Tag Archives: Corruption

God’s Law Of Sowing & Reaping

Posted on by
Reply

God Is Not Mocked

I grew up convinced that my parents had eyes in the back of their heads! You too? Or, they had a spy reporting back to them every time I disobeyed; because I never got away with anything! The Apostle Paul sets the record straight:  “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” Galatians 6:7-8.  So, it wasn’t my parents! It was an all-knowing, omnipresent God who knew everything about me; and in His Providence, made sure that my sins were exposed. 

The Time Lapse Between Sowing & Harvest

And Paul says that God will NOT be mocked!  The word “mocked” literally means “to turn up one’s nose.” We can’t turn up our noses at God and live a life contrary to His Word without facing the consequences. We won’t get away with it! There’s always a time lapse between the time of sowing & the time of reaping. In the spring, the farmer is out sowing seed in the fields; but, harvest can be 6 months away! Don’t be deceived! You may have sown a seed. You may have acted sinfully. You may think you got away with it; but, the harvest is still coming in! Or, perhaps you’re a follower of Jesus who is troubled by the godless individuals around you who seem to get away with their sins. Remember the time lapse between planting & harvest!

God Will Right All Wrongs

In time, God will right all wrongs:  “…vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord” Romans 12:19.  The “Law of Sowing & Reaping” assures a harvest of corruption for the one who sows everything to the flesh; for the one who is consumed with this present temporal life; and, has little to no regard for the eternal! They’re placing time deposits in all the stuff that will one day pass away. They have no treasure being stored up in heaven because everything they’ve sown will only produce a harvest here in this life! And what is produced is a harvest of corruption, However, for the one who sows to the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul says that the “Law of Sowing & Reaping” produces a harvest of everlasting life. We sow to the Spirit as we plant a new affection for God. It’s an intentional pursuit of Him! It’s overriding the desires of our flesh with the desires of a new heart He gives us at salvation! It’s fleeing those lusts, of the flesh, as the Holy Spirit directs & empowers us! We only experience genuine happiness in our holiness; as we obey God’s Word! His commands are meant to protect us from sins harmful harvest!

Sowing To The Spirit

We sow to the Spirit when we say “YES”, on purpose, to everything that will strengthen Holy Spirit-inspired desires in us! We repent of sin quickly as the Spirit points it out to us! Sowing to the Spirit means turning our back on the lies about God— changing our minds by intentionally filling them with the truth about God! Sowing to the Spirit means we submit to those things that God uses to strengthen His Work, of Grace, in our hearts! God uses the Scriptures to prepare the soil, of our hearts, to sow to the Spirit! God uses prayer to prepare our hearts for sowing seed to His Spirit! He also uses worship to convince us God is better than anything our flesh offers & He uses the local church to keep us accountable for spiritual decisions we’ve made. When all is said and done, God gets the glory for the changes, in our life, because it was by His Spirit that they happened! Sins harvest always includes guilt & shame. Sowing to the Spirit produces joy!

Why Is Their Evil & Suffering?

Posted on by
Reply

-Difficult Questions

That is a hard question! Some of the most difficult questions I’ve ever had to answer begin with “why”— Why did my baby die? Why does a loving God allow suffering? Why is there hunger and starvation in the world? Why does God allow terrorist killers like ISIS to exist; and, why does He allow them to kill Christians? Why do sex trafficking, human trafficking & slavery exist if God is in control? Why earthquakes, tsunami’s, hurricanes & tornadoes if God is love? First, I’ll not try to pretend that there’s an easy answer to these questions! I’ll try not to offer the usual “pat answers” & smugly look the other way!

-God’s Judicial Act Against Sin

I would ask you to open your Bible to Romans 8 as I intend to reference it through this post. In v.20, the Apostle Paul makes a difficult observation: “For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it…” That seems like an obvious reference to Adam & Eve’s “Fall” in the garden! He’s saying that our present suffering, in part, is the result of God’s judicial act against Adam’s disobedience.  So it’s not wrong to wonder aloud about why all these bad things happen! What’s wrong is when God is the focus of our rage! What we need to do is look in the mirror! We’re the problem! We’re the reason for all the evil & suffering in the world! When Adam sinned, the curse God placed on sin was passed down to every succeeding generation! Humanity’s sin against God is the reason we’re faced with all the trouble in the world! 

-Our Teeth Still Ache

There’s an old Hungarian proverb that says:  “Adam ate the apple and our teeth still ache.” It means that because of Adam’s “headship” over the human race, his sinful deed was passed down through our human nature. His “headship” also carries the idea that we all sinned “in” Adam; or, if given the same opportunity, we all would have sinned just like he did. So, that’s where all the “futility”, the groaning; and, the corruption began. God followed through on His threat that, “…the soul that sins shall die.”  Though it sounds bleak, v.20 finishes out with these words, “…in the hope that the creation would be set free from the bondage of corruption.” In other words, pain and suffering will not continue forever! There’s a day coming when ALL of creation— including those who put their faith in Christ to save them— will be redeemed from this world’s “futility”! 

-The Justice Of God

God’s act was just and righteous; and, it carried with it a purpose. After their sin, God removed Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden, Genesis says, so they would not eat of the “Tree of Life” and be eternally separated from Him. He, therefore, placed the curse on creation “…in the hope…” that it would reveal, to us, our brokenness & depravity; and, set us free from our bondage to sin. So, when our “why” questions are directed at God—almost like an accusation—they’re misplaced! We need to stand in front of a mirror, when we ask “why”; and, humbly admit: “All the pain & suffering in the world is because of my sin ‘in Adam.’ All the ‘suffering’, all the ‘natural disasters’, all the ‘futility’ is my fault!” Our “hope” is ultimately not in this world; but, in the Resurrected Christ who will one day resurrect our broken bodies in Glory! We don’t blame God for evil & suffering! We praise Him because He’s the One who delivers us from it! Hallelujah!