by Kevin Burton
There are certain physical laws you need to understand in order to have any success navigating planet Earth.
There are spiritual laws that are even more important, for they have implications for where you spend eternity, once you leave the physical realm.
This is our second Sunday at the Earthly School for the Spiritually Blind. Regular readers know I have partial vision and attended a school for the blind as a child. Because spiritual blindness is much more of a problem for mankind, I’ve created this series from a school for the spiritually blind
In today’s second-period science class we will look at two of them: the laws of sowing and reaping and the law of sin and death.
These spiritual laws are in effect whether you acknowledge them or not, as the apostle Paul explains in the book of Galatians.
“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,” (Gal. 6:7-9 NKJV).
Dr. Charles Stanley, speaker on the radio and television ministry In Touch, calls the law of sowing and reaping, “one of the most important principles in the entire word of God,” adding, “It is a principle of scripture that is absolutely irrevocable.”
Most of the Bible was written to people from agricultural societies. Many of Jesus’s parables involve farm life, including sowing and reaping, that listeners would have understood well.
There is a detailed explanation of sowing and reaping on www.gotquestions.org.
“On the third day of creation, God commanded the earth to bring forth living plants “bearing seed” and fruit “with seed in it” (Gen. 1:12). These plants were then given to man for food,” reads the website.
“Sowing and reaping is also a law of the spiritual world. There are natural consequences to our actions. The world operates under the law of cause and effect. There is no way around it: every time we choose an action, we also choose the consequences of that action.”
“Sowing and reaping implies a wait. Nothing good grows overnight. The farmer must be patient in order to see the fruit of his labors. When the Bible likens the ministry to planting, watering and reaping (1 Cor. 3:6), it suggests a length of time. God will bring forth fruit to His glory in His time. Until then, we faithfully labor in His field (Matt. 9:38), knowing that “at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up,” (Gal. 6:9).
Those sowing to the flesh have a harvest coming too, though it may not seem like it. “Because the crop doesn’t come in instantly you think you’re getting away with it.” Stanley said. “Not so. No exceptions to the laws of God.”
“Those who plant apple seeds should expect to harvest apples. Those who sow anger should expect to receive what anger naturally produces,” reads the website.
“Living a life of carnality and sin and expecting to inherit heaven is akin to planting cockle burrs and waiting for roses.”
The Bible has many passages that tie sin to spiritual death, including Ezekiel18:4 (NKJV): “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”
This law of sin and death was established when God told Adam and Eve that “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” (Gen. 2:17 NKJV).
But there is great good news that goes along with these spiritual laws.
It can be found in Rom. 6:23 NKJV, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Class notes, second period, science: The laws of cause and effect that govern the physical world are also in place in the spiritual world. The Bible teaches that what you sow you will reap and that sin leads to spiritual death, no exceptions.
The good news for mankind is that Jesus Christ has paid the price to redeem us from our sin! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, (John 3:16 NKJV).”
One for the spiritual road: With death comes the harvest of the life you have sown, Heb. 9:27 reads “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Will you accept God’s gift today?
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