On Sunday, using 1 Peter 2:9-11 and II Corinthians 5:15-20, we discussed that God wants to transform our lives.
Change. Not many people look forward to it. But change is what is constant about the Christian life. We weren’t made for mundane, routine, ordinary, religious-rut living. We were made for transformation. We were made to change and become like Jesus. We were made to be able to walk with the Spirit of God and to move as God directs.
Philippians 1:6 tells us God’s transforming work is an:
- Ongoing Transformation-Philippians 1:6
There we read that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” You and I are a work in progress. The life of a believer is a series of miracles because the transformation you and I undergo all throughout our lifetimes.
When we change and become like Jesus, we are undergoing a miracle. Undergoing a miracle! We all want miracles in our lives, and often we look to an outcome and desire for some outcome to be miraculous. But what if we viewed transformation as the greatest miracle that could take place in us!? What if we viewed our whole lives from beginning to end as a series of miracles!?
Second God’s transforming work in our lives is an:
- Inward Transformation-Philippians 1:9-11
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.
Abounding love. Growing in love. Increasing in spiritual knowledge. Increasing in spiritual depth. Becoming mature in our faith. Having discernment to live a holy life. Taking on the character of Christ, the righteousness of Christ. These are the inward miracles of transformation.
As we allow God to work in through salvation and in us through transforming our character and thoughts so that we reflect Christ, there is a shift in our focus, a change in our motivation.
- Motivation Transformation-2 Corinthians 5:15-20 and Galatians 2:20
We go from living for ourselves to living for Christ. Look at II Corinthians 5:15: 2 Corinthians 5:15 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Galatians 2:20 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.
Do you see the shift? There is a transformation in our basic understanding of what life is all about. It isn’t about us. It is about living for Christ and representing Him for others to see. II Corinthians 5:20: 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
God wants to transform us. He begins by doing a work for us. He saves us. He continues His transforming work by doing a work in us through His Spirit’s power. He continues our transformation by working through us to reach others. It’s a step by stop and ongoing process.
Where are you in the transformation process? Are you feeling stuck or stale? How much are you willing to surrender? How open are you to being stretched? How easy are you for God to work in and through? It isn’t about trying harder, but about surrendering more. Does becoming like Jesus and having His power at work in you to help others get connected with God sound like something worth giving your life for?
What God starts, He finishes. What He inhabits and fills grows. What He fills and grows, He uses. You were made for more than life for self. You were made to know God intimately and to change the world. Will you join me in fully giving yourself to God so He can continue the good work He has begun in you?
