“The Transformation”
October 17, 2010
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
One of Denmark’s leading sculptors had a burning ambition to create the greatest statue of Jesus ever made. He began by shaping a clay model of a triumphant, regal figure. The head was thrown back and the arms were upraised in a gesture of great majesty. It was his conception of Christ the King: Strong, Dominant.
"This will be my masterpiece," he said on the day the model was completed. But, during the night a heavy fog rolled into the area and sea-spray seeped through a partially opened window of the artist’s ocean-side studio. The moisture affected the shape of the model. When the artist returned to the studio in the morning, he was shocked to find a wounded figure. The drops of moisture that had formed on the statue created the illusion of bleeding. The head had drooped. The facial expression had been transformed from severity to compassion. And the arms had dropped into an attitude of welcome. The artist stared at the figure, agonizing over the time wasted and the need to begin all over again. But something came over him to change his mood. He began to see that this image of Christ was the truer one. Then he wrote at the base of the newly-shaped figure: "Come unto Me"
What is the mental picture you have of Jesus? Is He the Conquering King or the Suffering Servant? Is He the angry Judge or the Compassionate Healer? Does He have a whip in His hands or a towel? Those are all accurate pictures of Jesus – but the one most prominent is the one that most influences your life.
There is another story of a statue I read recently. A pastor had the opportunity to go to Italy and visited the city of Florence. He says,
“A highlight of the trip was visiting Florence, the great city of the Renaissance. One afternoon out of curiosity I went to a museum where some of the works of Michelangelo were displayed. As we viewed the half-finished sculpture of St. Matthew the tour guide explained that this unfinished work was a prime example of Michelangelo’s philosophy of art. He believed that in a stone there was a figure or statue waiting to be released. The work of the artist was to free the statue from the stone. The statute was so lifelike that I thought any minute St. Matthew might just step out of that huge stone.
The pastor said, “As I looked at the half-finished statute, I could see that the artist had begun to free the statue but had not been able to complete it.” The tour guide went on to explain that Michelangelo had numerous works he never finished.
God has begun a work in us to conform or ‘transform’ us to the image of Christ. Unlike Michelangelo, God does not stop working in our lives until he finishes what he intends to accomplish.
C.S. Lewis wrote: “If we let Him - for we can prevent Him, if we choose - He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for.”
C. S. Lewis says, “Our Lord is like the dentists. If you give Him an inch, He will take a yard. Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some particular sin which they are ashamed of or which is obviously spoiling daily life. Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.
That is why He warned people to 'count the cost' before becoming Christians. 'Make no mistake; He says, 'if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect-until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you - as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.'
We need to understand that God created us in His image, we fell into sin and got messed up and all twisted out of shape. When we come back to Him, His desire and goal is to transform us once again into His image. Our Scripture said that we “are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”.
That is what our church is all about. The Nazarene Denominational mission statement is to, “To make Christlike disciples in the nations”.
Almost all churches use the Great Commission in Matthew 28 as the background Scripture for their mission statement, but they use only the first part of it. They say we are to “Go and make disciples…”. We certainly would agree with that, but the verse continues. After we make disciples and baptize them – we are to “Teach them to obey”. We are to teach obedience. We are to teach that we need to conform to the image of Christ. We are to teach people to do every Jesus taught.
God wants to take your life and make you more like Jesus, but as C. S. Lewis says, He needs your permission. You have free will. You can choose not to grow. You can choose not to change. How are you doing? Are you allowing God to do His work in your life? Are you ‘SEEKING’ to be more like Jesus?
Some of you may have that desire, but don’t know where to start. Let me help you. The place to start, 1. is prayer. As we study Jesus’ life, we see prayer was a ‘huge’ part of it. He was always going to a garden, or to a grove of trees, or to a mountain or beside the sea, to connect with the Father in prayer. He did that daily. That’s a good example for us. Pray daily. Pray earnestly. If anyone did not need to pray – it would certainly seem to be Jesus. But He did pray – and He prayed often.
How often do we pray? I like acrostic words. “PUSH” is one. Pray until something happens. I don’t know about you – but prayer is work. It takes energy. But it centers us. It focus’s us. It helps us get our priorities right. And it resupplies our depleted spiritual stores.
Start with prayer to become more Christ-like. Ask God for wisdom and guidance. Give Him permission to change you. Ask Him to transform you into Jesus’ image.
Secondly, to become more Christ-like, get into God’s Word. The bible is the revealed word of God. He reveals what His desire is for us. He reveals His will as to what we should not do. He reveals what He wants us to do. Paul likens it to taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes. God’s Word tells us the habits and attitudes and acts He wants us to stop doing. It tells us what qualities and characteristic and spiritual fruit He wants us to ADD and produce in our lives. It tells us what we should not think about and what we should think about.
The Bible is a fantastic, miraculous Book. It truly is the greatest book ever written. We ought to read it every single day of our lives. Its pages ought to seep into every inch of our being. It ought to influence what we say, how we act, and even what we think about. Learn to love this wonderful Book.
To become Christ-like, 3, we need to take up Jesus’ mission. He said,
“Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21-22
As the Father sent Jesus out into the world to minister to people, so is Jesus sending us. We are to be His voice. He is to tenderly touch through our hands. He sees through our eyes. He walks where our feet take Him. Jesus is in us. In His great prayer for us He prayed,
“I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." John 17:26
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Jesus’ desire is that He may dwell in our hearts. And He does, through the Holy Spirit. When He sent the disciples (and us) out into the world he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” They didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until about a month later at Pentecost. But when they did – God turned the world upside down through them. He can do the same through us. C. S. Lewis says,
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. “
To be Christ-like, we (4) need to have our hearts and minds on heavenly things. We need to have the right perspective. We need to have the right priorities. As busy as I am I could not make it if I did not start each day out with Scripture and prayer. My devotional time is like a knot on the end of a frayed rope. If I don’t do it – the rope (my life) becomes more and more frayed and unraveled until, if left unattended, would become a tangled, confused, useless mess. I need to tie the knot. I need to set the sail. I need to point the compass in the right direction. I need to start my day by setting my heart and mind on heavenly things.
I want to conclude by reminded you that if we serve Christ, if we do His will – we will receive His reward. He says,
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
John 12:26
Peter says, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
1 Peter 5:4
It is so important to always keep in mind that we are eternal creatures, created in God’s image, to accomplish God’s will. That is the only way we can be happy and centered. Out of God’s will is sorrow and pain. He is the creator of life and love and joy and peace and every good thing. Serving Him leads to honor and glory and inexpressible joy. I don’t know about you – but I am going to live for Him – forever!
Maybe you have lost your focus and gotten off track. Perhaps you find the world is squeezing you into its mould. It’s time to come back. It’s as simple as praying a prayer like this.
Dear Jesus,
I confess I have gotten off track. I have wander away from your will. Please forgive me. Change my heart and mind. I give you my soul and heart. Lead me into your paths of righteousness. Fill me with Your Spirit. Use me to accomplish your will in my world.
“Fill My Cup, Lord”
