SPIRITUAL METAMORPHOSIS: A PROFOUND CHANGE IN NATURE

We derive our English word metamorphosis from the Greek metamorphoo which is a key word in understanding God’s plan for mankind. Metamorphoo means to transform, to form or fashion, to change or cause to change completely in form or nature. Metamorphoo can be physical or spiritual, and carries the sense of transformation into something elevated... better... more beautiful. The butterfly is transformed from a caterpillar via the cocoon by changing its outward form to reflect its inner DNA. As applied to saints metamorphoo means to change the outward expression of our nature to an expression that represents... reflects, our regenerated inner nature: Literally, to conform to our divine inner nature... the implanted DNA of our Savior. 

Metamorphoo is translated “transfigured” and “transformed” in scriptures, which are synonymous terms, and is used four times: In Matt. 17:2 and Mark 9:2 Jesus is transfigured... transformed: The Lord allowed the glory of His internal supernatural nature to change His outward physical expression -- radiating glory through His human body -- and His form became resplendent, shinning like the sun, affirming His essential glory as Jesus the Messiah. In Rom. 12:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18 saints are transformed with a renewed nature, the nature of Christ, by a lifelong spiritual process of change into Christlikeness. Metamorphosis in the natural realm is a predetermined process that follows the implanted DNA plan of living organisms. Metamorphoo in the supernatural realm is a predetermined process following the plan of the Holy Spirit in whosoever will. These three verses capture the essence of the saint’s transformation process:

“For those whom He foreknew (of whom He was aware and loved beforehand) He also predestined from the beginning, foreordaining them to be molded into the image of His Son and share inwardly His likeness, that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29, Amp. Bible)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continued to behold in the Word of God as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured (changed) into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18, Amp. Bible)

“Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude), so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you.” (Rom. 12:2, Amp. Bible)

God’s plan from the get-go has been the complete metamorphosis of man, in both spiritual nature and physical form, into one befitting His Kingdom -- into the nature and form of His Beloved Son. Transformation frees us from bondage to the desires of Self, our fleshly carnal nature, and liberates us from the limitations of our physical bodies. God predestined this for all His children, that His Son might “become the firstborn among many brethren.” As we continue to behold in the Word of God the glory of our Lord -- setting our mind on His Kingdom -- we will be, progressively, renewed... transformed in nature... literally made new again... and qualitatively better, becoming a new creation.  Paul told us a mystery in 1 Cor. 15 50-54: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Our renewed spiritual nature, the nature of Christ, will need a renewed physical body, a glorified spiritual body, to walk the streets of gold with. The transformation of our physical body into a glorified spiritual body... our Glorification, will occur when our Lord comes to fetch us home. The Master Potter is at work, His hands are upon us, ever molding and shaping us into vessels of honor fit for Kingdom life. These are a few of the many passages that attest to our spiritual metamorphosis. You see... we are just caterpillars, but God... He wants to transform us into beautiful butterflies...

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED

THE GREATEST COMMISSION: ROMANS 12:1-2

The Apostle Paul was concerned with the way his Roman brethren were living out their Christian experience.  Rome in the first century had some unfortunate parallels to Sodom and Gomorrah during Lot’s time.  And, apparently, the Roman saint’s were displaying a lifestyle that had changed very little since their conversion. Fast forward two thousand years: Same problem, different country -- the modern church in the United States.    

In Romans 12:1 Paul begs his fellow believers to submit to the Lordship of Jesus: “I appeal to you therefore, my fellow believers, and beg you by all the mercies and tender compassion of God, that you make a decisive dedication of your bodies presenting body, soul, spirit, mind, heart, and will, as a living sacrifice, holy, devoted and consecrated to God. This pleases God and is your reasonable, rational and intelligent divine service -- your spiritual worship -- to God.” (John’s translation) A “living sacrifice” is a continual sacrifice, as the Greek present participle so indicates, a lifelong sacrificial process of dying to Self that Christ might reign in our hearts and minds. (Gal. 2:20) God views this as an offering of pure worship, esteeming His worth by our sacrifice, and is pleased. Lordship is a willful change of ownership prompted by “the mercies and tender compassion of God”: “And you are not your own ... For you were bought at a price (purchased with preciousness and paid for by Christ) ... The precious blood of Christ.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Peter 1:18-19)

In Romans 12:2 Paul commands his fellow believers to embrace Transformation through mental renewal: “Brethren, stop assuming a lifestyle that is not representative of your inner spiritual nature, but is patterned after this world.  Change your way of living to express and reflect your inner spiritual nature by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve in practice God’s will, His good, well-pleasing and complete will.” (John’s translation) As brethren... saint’s, we have the DNA of our Lord’s nature implanted deep within our spirit, waiting to be manifested through us by the Holy Spirit. It is in the willful setting of our mind that we choose, moment by moment, to walk according to the indwelling Spirit of God or according to our fleshly carnal nature... Self, to set our minds on things above or things below. Choosing rightly, consistently, will develop the spiritual discipline of walking in the Spirit... being led by the Spirit of God, putting to death by the Spirit the deeds of the body. And this leads to sonship, becoming children of God! (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16)

What matters now and in Rome two thousand years ago is not that we are Christians.  What matters is that we are Christlike.  God’s goal is not a label – God’s goal is a lifestyle. Romans 12:1 establishes the believer’s relationship to God: He is Lord and we are His devoted Love-Slaves. God made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:18), and as Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, He brings salvation.  But He is also the Lord God Almighty, and total submission as a bondservant... Love-Slave, to His lordship is mandatory. Romans 12:2 commands change, Transformation into the very nature and attributes of Christ, in a word... Christlikeness. Self must die that the Christ-Life can come forth!

Together, Romans 12:1and 2 form the Greatest Commission of scriptures, for it is in Lordship and Transformation that we are equipped for the “righteous works” God has prepared for us. The great Love Commandments, the Great Commission, everything we are and do in Christ comes forth from the release of His essence within our spirit, as we are changed from the inside out. This is how we become vessels of honor fit for Kingdom service. This is how we release the Holy Spirit to manifest Christ in us. This is how the Christ-Life flows through us -- a Life living its Life through our life – making us Salt and Light to a dying world. This, in a sense, is the whole enchilada... what we call salvation.

A LIVING SACRIFICE

SHALOM LIFE

Hebrew words go beyond their spoken pronunciation, conveying feeling, intent and emotion. Shalom, though commonly used as a greeting and farewell, means much more than simply “Peace”, “Hello”, or “Goodbye.” Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, and harmony -- the absence of agitation or discord -- with the sense of “to pay for... to be fully paid.” Peace is the Shalom of God, wholeness, well-being, harmony and rest that is fully paid for. God’s Peace... His Shalom, defies our understanding because it is completely absence of agitation, discord and anxiety, even during the storms of life. Shalom does not ignore adversity, it conquers adversity! The Shalom of God is the essence of our salvation.

Many search for fulfillment, happiness and contentment, in the pleasures, passions and possessions of life, never realizing they are really searching for Shalom. The bling of this life serves only to distract, hinder and prevent us from finding true peace, and can never fill that little hole in our soul that can only be filled by God. There is only one way to find true Shalom... true peace, and that is to find God or, more precisely, to be found by the searching God who passionately pursues every person as long as they have breath. We cannot have the “peace that passes understanding” without knowing the God that defies understanding.

The “God of Peace” dispenses peace from His Kingdom of peace as a gift. Jesus is called Sar Shalom, the “Prince of Peace”, and as the preincarnate word gave His disciples peace, not as the world gives but as only He could give: “These things I have spoken … that in Me you may have peace.” We will find God’s Shalom... His peace, in Christ... in “The Word Made Flesh”...  in the words He spoke. Christ said He came that we may have Life... abundantly eternal life... abundantly peaceful life. Shalom Life can only come from Him who created and put all things into place. There is only one way to find true Shalom - and that is in the Word of God. Therefore “Study to …

THE PEACE OF GOD

“FOR AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS HEART...

Behind every word or action of life lies a thought, the mental process preceding all human activities. It is here in the deep regions of what God’s word calls the “Heart” and the world calls the “Mind” that a battle for control rages: To control one’s thoughts is to control one’s life. This spiritual warfare is often subtle, often painful, and always deadly, for something must die.  

Saints, we are not some squalid run down thought-hostel accepting the riff-raff thoughts of this world, at least we shouldn’t be. Our heavenly Father is in residence; our body is His temple... His Holy of Holies. God said it... and it is true. (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19-20) We must allow this reality to change us. Jesus, in referring to the ruler of this world, said, “he has nothing in Me” (Jn. 14:30): he has no claim on me; there is nothing in me that belongs to him so he has no power over me. Satan had no place of access to put his thoughts into our Savior’s mind. What Jesus was saying is “he (satan) has no thoughts in me.” The Apostle Paul spoke of this when he said “Nor give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27): Leave no room... dwelling place, or foothold for the devil -- give no opportunity to him. What Paul was saying is “Do not give satan a dwelling place... access point, to induce thoughts into your heart.” Let us be diligent to remember that our bodies belong to the Lord -- purchased by His Son and inhabited by His Spirit. We are just property managers of God, charged with keeping His temple clean, free from thoughts that would pollute and be offensive to Him. (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Jn. 3:3)

The enemy’s most effective thought-tool is desire, the most powerful and compelling of thoughts. Jesus warned of the saint’s desire for pleasure and the “other things” of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and our concern... preoccupation, with this life. (Sower Parables) To where... or to what, we set our desire will determine our fate in this life and in the next life to come. Jesus called our earthly desires thorns that surround and choke... suffocate, His life giving Word. We need to stay out of the thorn bushes of misplaced desires if we want to avoid getting pricked to death.

The “pure in heart” are blessed with “clean hands”, for action follows thoughts: They shall “ascend the mountain of God ... stand in His holy place ... for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5: 8; Ps. 24:3-4) The pure in heart understand a stronghold at its core is just a fortress of thoughts, a fortification of misplaced desires Self does not want to give up: They have rooted out and pulled down every last renegade stronghold, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5) The pure in heart have set their heart on things above, not on the things of earth-life, for they have died and their life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:2-3) The pure in heart have trained their heart to meditate on true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, praiseworthy thoughts, allowing the peace of God to mount guard over their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7-9).

The pure in heart are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and committed to the death of Self, for they know they are in a war. An unleashed mind, with thoughts flying in free-association like a ping pong ball, is the beachhead of the enemy's assault. Victory comes through jerking the lease, bringing every thought into subjection to Christ – obedience to His will, words, and ways -- until discipline creates a spiritual habit. Daydreaming is not good dreaming unless it is God dreaming. Controlling that space between our ears, heeding and heeling to the Holy Spirit, is essential to a renewed mind. And without a renewed mind... well, we would be better off with no mind at all...

SO IS HE... “

(Prov. 23:7)