Galatians 6:7-10 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
In the above scriptures we see the law of sowing and reaping. We who are IN CHRIST sow the nature of God to the world. We sow his goodness, grace, and mercy to a sinful world. In Genesis, before the flood, we see God describe man as wicked: every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) After the judgment of the flood on mankind, God’s assessment of Noah’s progeny is the same: every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. (Genesis 8:21) However, God’s grace and mercy toward people made in his image would be everlasting, enduring forever. Later, we see God coming in the form of a human to people whose ancestors were not worshiping him, but idols. But the eternal Creator is faithful to his creation. He comes to Abraham and promises great things for Abraham and his progeny. Abraham believed this man that came out of nowhere. Therefore, God considered Abraham as righteous, for Abraham chose to believe God’s words rather than his own fleshly understanding. As Jesus said many years later, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4) Abraham chose to believe God rather than what he perceived in his flesh and Sarah’s flesh. Even though Sarah was beyond child bearing age, she became with child and birthed Isaac, a chosen seed. Through Issac’s loins THE SEED from God’s domain would come to earth. This is the beginning of God’s mysterious plan to redeem mankind from his rebellious nature to receive God's authority. Even though sin had corrupted people completely, God’s enduring love would implement a salvation plan that would change men and women into children of God. Then God provides greatly for Abraham’s descendants, delivering them from captivity in Egypt, placing his hand on them as they ventured to a new land God had promised them. This land had crops and vineyards planted, homes built, cities established with walls surrounding them. Canaan was a mature land, but it was to be occupied by the Jewish people. God blessed them greatly with Canaan; the Jewish population grew and they became prosperous, more than the countries around them. However, the evil of all of mankind was embedded in them too. They never left their devotion to other gods. They carried their idols through the wilderness in their satchels; then they built shrines and idols to their gods in Canaan. Their rebellion against God was so strong that finally God judged them by dispersing them throughout the nations around them. Many of the Jews were killed by invading armies, and many of them became slaves in foreign countries. The Children of Israel who were treated so generously by God were an example of the waywardness of mankind. They should have served God happily and faithfully, but they were like the canary placed in a mine full of poisonous gas. Regardless of how good God treated them, they died first, scattered throughout the world facing great persecution in foreign lands. Their judgment reveals how poisonous the human soul and its environment is against God. Even when God would separate a small group of people and call them his own, even when He would treat them well, above other nations, revealing his great love for them, they could not hold faithful to his laws and regulations. As a pampered canary placed in a mine of poisonous gas, they would reveal clearly that the environment of sin in the world is deadly. Even when God shows himself clearly to a people, sin reigns in the hearts of men and women. How then can evil, sin, and death sow light, goodness, and love?
The Seed of Abraham, God’s promise of redemption, comes to the world in the form of Jesus Christ. He is conceived by the Spirit in Mary’s body. Jesus, the child, comes to a wicked, rebellious world. He was sent first to the chosen, the people who were supposedly the followers of light, expressed in the law and its regulations given to them on Mount Sinai. The Jews should have accepted him readily and gladly. However, they rejected him completely, yelling over and over for Pilate to crucify him. As the Mount of Transfiguration revealed so clearly to Peter, James, and John, that Jesus was the Son of God, the resurrection manifested the same truth: Jesus the Christ is God’s Son. The resurrection ushered in a new beginning for all of mankind. After Jesus ascends to heaven, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of men. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7-11) Sin is no longer merely a matter of right or wrong, it is a matter of believing in the One God sent to restore mankind to himself. The heart is to be changed even though the mind as Paul describes wrestles with right and wrong. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:14-20) Even though the mind wrestles with the good and bad in this world, there is no longer condemnation to those who have accepted the work of Christ in their hearts. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:19-21) Sin is completely categorized in not believing in the Christ who God sent for redemption. Without propitiation for our waywardness, God's remembrance of our sinful lives would always be with him, causing us to face eternal separation from him. But God’s enduring love for mankind comes through Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. He reveals his faithfulness to his creation by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within the hearts of the redeemed. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are the essence of a changed heart that Christ has redeemed. (Galatians 5:22-23)
A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. As Christians we have been set free from the captivity of the world. We no longer are enslaved with the evil intentions of the heart. God has cleansed us; therefore, his attributes in the form of the Spirit have come to us. We can sow the fruit of the Spirit to others in our lives freely or we can restrict the Spirit’s goodness and love by determining when we want to sow God’s likeness. When we do that, we are sowing to the flesh, the unredeemed nature of sinful man. When we allow our fleshly minds to act out their evil desires, we will display unrighteousness, sowing impurity such as hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy. (Galatians 5:20-21) However, God will not be mocked; He knows when we are sowing disruptive words and actions. We will reap judgment if we continue in this kind of behavior. How then should we live? For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:19-21) We live by faith in the Son of God; we live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We do not live by the law, for it is dead to us. We live by the word of God. We claim God's righteousness, not our own. We claim his victory over the struggles of the mind. We reckon every wayward thought and action we have to be dead in Christ for they do not control our destiny or our purity IN CHRIST. The door of righteousness has been opened to us; the curtain between a holy God and a sinful world has been torn in two. We can enter into the sanctum of God where He dwells. As Isaiah said, God is beckoning us to be with him in his dwelling place, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. (Isaiah 55:1-3) We no longer live like those who bleed out by doing the sinful things of this world. We are the redeemed who have placed our hope of life eternal IN CHRIST. We are different; our eyes, our continuance, our walk is different from the world, for we express life, not death. Therefore, breakfast companions, heed the words of the Lord at all times. Fight the temptations of the world, not with good or bad, but with the power of every word coming from the mouth of God. Read your scriptures--meditate on them day and night. God’s law of love, his care for the sick, the dying, the hurting, the captive, the disobedient, should be a primary focus in your life. God’s hands are reaching out to people through you. Be the ambassador of God’s kingdom by sowing the fruit of the Spirit to a dying world. You will not be disappointed if you sow to please the Spirit.
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