THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION
Base Text: 2 Corinthians 3:18
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
INTRODUCTION
The story goes that a caterpillar wanted to climb a mountain. She decides to do it and launches herself towards her conquest. Along the way, she meets those who discourage her and tell her "you can't do it," "your mountain is just a rock," they yell to discourage her, but she decides to keep going.
Suddenly, on her long and slow walk, she feels that she is beginning to run out of strength and starts to die on a branch. Those who yelled at her find her and say "poor thing, ridiculous, she died there, there lay her dreams." The sun begins to burn the shell that formed, and in some supernatural way, something begins to open, she takes out her wings, and a beautiful butterfly begins to fly. And that's how she reaches the top.
The gospel is not a religion, it is transformation. God's power changes us, mutates us into someone else, someone who looks like God's original idea. It is not easy because I need a change of mind, of thoughts, of ideas, of constant work.
God did His part; He gave us Jesus Christ to be forgiven and through His power to have a new birth, but God's role in this process is one thing and my role is another.
Man Is Corrupted
Ephesians 4:22-24 — "that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."
The Three Types of Fruit
There are three kinds of fruits:
- Natural fruit
- Biological fruit (offspring)
- Spiritual fruit (produced by the Holy Spirit)
Galatians 5:22-24 — "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
These nine qualities describe the character change of one who has been a victim or perpetrator, to a fruitful and productive victorious Christian.
The question is: How do we get these character qualities? How are we transformed? Do you want to be someone who truly lives in victory, who sees the power of God, where everything changes in your life? This is not a magic touch, it is a process.
1. IT IS CONSTANT WORK
Philippians 2:12-13 — "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
The Different Roles:
- The enemy's role: To discourage you, to keep you bound and enslaved.
- The Holy Spirit's role: For you to believe the truth, accept it, and make it your own.
- Your role: To obey, to work out your salvation. To work for something means to earn it, to deserve it. Although salvation is by faith as the scripture says, you must do constant exercise to defeat the old man.
To be transformed requires discipline, practicing spiritual exercise. What does physical training do? It builds muscles. That is the spiritual exercise to be transformed: to cultivate, to bring out the most. That is, to work out salvation is to "cultivate the spiritual life."
2. TOOLS THAT GOD USES
a. The Bible is the Number One Factor
His word produces faith.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 — "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Illustration: It is told of a converted cannibal in the South Sea Islands who was sitting in a large pot reading the Bible when an anthropologist wearing an explorer's helmet approached him and asked: "What are you reading?" "I am reading the Bible," the native said.
To which the anthropologist replied: "Don't you know that modern and civilized man has rejected that book? It is nothing but lies, and you are wasting your time."
The cannibal looked him up and down and replied: "—Sir, if it weren't for this book, you would already be in this pot!"
Without the Word of God, it is difficult to change a defeatist lifestyle, to have faith. How much do you read the Bible? How much do you study it? How much of it do you memorize?
Romans 10:17 — "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
It is due to the absence of the Word that there are defeated lives: they walk on the runway to heaven, but they are defeated, bitter, and unsuccessful.
b. God Uses His Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the second tool God uses to change us.
Romans 8:9-11 — "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us strength, vitality, desire, and the power to do what is right. He is the one who leads us to be overcomers, to live under the premise of joy, so that the fruit of the Spirit becomes incarnate in us: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
c. God Uses Circumstances
Unfortunately, changing is not that easy. The Word and obedience to the Holy Spirit should be enough, but we are stubborn, obstinate, and do not change easily. So God uses circumstances: problems, pressures, headaches, difficulties, and tensions.
One writer says: "God whispers to us in our comfort, but He shouts to us in our pain."
Proverbs 20:30 — "Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart." (With blows and stripes bad thoughts are corrected.)
This is complicated. God does not want to use punishment, but sometimes it is the only way for us to turn back to Him.
Proverbs 1:23-26 — "Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes."
3. DECISIONS THAT PRODUCE CHANGES
We already know that spiritual growth is not automatic. Changing is a matter of decision. You cannot wait for a magic touch. Decisions must be made: go towards the mountain, die to be transformed.
John 12:24-26 — "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."
1) Choose Carefully What We Think
Proverbs 4:23 (Good News) — "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts."
Someone once said: "You are not what you think you are, but what you think, that you are." Did you understand that? You are not what you believe yourself to be, but you are what you think. If you are going to change your life, you have to change your thought pattern. Change always begins with new thoughts.
Romans 12:2 says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. It is not being "transformed by will" but being "transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Love the Word of God. Jesus said:
John 8:32 — "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
If you base your life on the truth, live with the right style of thoughts and not with misconceptions or false beliefs, and base your life on thoughts taken from the Word of God, you will be free. You will see old habits, feelings, and actions disappear.
Biblical Meditation
The Word is to meditate on, to think about. It is not doing yoga; it is analyzing it as David said: "I meditate on it day and night."
What does it mean to meditate on the Word of God? If you look up the word meditation in a dictionary, you will see that a synonym is the word ruminate.
Ruminating is what cows do when they chew grass. The cow eats some grass, chews it as much as she can, and swallows it. It stays in one of her stomachs for a while, and then, a little later, she burps it up with a renewed flavor. The cow chews it a bit more and swallows it again. That is ruminating. This cow is extracting every ounce of nutrition from that grass.
That is what meditation is about. Meditation is the digestion of thoughts. Meditating does not mean putting your mind in neutral and thinking about nothing. Meditating is thinking seriously about what you are reading. Choose a verse and ask yourself: "What meaning does this have for my life?" Meditate on this, and also talk to God about it.
CONCLUSION
Like the caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly, God wants to take you through a process of transformation. It is not magic, it is not instantaneous; it is a process that requires:
- Constant work - Cultivating the spiritual life
- Using God's tools - The Bible, the Holy Spirit, and accepting circumstances
- Making decisions - Especially taking care of your thoughts
The gospel is not a religion, it is transformation. We are transformed from glory to glory into the same image, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Outline based on the preaching of Pastor Josue Angarita - MMM Portal Campestre Church, Giron, Santander.