the ability to reproduce according to its kind.  Science knows this as the Law of Biogenesis, which says, “a living organism can only arise from other living organisms similar to itself (i.e. that like gives rise to like) and can never originate from non-living material” (Biogenesis, encyclopedia.com).  Apologetics Press says, “This law says two things: (1) living things always come from living things; and (2) living things produce only more living things like themselves.  In nature, we have never seen a single exception to this basic law of science” (The Law of Biogenesis, apologeticspress.org).  Jesus asked, “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16). 

Let’s make a spiritual application.  “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11; cf. 1 Peter 1:22-23).  If we want the church to grow, if we want to produce Christians, then the seed is necessary.  The seed (the word of God) must make contact with the soil (the souls of men).  There is no other way. “Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom brother, in the morning bright and fair?  Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom brother, in the heat of the noondays’ glare?  For the harvest time is coming on, and the reaper’s work will soon be done; will your sheaves be many?  Will you garner any for the gathering at the harvest home?”  (Song: Sowing the Seed of the Kingdom by Palmer Hartsough and Fred A. Fillmore).