Transformation

 

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes the word as follows: 1. The change of the soul into a divine substance, as among the mystics. 2. Transubstantiation.3. In theology, a change of heart in man, by which his disposition and temper are conformed to the divine image; a change from enmity to holiness and love.

The word indicates a change, meaning from one thing to another. It is a process, not instantaneous. Most of us do not relish change. We are creatures of habit. And yet the only thing I think we dislike more is remaining unchanged. There lies the tension. So what drives this transformation? And for what is its purpose?

The apostle Paul knew what transformation looked like. He experienced it firsthand. He said in his letter to the Corinthians ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ 

That picture of freedom in the presence of the Holy Spirit is what changes us. It is not a change we designed, but rather submit to regularly. Paul also gave the church in Rome a test for this. ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ This renewing of our mind also requires a submission. ‘The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.’

So in practical terms, our spirit, given life to dwell intimately with the Holy Spirit serves to guide our mind and ultimately our body to carry out the will of the one who created us. It is however a process. ‘Living sacrifices’ have the power to get up off the altar and walk away. And yet as long as we continue to ‘contemplate the Lord’s glory’ we can be assured change is happening. To the Philippians, Paul said ‘Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Change is inevitable. The only question is am I changing into an eternal death or into an eternal life?

Forgiveness

 

Hurt people hurt people. So they say. We spend a lot of time in this life both wounding and being wounded. Sometimes we mean it, but other times it's just so much collateral damage that occurs every day of our lives.

We all deal with it differently. Some of us lash out, others go inward and create resentment and bitterness that grows anger in our hearts. Sometimes we try and ignore it or minimize it like it wasn't a big deal.

And yet none of this seems particularly healthy. We may self-medicate as a way to address our own hurts or to forget the mean and nasty stuff we've done. But even that creates a bigger hole of hurt that left untended can grow like a cancer.

Jesus seemed to know all of this very well. He made it clear that none of it is acceptable. What is more, He created a better way for us to take care of it. It's non-optional. In the economy of hurt, we either find ourselves in debt or as a lender. The coin of this realm is forgiveness.

He even draws this concept out in a story He tells His followers about a King who is cheated out of an enormous amount by one of his servants, who then falls on his knees and pleads for his debt to be forgiven. The King has mercy on the servant who then proceeds to choke another servant out for failing to pay him a much smaller amount. In the end, the King catches wind of this and throws the first servant in prison. 

It is amazing how relevant this story is 2000 years later. We all fail at times to recognize the King is on the throne and has offered us redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins. And in turn, we take the throne ourselves only to proceed to render our own human judgments. Sadly, it just puts us back in prison. 

"For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses." 

Matthew 6:14-15

Love

The Beatles were right. All you need is love. Love is all you need. But love not born of man. Born of God.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 4:7-8

God is love. He is the definition of Love. He is the author of Love. The source. The beginning and ending words in a love letter written to humanity. Delivered in the flesh through His son Jesus. A love demonstrated to us through his death, an atonement for all mankind.
And all those of us who have been born of that love now live in a new covenant with God. We now live this new life of love as Christ did, in obedience.

"I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

2 John 1:5-6

For because of Christ's obedience to the Father, He loved us. And we now born of that same love, through the power of a Holy Spirit, are tasked to do likewise without exception. Love for all. For all we need is LOVE.

God's will

"do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will"

romans 12:1-3

how many people ask the question "what is God's will for my life?" as if it were contained in a single answer, and as if in a prayer of petition they might summon that answer like a magic genie? but God does not typically reveal His will to us in a single flash of illumination, from which we can draw out the course of our entire life. instead He is constantly working in and through us to transform us by renewing our minds. however, to engage in this transformation we are given instruction to no longer conform ourselves to the pattern of this world. hmm. what does it mean? we must take a good look first then at what is the pattern of this world? what does the world demand of us in conforming our lives to it? these verses suggest that God's work of transformation is taking place outside of but right next to what is already going on in the world. this idea is exactly like what Jesus said here -

"if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. as it is, you do not belong to the world, but i have chosen you out of the world. that is why the world hates you"

john 15:18-19

in the process of remaining as we do physically in the world, but no longer conforming our lives to the patterns, the dictates, the values of this world and by submitting our lives fully to Christ we who are daily being transformed in and by the renewing of our mind through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit at work within us are now able to test and approve what is God's will for our lives - His good, pleasing and perfect will. and now engaged as we are in this process we can finally begin to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal answers to all of those questions we have in our daily lives. "is the activity i am engaged in God's will?" "is the direction my life is heading part of His good and pleasing and perfect will?" "in all my ways am i acknowledging Him?" (proverbs 3:6)
but the bottom line in all of this is that we are saying yes to God, submitting ourselves to perfect authority in every area of our lives and in this we are being changed. transformed. renewed. God's will, not mine.

judgement

"then i saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! the one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. his eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself."

revelation 19:10-12

how quickly we assume the role of God in our own lives. and as quickly we move into His position as Judge of all His creation. especially in regard to the broken human lives we cross paths with each day. God is reserving His own judgement in an effort to reach out to all humanity. His message is life and peace through the saving power of His son Jesus. in receiving this message and believing it in faith, we have the promise from the creator of the universe of life eternal. and by rejecting it and Him, we invite His judgement for all eternity. simple.
then why would anyone reject Him? somehow for many of us in our failed humanity, we are not satisfied with believing, and if we believe, how many more of us cannot submit our lives to His ultimate authority? and so we reject the message and the messenger, because we don't like the packaging. we don't like a God we can't control giving us the choice of life or death based on our acceptance and submission to His Lordship. and in re-writing the and rejecting the law of God which demands perfection (which could only be completed by Jesus) we who are living outside of the righteous protection of Christ stand waiting for judgement. a very dangerous place to be on that day when He comes on that white horse.

"He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. and the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords."

revelation 19:13-16

rebellion

"man sinned because he tried to overturn the authority of God. lucifer became satan because he wished to overthrow God's authority. he not only does not submit himself to the authority of God, but also instigates men to rise up against Him too. when Christ shall come, however, he will crush satan with His authority. the sword which comes out of His mouth is the power of His authority. christians today ought to learn to submit themselves under the authority of God."

- watchman nee

i often consider this as the source of all our woes down here on planet earth. the source of our anger, our frustrations, our fears and desires. to elevate ourselves to be like God. and when we fail (which is always) we fall back into our sinful human state. and yet it isn't always easy to submit to authority. it isn't in our nature. in fact our whole culture rails against it. we want to be cool. we want everyone to pay attention to us. and we want to run the show. it reminds me of that scene in "cool hand luke" where he's fighting big george kennedy. kennedy clearly bests him time and again, and at first everyone is laughing at poor pathetic paul newman being beaten down only to rise up time after time refusing to submit. many of us love that scene. it's a picture of our stubborn unrelenting hearts toward God.
and finally at the end of it, with nothing left to give and all his fellow prisoners yelling for luke to "stay down" he is gently picked up by the big man and taken to a place of rest. so it is with us. time and again i have sought to be God, to usurp Him in my own life. to take His job, then only to have Him give me a beat down, after which He gently picks me up, cradling me and taking me to a place of rest. how my soul longs for rest in this life. and i think david the shepherd understood it as well.

"you make me to lie down in green pastures. you restore my soul. your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

i am still learning.

grace

"for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast" ephesians 2:8-9

the other night as i was coaching my basketball team, we stopped practice for a quick time of exploring this concept. and as i explained this concept of grace to these young men and women, i compared God's offer of grace to us as a gift. one of my players asked "you mean like Christmas?" "yes" i said. "God is offering His gift of salvation through His son Jesus Christ to every man and woman and child on this planet like a Christmas gift" "who would say no to Christmas?" he asked. "i don't know" i answered. but people do. he shook his head in disbelief even as i continued. and later it occurred to me the second part of this transaction. "through faith" requires that we actually believe in the gift and the giver. and in the necessity of the gift as a means to salvation. why would anyone accept a gift from something they didn't believe in for something they didn't even think they needed?
then today watching my youngest son play basketball i watched as time and again the players on his team stepped out of bounds, stopped and started, carried the ball and generally fouled each other, all without call. at this level if they called everything the game would probably stop every 30 seconds or so. in giving them this freedom the referees are trying to allow them to understand the game as a flow without calling each violation. it's grace. i guess if we all believed someone had already made rules for our game down here on planet earth, we might think about it all a little differently. the only difference according to this passage is, it doesn't matter what we do, none of it in the end will end up saving us. "this not from ourselves" means God has already done the work through His son Jesus, so that He alone may boast. faith gives redemption to make us holy in our weakness. through grace.

weakness

"but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" - 1 corinthians 1:27-29

when i was a small child, we used to sing this song "Jesus loves me" it's a simple and familiar tune to many. i even learned to play it on accordion. in the lyrics it says "i am weak but He is strong", and as a kid i remembered this bugged me a little. i mean, i know i was a kid, but even then i didn't want to admit that i was weak. i wanted to be strong!
and yet this is the very thing that we must become as followers of Christ. it is a paradigm, but in our weakness, we become strong.
"but he (God) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me" - 2 corinthians 12:9
God's perfection made complete in my weakness. not to elevate me in the eyes of man or bring glory to my abilities, but to show off the power of God, that He should receive glory. for as it is also written,
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - james 4:6
so in the same way, as the apostle paul said "that is why, for Christ’s sake, i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. for when i am weak, then i am strong" - 2 corinthians 12:10
i delight in weaknesses? insults, hardships and persecutions? really? is this what the church likes? do we really welcome these things when they come? hmm. it seems like we're still on the road on this. still holding on to our rights instead of letting go of them for the sake of Christ. weakness. be strong in and through me Lord Jesus. allow me to be a fool for you, used for your glory. allow me to be weak so that your strength is shown in and through me.

holy

"once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. but now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" - colossians 1:21-22

a friend of mine, a pastor was recently being interviewed by a reporter about going to the game today in san francisco. the reporter called him a "holy" man in the article, and i laughed when i read this. he was separating my friend from the rest of us because of his job as a pastor and labeling him holy. and i was struck by the inadequacy of this statement. as if, because of his career or training, any of us could claim to be holy. what does it even mean anyway? my dictionary defines holy as "specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious authority" but whose authority? a church? some guy? no. there is only one who can make any of us holy. it's the one who was without sin.
"God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."-2 corinthians 5:2
a Holy man. the only true holy man by choice and deed.
Jesus, the Son of God, . . . "has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."-Hebrews 4:14, 15
and so it is because of His work alone, not because of anything that i have done. let me say that again. i have done nothing to draw me closer to God except to receive the work of holiness that Jesus Himself has made possible. do you get it? you must understand that all of your previous efforts to make yourself holy and presentable to God, or worse, your efforts to elevate yourself as God are a failure. you are a failure, without Christ. and even though His blood is on mine and your hands, we have the opportunity to be reconciled to God through His only son Jesus. we dirty rags have an opportunity to be called holy.

redemption

why do i believe that Jesus alone is savior? because, as someone brilliantly replied "he is the only one who showed up to save". to believe in and put my faith in Christ, to take Him fully at His word. "i am the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the Father (God) except through me." if i did not believe that i needed a savior, i would be like those pharisees who when asking Him why He ate with sinners, He replied "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" it is not those who are safe on board the ship who need saving, but the drowning. and did i even recognize this? until i saw my own pitiful state of failure in attempts to save myself, i could never call out for help.
or maybe i did. maybe in my floundering i recognized the savior and call out for help. and when he pulled me aboard the ship maybe i found that i didn't care for the savior's terms. "what? i owe you my life? are you kidding, forget it." and jumped back into the deep. but certainly this is foolishness. it is my rebellion, in hopeless attempts to redeem myself. failure. death. and it is also certain that the Savior dictates the terms of my redemption. "come with me if you want to live" He says.
when i was a kid i saw a prize on the back of a box of capn' crunch. it was a little treasure box. there were instructions for how to "redeem" your prize by sending money. as a kid it cost me something to get my prize. i had to give up something to own something else. and so it is with me. my life is not my own. it has been purchased. i have been redeemed. i have been saved.

faith

"faith is the victory" read the words of the old hymn. and as in the words from that title, borrowed for this little project, it also says "we tread the road the saints above with shouts of triumph trod" reminding me that i too am a part of that "great cloud of witnesses" the author of the book of hebrews describes.
and although i have sometimes identified with tolstoy when he said "if i know the road home and walk along it drunken, tottering from side to side, does that prove that the path along which i am walking is not the true one?" i know too that as i walk by faith and not by sight on this journey, that God's word remains the only working lamp to illuminate my darkness.
but this faith is a continuing mystery to me. i continue to believe in what is not seen, and to hope for what is to come. and when i meditate on the very word i even wonder what is this faith, and from where is it supplied? for certainly in my own meager intellect i could not alone grasp it, hang on to it, like an anchor in the raging sea. but it is mine, a gift from the Creator. like a handshake made in the darkness. and so, like the apostles i ask for more of it! increase my faith in you Jesus. because you alone came to save us. and may it be said about me when i'm gone by the saints who remain, "the faith by which he conquered death is still our shining shield". faith is the victory.

beginnings

i've been thinking out loud in my head for some time now. God gives me these things to meditate on and consider, and they roll around in there like a rock one finds while walking. you pick one up and roll it around in your hand a while, and take it somewhere new. and when you're done you deposit it back on the ground again and it has changed places. and perhaps, it has helped changed you too.
anyway that was the idea for beginning this project. that i am on that road. that God gives us all things to consider and meditate on. what we do with them. sometimes it's just one word. whispered in our inner ear. "faith". listen. if you don't stop and listen, you'll miss it.