God loves us to much to leave us like we are. This is the whole message of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Key Scriptures: Romans 12 NKJV
1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
God changes us by way of transformation. More than mere evolution or adaptation to surrounding elements or long term reaction to environment, transformation is that which takes place in the spirit of a person affecting the whole being, spirit, soul and body, mind, will and emotions, bringing us ever closer, step by step, stage by stage, glory by glory, as the scriptures put it, into the image of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV)
In part one of our Transformation series, we read from 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 5 thru 18. In those verses we discovered that what the Law of Moses was unable to do, God did through sending His Son and by Him unveiled the hearts of man so that we can, through Jesus, understand the intent of God’s Word.
The Word of God was not given to convict and condemn, but to save and transform. What the letter of the law could not do, the Gospel of Christ can.
2 Corinthians 3 NKJV
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
This, as we discussed, is the message of the Gospel. Turn to Christ and you will see and in seeing you will be changed.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Yes there is power in seeing Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God and Savior of the world.
2 Corinthians 3 NKJV
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.
God has provided for each one of us to be transformed:
From Glory to Glory, as it were, step by step, stage by stage, through removing the veil in Christ and bringing each one on a personal journey, transforming us, changing us, into His image.
In other words transformation is a process – We go through Stages
* We have been saved
* We are being saved
* We shall be saved
> Spirit – Soul – Body
Stages of Transformation
Remember one of our Key Scriptures for this message?
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Notice there are three ever increasing wills of God for mankind. Three stages if you will.
* The Good Will
* The Acceptable Will
* The Perfect Will
Now I do not pretend to tell you that there are not three wills of God for a person at any one given time. Rather, this scripture reveals the progression of a life given to God, transformed by the power of God into greater stages maturity and therefore a greater revelation and greater responsibilities towards God.
* The Good Will denotes what is good for the individual. Like a baby --- it’s all about the baby for a while. Not much is required either of work or discipline. Few demands are placed on a baby and it is usually what is good for the baby.
* The Acceptable Will is the next stage of life when a person comes into an adolescent understanding of life and begins then to have requirements and demands placed on their life and actions. They are challenged along the way and actually a transformation takes place within their body that becomes evident to everyone else and they come under a greater scrutiny and take on greater responsibilities. Now it is no longer just about them but there are some things that are acceptable and unacceptable from that person who has come into a different stage of life.
* The Perfect Will of God is that place where it is all about God and not about the person any more. This is the place where the Apostle Paul told us:
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Colossians 3
1 ¶ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Back to the three stages:
The First Stage – (The first step in the transformation process)
Transforms seed into a new creation …
* The Blade
Mark 4 KJV
26 And he said, So is the
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
The Second Glory –
The seed left rooted in the ground continues to produce –
* The Ear
The Third Glory –
The final stage of transformation is full replication of the seed –
* The Full Corn
> In the Ear
The Three Glories of Transformation
The Blade The Ear The Full Corn In The Ear
30 Fold 60 Fold 100 Fold
Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
Outer Court
Wilderness Promised Land
Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Three Old Testament Feasts
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of Weeks
Feast of Tabernacles
Three New Testament Feasts
Salvation
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Full Sonship
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Part three next week.
