Pursuing Transformation
2 Corinthians 3:18 says that “we are being transformed into his likeness.” Most Christ-followers would readily admit that this is, in fact, the goal of God’s work in our lives—to make us more like Christ. However, many Christ-followers are not sure exactly how to pursue this transformation, and fewer still are actually being transformed.
In this series of posts, I would like to layout a roadmap for transformation. The diagram above is a graphic representation of the cyclical process I think Christ-followers must go though in order to “transformed into his likeness.” Let’s look at each element in this diagram.
Consecration
It all begins with consecration—dedicating ourselves to God. Romans 12:1-2 lays out the Scriptural foundation for this idea. Paul spends the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans explaining the reality of the Gospel—we are sinners, our sin separates us from God, we cannot overcome our sin problem by ourselves, God intervened in the person of Jesus Christ, and through Jesus we can be saved. Then he comes to chapter twelve and verse one where he says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
We might summarize Paul’s point this way: God has done for you what you could not do for yourself. He acted to help you overcome the sin problem and get reconnected to God. And when you really stop and think about the grace he has shown you, it should cause you to want to live differently—to be transformed. The first step in this process, according to the text, is to consecrate yourself fully to God.
Paul calls his readers to think about God’s mercy and then, in response, to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice. The word “bodies” literally means your physical body and everything you do with it. The word was used to denote the entirety of your person. Paul is asking his readers to give everything they are, everything they think, and everything they do to God as a sacrifice. This is the call to consecration.
I grew up in church, so I have heard a lot of ideas, thoughts, teachings, and concepts related to the faith journey. Some of them made sense. Some of them didn’t. One of the ideas that made sense was a phrase that preachers used to use (some still do). It was this: Settle the Lordship issue. This phrase simply means that a person needs to make a decision regarding who is going to be the leader of his/her life. Will you lead your life? Or will you allow God to lead your life? This is a question every person serious about faith needs to answer. It effects everything else in life.
When Paul is asking people to consecrate themselves, he is asking them to settle the Lordship Issue—Is God going to direct your life…all of it? If you really want to experience the power of the transformation cycle, the answer to this question needs to be “YES!”
