The "In Christ" Metamorphosis

The “In Christ” Metamorphosis

- Vanita George (20/04/2005)

(WOV Fire Group)

Introduction:

The title for my message today is “The ‘In Christ’ Metamorphosis”. I did my Bachelors in Zoology and I guess that’s where I’ve picked this term ‘Metamorphosis’. Most of us must know what it means but it simply means the process by which a ‘Worm’ or ‘Caterpillar’ turns into a beautiful colorful ‘Butterfly’. When a Caterpillar, the Worm is enclosed in a Cocoon, which is a shell that is a little hard so that the worm inside is protected. But as the worm GROWS, it begins to break out of the shell, shake itself and FLY away as a butterfly with beautiful wings. Hallelujah! I guess you already must be getting the implication of where I am going. At one stage of my life, when I was walking by myself, in my spirit I literally felt like I was breaking out of a cocoon and taking off as a butterfly – there was a real change happening on the Inside of me and it has been good. I haven’t really been having much time on hand and as I was meditating on the Lord and asking Him for a Word to share today, He dropped this into my Spirit real clear and I believe that He will minister through this Word to your hearts today.

My key verse for today is Isaiah 52:1,2: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion”.

As the Holy Spirit laid this verse in my heart, He wanted me to prophetically tell someone over here that from the time you were conceived in your mother’s womb, from the day you were conceived in the heart and mind of God – He saw you “BEAUTIFUL”. And you’ve gone here and there, got yourself muddled and dirtied up trying to fill and satisfy the emptiness in your soul, and the enemy has had a ball at your expense and you feel battered within and helpless and the Lord wants says, “You are Holy unto me. Shake off the dust from yourself, remove the bonds and wear the garments that I have sown for you with my blood, with my self and my life”.

Firstly, I’d like to talk about the ‘Worm’, about ‘You’ and ‘I’:

a) Fear & Weakness: The Bible says in Isaiah 41:14 “Fear Not, you Worm Jacob”! When I say Worm I mean someone who is a newborn, who has just had an encounter, a revelation of God. Jacob as we all might know means “the Deceiver”. Once Jacob had an encounter with Jehovah, he then became an Israel. The Deceiver now became known as the House of God. When we first accept Christ we are ‘birthed’ into the kingdom of God. The scriptures say that we become a new person, renewed after the mind of Christ. That means we have shed darkness and we have decided to walk in the light. God has removed the heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh, writing His Word thereon.

Self-testimony – when I didn’t know the Lord it was as if I was lost and life had no meaning. I constantly questioned Him about the Purpose of Life and why things were happening to me the way they were. I didn’t know why I was born, I didn’t know why I was living and I didn’t know where I was heading either. I lived because I had to. But then, I met the Lord, and believe me when the King steps in, He does step in with style. Before I knew Him it was my own righteousness and not His, but after I knew Him, I felt “the worm” that I was. I would sleep myself and write in my diary saying, “If there is a God answer me” and even at that stage I was going to the traditional church the whole time. Even my very countenance would look real sad and I was confused.

b) Recognition of Need: The Worm can’t really do much by itself. When I came to the Lord I recognized my ‘Nothingness’ with Christ and my NEED for this God. I was still muddled up and squirmy but I had made a beginning, a fresh start. I still was in the ground, finding my way and had not yet dared to soar high.

The first step to knowing Christ is “recognizing” that in your own strength you just can’t do it and need this Jesus, you see yourself as a WORM needing direction, help and guidance, from someone, from the King. As you go closer and closer to God, you stop feeling like a worm but this need and dependency on Him gets stronger and stronger.