Sermon Central
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Sand Transformation
Contributed by Craig Benner on Oct 21, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: Sand is not too exciting. In fact it is dirty and gritty. But there is a process that can make sand into something useful and clean. It is same with our lives, when we allow the process of the grace of God to work in us and through us.
When Sand is Transformed
Re 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
The children of God are referred to as the sand of the sea on many occasions.
Isa. 10:22; Hosea 1:10; Ro. 9:27; Gen. 32:12
SAND
Sand is gritty. It will make you raw and irritate the flesh.
It is usually dark as dirt.
Sand is unstable; it shifts so easily. It cannot be trusted to hold its shape for any length of time. It does not make for a good support; it gives way so easily.
A little moisture on the sand and it becomes pliable and moldable.
Sand castles may look pretty for the moment, but their beauty will not last long.
When it dries up, the wind will blow it all away.
When the waves come crashing in, the sand castle is demolished.
When sand succumbs to an immense heating process, it begins a drastic change.
In the New Mexico desert in 1945, some scientists were testing a certain type of an atomic bomb. The explosion turned the sand in the immediate area into a pool of glass.
GLASS
Glass is sand that has been transformed.
It is heated.
It is crushed.
It is sifted.
After it has been heated and melted, it cools back down, but does not turn back into the gritty yellow substance that it was before. It has gained an entirely different inner structure. It never sets into a complete solid.
Now it is smooth and rigid. Or if the Master Craftsman desires, it can be made into a unique shape.
It has become transparent.
Glass is 100% recycleable. If for any reason it is broken or shattered, it can be sent back through the process and become perfect glass once again.
1 Jn. 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
At the throne of God, sand is not present; only a sea of glass.
There is treasure in the sand.
Dt. 33:19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
Literally, out of the sand in Israel they are finding a wealth of oil.
We also know that the people of God are His treasure. It could be speaking of a refining word being done that will be revealed in a clear and transparent manner.
Ps 135:4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
