You have the seed of God in you if Christ be in you. The seed reproduces according to its own kind. From generation to generation, the seed reproduces according to its own kind. What is the seed? Christ is our seed. The seed is of faith and by faith. He who has reconciled you, will also as you follow Him, show you the reconciliation of all things. As you live your life according to the faith of Jesus Christ, you will see the reconciliation He has worked for all your situations in life.
That seed can be planted into any situation of your life to bring salvation and healing and any other good fruit of godliness into that situation. You plant the seed. By faith of what God has done for you, likewise do for the situation, person, or thing. As God pours His Spirit out upon the seed it will grow, redeeming the ground where it was planted.
The apostle Paul wrote, "I planted, Appolos watered; but God gave the increase." Man can plant the seed. The seed is the pattern of life given us by God through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 God who is love, gave His Son sacrificially seeking our good. His mercy forgives all sin and provides all the help we need for life. He accepts us totally in Christ. Surely He will forgive and receive you. There is nothing too hard for Him. He has forgiven all your sin and made a way for you in Christ.
Love->Mercy->Acceptance->Reconciliation
,...that is the repeating pattern of Christ.
Reconciliation is enduring all it takes to manifest the love, mercy, and total acceptance. God did this for you in Jesus Christ. Now He shows you the way.
Looking at the pattern we see everything He did was out of love for our sakes, what we needed and what we would gain; for God is love, and love seeks not its own but the other's good. The Bible explains that even if we give our lives and do it for our own reputation, or our own self-image ie how we think about ourselves, then we are as the prostitutes who give their bodies for what they can gain. Unless we give out of care for the other person, though we give all else, we are vain and empty in the giving.
What are some of the things God did for us in that wonderful sacrificial love? He accepted the whole truth about us, the good the bad and the ugly.
He had mercy on us and did not condemn us by strict law for what we deserved. Instead of giving us justice under the law for our terrible sins which would have brought us death, He mercifully forgave us and gave us good things we needed that we hadn't earned. We had earned the penalty of death, but He in His mercy gave us life. When you see a situation in life, you can either condemn it, or redeem it. God has given you that power. How fantastic a thought. You have a power of God to either condemn or redeem a situation in your heart!
He decided that after all these people are in His eternal plan to spend eternity together with Him; so instead of condemning them for their sins, He made a way for them to be free of those sins. Not only will He take away their sins, but He will also give them His righteousness. He took away your sins and nailed them to the cross in the Sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ. He took all the sin of all mankind onto His own Son Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, and on that cross killed sin, destroyed the power of sin, and crucified the flesh wherein sin resides.
By the shedding of blood unto death, the penalty of sin for all men was paid by the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God. And that's true, but He did it for you! (Isaiah 53)
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He was chastised for our sins that we might have peace instead of chastisement. He took all the destruction of our sins upon Himself.
For our sakes' He took it all...the total penalty for all sin of all men for all time. And those who don't deny it, get the benefit of what was done. Those who accept the truth, receive the benefits of the truth.
He was cut off out of the land of the living. In the prime of life He was struck down for our offenses. He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His deaths. And yet He had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in His mouth. But it pleased the LORD ALMIGHTY GOD who loves us,... to bruise His only begotten Son, to put Jesus to grief, sorrow, anguish and pain of death for our sins so we could escape such great condemnation. So in the resurrection we could be together with Jesus and the Father.
As you see what God has done for you in His own Son Jesus Christ, you will see the seed. Who for the joy that was set before Him willingly endured the pathos of that cross, fell to the ground and died. (see Hebrews 12:2)
He poured out His soul unto death. He was obedient to God even unto the death of that cross, out of love and care and pity for you. For He knew that unless He took it all, we all would have to suffer. Each one of us suffering forever the eternal consequences of our sins. But He died once for all men, willingly enduring your sins and the consequences of your sins.
By faith, He saw the travail of His soul even before it happened, and by faith was satisfied even before the event that it was more than worth it. He was satisfied. He did it all for our sakes!
He took it all. All your sorrow of the worst pain you ever felt for the worst mistake of your life, remember what that felt like? He took it. He felt it. He took it, endured it, embraced it fully, and redeemed it from the power of death. He swallowed up death in victory at His resurrection.
He was counted with the transgressors so that God could count us with the righteousness of the Perfect Son of God. He took the sin of our transgressions, and gave us His own perfect righteousness.
Just see Jesus and Him crucified on that cross, and see your sins by the miracle power of God translating time into nothing, putting all your sins and all the chastisement of your sins upon His body upon that cross to die and be done away. That's how it happened. That's how it is.
He justified many, even as many as would believe on Him. They receive the benefit and the glory of His resurrection, even all who believe in His crucifixion and death for them.
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself through Jesus and His shed blood upon that cross, even all things whether things present or things past, things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)
You have been reconciled to God. All your life's sorrows and woes and torments have been carried to that cross, placed on Jesus, and done away. Jesus Christ carried them in His soul, in His flesh into that death on the cross and into that grave. But when He had overcome sin and death and hell by the power of God, He was raised from the dead with newness of life; and in His resurrection He translated everything from the power of darkness into the kingdom of light, from cursing into blessing. He turned the manure into fertilizer for roses. He will grow roses in your life where you have hurt.
He spreads the sweet smell of victory where there was failure and defeat and death. For all who believe shall receive of the victory He has gained. One died for all, that all through Him might live. You are one of those for whom He died. Be one of those who believe He is alive, resurrected, raised from the grave,...that He now lives for you. He is alive. His Spirit is with you even now, guiding your heart to know and believe the truth of all His great love has accomplished for you.
To experience the blessing of this truth of God, open your mouth and speak the words claiming for yourself "Jesus is Lord of my life and Savior of my soul. He has given me faith to believe in what He has done. And He is the Captain of my faith."
Jesus Christ is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. Your calenders are named after Him. Your days are dated by His life. The book of Him handed down from God through the generations for you to read and know. Churches on every part of town. The people He saved aren't perfect except to God by their faith in the Lord Jesus. Don't look for perfect people to follow. You won't find any. But Jesus is perfect, and He will lead you in the way. When we all get to heaven, then we'll be made perfect. Until then we live and learn and grow in Him. Each one growing a new life by the faith of Jesus Christ.
His Spirit has guided you to read this far. He will guide you continually, and you will know more and more of His truth. He will water the seed in your heart. By prayer, by seeking out other Christians, and by the mercy of God who has translated you from darkness into light.
The kingdom of heaven is within you. Like a grain of mustard seed. It grows and becomes the mightiest tree of all. God makes it to grow, just as He makes the lilies of the field to grow. It is God who gives the increase!
Trust God to increase your life and faith in Christ. Your hope is in Him. He is the Author and Finisher of your faith. And He who has begun a good work in you is faithful and righteous to finish.
Forgiveness of sins and eternal life is yours in Jesus Christ. Do what He said, Go and be baptized. Show yourself that you acknowledge He is not only the One who bore your sins as Savior, but He is also the One who leads your life as Captain of your faith.
He has offered His sacrifice to all. As many as believe Him receive. And this is the evidence that we believe, that we do what He leads.