I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 ESV
One of the biggest themes running throughout sacred Scripture is that of transformation. Of change, of moving from damnation under the wrath of God; to salvation by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once we are saved, that's when the real warfare begins. Because it is than, that the world, Satan, and our own flesh become our mortal enemies; with only one purpose to make our Christian walk ineffective, to make our life count for nothing, to waste it. We, who have been Christians for some time, we realize that our enemies would be successful against us. For, in our own strength, they are enemies to strong for us. We also realize that we are not to rest on our strength. It is the power of God than saved us and it is His power we rest on in the spiritual warfare against our strong enemies.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 ESV
Who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:21 ESV
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might. Ephesians 1:19 ESV
We need divine power in order to be transformed. We needed divine power to get out of the kingdom of darkness, Satan's kingdom. (Colossians 1:13) And we need divine power to have our minds, hearts, intention changed from conformity to the world, Satan, and our flesh, to conformity to the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ.
What does the Word of God tell us, so that this transformation is worked out in our lives.
And, we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
The transformation that we need is a spiritual and moral one as we grow in Christlikeness (by the power of the Holy Spirit), it is a progressive growth as we become more and more like the image of God which was corrupted at the fall of Adam. (Reformation Study Bible) As we see the glory of Christ; in our reading of the word, hearing it preached, preaching it to ourselves, meditating on it and trying to live it out, we see the loveliness of our dear Savior, and that is power that will change our hearts. All we need to do is to go to Him there on the cross and see your sins and my sins been heaped upon Him, we need just go there, every now and then and just look up at His suffering for our sake. We need to go back and read in the gospel of His agony, as He looked ahead and saw the separation, the hell, the wrath that He,would have to endure when our sins were placed on Him and the full price of hell, and the Father's wrath would be satisfied in Him. and He pleaded with His Father if there was any other way, that the Father could do, other than this, do it that way. Look at our Savior and let your heart be changed, look at our Savior and let your life be changed. He died for you and me.
The word of God is powerful, sin is a evil, wicked thing. It is so bad, that once Adam gave in to Satan, and brought humankind under its power. The only rescue for humankind was Divine Power. That is the only thing that can bring sin under control, and ultimately destroy it. The Word of God is able to get into the darkest recess of our souls, and yes I am talking about saved people, the darkness that is still in us, The word of God can penetrate to our deepest point and work a work of grace. It can transform us and makes us more like Jesus Christ.
One of the amazing things about the Christian life is that sin has made suffering inevitable for us, we suffer, it is a fact of life, and Christians are not free from it, as some preach, the record of Scripture is clear for anyone to see that. But, the amazing thing is this; David lived through must suffering, yet, he wrote words of his experience with God, that were joyous. The Apostles suffered greatly and we believe they all met with violent deaths, yet what greater words of joy, peace, love can we find that can compare with their words. Look at the lives of the Prophets, the life of Job. Read the history of men who have been used throughout Church history, you will see pretty much the same thing. The record of Scripture and the record of Church history would condemn a lot of the preaching of today, that would suggest that suffering by a Christian is not biblical. That kind of thing is clearly in error.
Be transformed by the Spirit of Christ working in and through the Word of God, don't surrender to the traditions of men, which lay aside the doctrines of God. Look to Jesus Christ, our gracious Savior and be changed, man can't change the heart, amazingly the only power that can is divine power. Christ always stands ready and able to change us, Look to Jesus while it is still Today!
Blessings in Christ our gracious Lord and Savior!
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