John Hiebert was a bank robber. It is said that he had robbed more than 30 banks in his lifetime before getting caught and put into prison. In prison he became a Christian simply through reading one of the prison Bibles and submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. One day he wrote to his mother. “Mother, I have found a friend so dear to my heart, He has rescued me from my own desires and saved me from my sin. My friend’s name is Jesus, and He has transformed my life.” John Hiebert got out of prison and he became a missionary with Sudan Inland Missions and then he started a Bible school, called Zabolo in Nigeria. His Bible school has trained thousands of Pastors, teachers and evangelists for over fifty years. What a transformation. And this is what we are talking about today—transformation. The title of our message this week is a Life Transformed by the Lamb.
We have been in a series about the Lamb of God for the past 3 weeks now; 3 weeks ago we noticed John’s invitation to Look at the Lamb in John 1 verses 29-36, the next week we saw the two disciples desire to live with the Lamb in verses 37-39, then last week’s title was Lead Others to the Lamb, which we saw Andrew doing in verses 40-42. We saw last week how spending time with Jesus Christ caused Andrew to go and seek out his brother and lead him to Jesus. We mentioned that this is normal when Christians are so ignited by their own contact with Christ that they in turn set other fires. And this week’s message is called a Life Transformed by the Lamb, which we can get from verse 42:
And Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:42 (NIV)
Now let us notice two specific truths about Jesus Christ. Let’s notice:
1. The omniscience of the Lamb
2. The omnipotence of the Lamb
First, the omniscience of the Lamb. Omniscience simply means “all-knowing.” As God, Jesus knows everything, there is nothing He does not know. He is omniscient. Where do we get that? Well this is the first time that Jesus meets Simon, they had not been introduced before, and right away Jesus says, “You are Simon.” And not only “you are Simon”, but “your father’s name is John.” Jesus, having never met Simon says, “You are Simon, son of John.” How did He know? He knows everything. This is one of the confirming proofs that Jesus Christ is God, is that He is omniscient.
Apply: Jesus Christ knows everything about us. He knows our names. He knows our father and mother’s names. He knows our addresss. He knows our heart and He knows our thoughts. After Jesus heals a paralyzed man in Matthew 9 the Pharisees start whining about Him and the Bible says, “knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “why do think evil in your hearts?” He knew their thoughts. He knew their hearts. He knew Simon and his father, before they ever met on this earth. He knew what Simon would become. He knew the end of Simon’s life. Jesus is omniscient.
But not only is this Lamb omniscient, He is also omnipotent. Omnipotent means “all powerful.” Not only is Jesus all-knowing, He is all-powerful. Where do we get that? Well Jesus was able to change Simon into Peter. The name Simon means “sinking sand”, the name Peter means “solid rock.” So Sinking Sand would be transformed into Solid Rock, by the all-powerful Lamb. Simon would become Peter. But let me suggest to you that it is not the mere name change that is in view here, as names in the Bible reflect the character of the person. What we have stated here before us is that Simon himself would be transformed into Peter, through His relationship with Christ. Simon would become a Life Transformed by the Lamb!
I have to tell you that I love that Jesus Christ can do this. I love how He changes people. I love how He is able to transform our lives, to literally make us into different people.
Augustine had lived a very immoral life prior to his conversion, and one day after He came to know Jesus he was walking along and one of his familiar prostitutes was walking toward him. When he walked right on by she turned to him and said, “Augustine, it is I. And he replied, “Yes, but it is not I.” Augustine was a Life Transformed by the Lamb. Simon Peter was a life transformed by the Lamb. See Jesus is able to do this. He is all powerful. He is omniscient and He is Omnipotent. He knows us and He can change us.
Now, let me just stimulate our thinking this morning. Let’s consider today what the great difference is between psychology, psychotherapy with all of its drugs, self-help books, support groups and Jesus Christ. In other words, put all the solutions that the world offers over here, and put what Jesus does in the hearts and lives of people over here, and what is the difference?
Let me suggest to you this morning, that the difference is between information, and transformation. It’s between merely getting knowledge, and having our lives changed. In other words, worldly wisdom can bring us information about our condition, it can describe our problem to us, it can give us drugs to take, but it cannot fix anything. Whereas Jesus Christ can transform us from the inside out; He works in our hearts, changes our desires, fixes our attitudes; He is mighty to save. With Jesus, Cephas becomes Peter. Bank robbers become missionaries. There is a transformation that happens at the very core of who we are.
Mike Askins has described his conversion simply as a change in his desires. He no longer wanted to do what he used to do, instead he wanted to read his Bible, to pray with other Christians. He describes being on a navy boat one time when they had a prayer meeting that lasted for literally days where nobody ate or slept for days because they were enjoying praying together so much.
Simon was a very impetuous man. He was unstable, impulsive, spontaneous. Sinking Sand is a good description of him. Remember Simon as one who followed Jesus for 3 years then denied Him 3 times. Shifting sands. He promised “though all forsake you Jesus, I never will” and then he promised the little servant girl, “I don’t know Him. I really don’t. I swear I don’t know Him.” Unstable. Vascilating. Double-minded. Sinking Sands.
But Jesus worked with Him. Jesus worked in Him. And Simon eventually became Peter. Solid as a rock. Unwavering. Determined. He became so steadfast in his faith that when threatened with crucifixion, instead of denying Christ, he asked to be crucified upside down, not feeling worthy to die in the same manner that Jesus did. Oh yes, Jesus is able to transform men and women, changing our very natures, making us new. He is all-powerful!
Now I just want to spend the rest of our time this morning looking at exactly how Jesus transforms hearts and lives. I want us to see how he can take a man like Simon and make him into Peter; how He can transform bank robbers into missionaries, how He can even change people who think they are good into Christians.
So let me just summarize for you the 3 ways that our lives become transformed by the Lamb:
1. We are transformed by His death
2. We are transformed by His Word
So look with me in your Bible just now to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Let’s see how we become transformed by His death.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
This verse tells us that Christians are people who are changed, transformed. All things have become new for them. To become a Christian is to have new thoughts, new desires, a new life. Cephas would go, Peter would come. He would become a new creation.
Who brought about this change?
18 All this is from God,
Not from man! God makes the change in us. So what exactly does God do to bring about this transformation? Verse 18 says:
“who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:”
Transformation has everything to do with reconciliation. Why do we need to be reconciled to God? Most people think they’re pretty good people. What’s this about being reconciled to God? Let me read to you Colossians 1:21-22. Paul says of the Colossians: 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 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 (NIV)
We were born enemies of God, every person is born at odds with God. We are born estranged from God because of sin, we are born in rebellion against God. This rebellion is evidenced by people wanting to live their lives however they desire, not being willing or even able to submit to authority. Do you know that people’s unwillingness to submit to human authority comes because they are not in submission to divine authority?
But God did something about our alienation and our rebellion. He reconciled us to Himself.
When? Verse 19 says:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.
See God sent His Son to this earth to take on Himself the sins of mankind, so that our sins are not counted against us because they were counted against Jesus. God removed our sins by putting them on His Son Who then died to pay the penalty of them, and rose again to justify us. Transformation comes through reconciliation. We are transformed by His death.
And so this is how it goes: There is guilty Adam and Eve, having disobeyed God, awaiting the promised execution, and God takes their sins and puts them on the Lamb, not counting their sins against them, thereby reconciling them to Himself. There is guilty Moses, the Murderer and God takes his sin off of him and puts it on the Lamb, not counting his sins against him, thereby reconciling Moses to himself. There is guilty David, the adulterer and murderer, and God takes his sin off of him and puts it on Jesus, not counting David’s sins against him, thereby reconciling David to himself.
And there is guilty you and me, born in rebellion, living as if Jesus were not Lord, unwilling to submit to authority, and God takes our sin off of us and puts it on the Lamb, not counting our sins against us, thereby reconciling us to God. He became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This is not only God-exalting doctrine, but it is also Christ-centered doctrine. But do you know the one thing remaining in order for this to be joy-producing doctrine? Transformation comes through reconciliation, but reconciliation comes through submission. Verse 20 says:
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV)
We must submit to God’s command to be reconciled. We must surrender our own will, our own desires, our own thought processes, our own lives, and we must, as an act of our will, believe in Jesus Christ and commit our lives to Him.
You see in order for there to be transformation there must be reconciliation, and reconciliation comes through our submission to God. The God-exalting doctrine “all this comes from God”, combines with the Christ-centered doctrine, “He became sin for us” and produces joy-filled people as we ourselves are reconciled to God. We are transformed by His death.
We are transformed by His Word. Look with me at Romans chapter 12:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer 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 12:1-2 (NIV)
This passage of Scripture tells us that we will either be conformed to the world, or we will be transformed by the Word. We will either be forced into the world’s mold, living our lives just like society around us, or we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds in God’s Word. Jesus says, “You are clean because of the Word I have spoken to you”. Peter writes, “Like a newborn baby, eagerly crave the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”
Let me apply this to us right now: unless we are willing to study the Bible, no significant transformation of our lives will happen. We will look like the world, live like the culture around us, being squeezed into the world’s mold. But if we will open this Book and study it, we will notice a transformation happening as our minds are renewed in the truth.
We are transformed by Jesus’ death. We are transformed by God’s Word. The Bible says that:
We who were Dead to God, become alive in Christ
We who were once Darkness become light in the Lord
We who were Captive to sin, become freed by God’s grace
We who had Deceitful hearts, gain “truth in the inner parts”
Beloved, God is not done transforming hearts and lives. He did not stop with Cephas who became Peter. And let me let you in on a little secret about myself. And I am asking you to please not use this against me, no funny jokes, etc. but my first name is not really Mike. My first name is really Kelvin, my middle name is Michael. Possibly you know that Kelvin is actually a function of temperature: Kelvin is absolute zero. That’s the meaning of Kelvin. But Michael means one like God. And those two names are a summary of my life: the first 39 years I was an absolute zero, and now for my remaining years I desire to be like Christ.
One of Hitler’s bodyguards was a man named Kurt Wagner. Kurt adored Hitler and reverenced him as a god. At the end of the war, immediately after Hitler committed suicide, Kurt’s life was shattered and he planned to commit suicide, too. Going for a final cup of coffee, he saw a Gospel tract and began to read it—first carelessly and then with interest. As a result of what he read, he sought out a pastor who led him to Christ. Kurt was transformed from a hardened man into a peace-loving man. He became a new creation in Christ. Later Kurt wrote these words, “I was a self-deceived man, pledging allegiance to a murderous tyrant, going along with him in his deception and murders. But Jesus transformed my life, reconciled me to God the father and made me a new creation. I love Jesus now, for He forgave all my sins at the cross and transformed me. And I love His Word, which continually transforms me day after day.”
Simon was a life transformed by the Lamb, he truly became Peter.
