The mystery of a merciful God

There is so much I don't know.  Like how a seed can rot in a package on a shelf and not start to grow roots or shoots, but if you put it in a hole and cover it with dirt, it will grow.  What miracle happens in the ground, unseen by men, until it is evidenced by stems and leaves growing above ground?  How does the soil send nutrients and moisture to a seed in just the right amount? The seed is helpless--it has no way of gathering those things for itself.  It is a mystery to me.

In the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus mentioned this very thing.

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. (Mark 4:26-29)

The kingdom of God is also a mystery, that Jesus tried to explain by using parables based on farming.  No doubt many who were listening to his teaching had some experience with agriculture.  Jesus had just finished telling about a farmer who sows his seeds, and some fell on the path (that the birds came and took away); and some fell in the rocky soil (so it was shallow and had no root); and some fell on the soil with weeds and thorns (so that although it grew, it was choked and did not produce any fruit); and some fell on good soil (so that it grew and produced a crop).  This parable he took the time to explain to his disciples: The see is the word of God; the seed that falls on the path and is taken by the birds represents Satan stealing the message before it has a chance to take root; the rocky soil is the person who receives the Word, but it is shallow and can't take root because of persecution or trouble; the thorny soil is the person who receives the Word, and it does take root, but worries and carnal desires choke it out, so that it bears no fruit; and the good soil is the person who receives the word, hearing and accepting and producing fruit in his life.

So we assume that in Mark 4:26, Jesus is still talking about the Word when he talks about the man scattering seed.  The preacher is tasked with spreading the Word of God.  He does not know the condition of the people's hearts who hear that word.  Some may accept it; others may not.  Whether the preacher stays up all night worrying about it will not change the recipient's heart--only God knows whether and when the heart is receptive.

Sometimes my heart is more receptive than others.  Sometimes I get caught up in worry, in the desires of the world, including wealth.  At those times in my life, God's word doesn't always get through to my heart like it should.  But when I have had enough of trouble, enough of worry; when I beat my breast and say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner"--that is when God's grace breaks through.  Like the soil in which the seed is planted, my heart and mind start to feed the seed, and God mysteriously allows me to grow, to be fruitful.

This is the mystery of the gospel.  Romans 8:1-4 says,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.

The Law still plays a role in the life of a Believer--not as a means for salvation, but as a moral and ethical guide, obeyed out of love for God and by the power that the Spirit provides.  This law is no longer written in stone and displayed in a Temple.  It is now written in our hearts, where we can take it with us everywhere we go.  Jeremiah 31:31-34 says:

"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord.  "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord.  "I will put my law in their minds and write it in their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord.  "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

We are now living in that time.  All men have access to God in their hearts and minds; they can know God in spirit and in truth, without having to go to a Temple or a Priest.  Herein is the mystery: sin still separates us from God, but God, rich in mercy and grace, forgives completely.  Hebrews 10:14-17 says:

By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this.  First He says, "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.  I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then He adds, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."  And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

The new covenant guarantees that sins will be completely forgiven with the result that no additional sacrifice for sins is needed.  This is the nature of God.  A mystery, to be sure; but as real as the seed that, when covered with dirt, grows roots and shoots and ultimately bears fruit.