Series: This is Why! : “Change and Jesus”

(Romans 8:28-29; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 4:19)

1. our fall series entitled This is Why. This is why we exist. This is why we do what we do. We’re talking about our mission & values.

2. 2 weeks ago I covered our mission statement – we exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love others.

3. we have 5 values: worship, prayer (Kyle last week), transformation, community & prayer. This week I want to focus our attention upon our transformation value.

4. pray

change
1. how many of you like change? Most of us are creatures of habit & are slow to embrace change. But have you ever thought about this – our Christian faith is all about change. To be a follower of Christ requires, even demands, that we embrace change.

2. when we say Yes to Jesus as our Savior & Lord, a life-time of change begins. Change with regards to our –
§ sinful nature
§ life purpose & destiny
§ perspectives on greatness ambition success
§ relationship to money sex power
§ understanding of politics
§ use of time
§ marriage & family
§ the poor & disenfranchised of our world
3. transformation means change. God is in the process of changing us. That’s what I want to talk about today.

4. a few of us went to the Oregon-Cal game at Autzen yesterday. We took along an avid Beaver fan. Even though the Ducks lost (beat themselves) our Beaver Nation friend changed colors & became a Duck follower – that’s transformation!

the big picture
1. 1st I want to give you the ‘big picture’ view of the Bible & human history. I give you 1 name & 4 words.

2. Triune God of grace – everything begins with God, Father Son Spirit. God has existed forever in a community of love, unity & joy.

3. creation – God creates the world. He populates it with people. Why? So that he could bring us into the circle of his love. He creates the human race in his image & likeness. All is good.

4. fall – Genesis 3 begins Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. There’s been a rebellion among a group of angels in heaven. Some have chosen to go off on their own following Satan.

5. Satan tempts Eve. Both Adam & Eve disobey God & eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. At that split second everything changes. God’s perfect creation is spoiled. Sin contaminates every part of creation. The world fragments.

6. salvation – God sends his Son Jesus to fix things. Read I Timothy 2:3-6 tell us how. This is the good news:
à God is our Savior NOT just our Creator
à Jesus is God = one God
à Jesus is man = the man Christ Jesus
à Jesus is our ransom = we were born in bondage to sin & judgment, unable to save ourselves, unable to reverse the affects of the fall. Jesus paid the price for our deliverance on the cross
à Jesus is the one mediator between God & men = implied resurrection, Jesus lives on as our exalted, heavenly, mediator Savior
Jesus alone reverses the affects of the fall.

7. restoration – but Jesus doesn’t stop at redemption. He is going to restore all things to its Eden-like existence. A new heaven & a new earth. Salvation & restoration touch everything, absolutely everything in creation, from sub-atomic atoms to Adam’s race.

8. Triune God Creation Fall Salvation Restoration. Transformation occurs within this bigger picture. After coming to Jesus we participate in the life of the church. We learn & apply Scripture to our lives. We build relationships with others. We pray. We serve. We sacrifice. We love. We worship with all that we have & all that we are. We tell others about Jesus. In Jesus we participate in salvation & restoration.

9. clay salmon mounted on a heavy piece of wire in the flower bed at our front door. I broke it one day trimming the shrubs. Heather took it & super-glued it back together:
à creator – Diane Wright
à creation – she shaped, painted, fired the fish
à fall – I broke it
à salvation – Heather glued it
à restoration – put back in the flower bed
Once we say “yes” to Jesus & enter into his life, we spend the rest of our lives between being glued back together & placed in the flower bed. This is transformation (sanctification).

Transformation
1. I have 4 New Testament texts that I want to cover.

2. Romans 8:28-29: what does God want for us? To be conformed to the likeness of his Son. This is not a superficial conformity. This is inward, deep & thorough.

3. there’s some expansive theological concepts here that I don’t have time to unpack – calling, foreknowledge, predestination. What I want you to get is this – the end result of God’s work in our life is transformation into the likeness of Jesus. God wants to shape & form us to be like his Son.

4. and because of our sin nature, our selfishness, our stubbornness this is a life-time change. We never arrive.

5. Romans 12:1-2: 12:1 has to do with our bodies – offer them to God as living sacrifices. 12:2 has to do with our minds – be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Again, this speaks of a deep inward change.

6. here’s how the process works: 1st we apply our minds to the reading & study of God’s Word by the Spirit’s leading. 2nd we find ourselves increasingly able to discern & desire God’s will. 3rd as a result we are transformed, changed in our character & conduct. We choose Christ. We become more like Christ.

7. 2 Corinthians 3:18: the background for this is Moses coming down from Mt Sinai after spending time in God’s presence. He face was shining & radiant with God’s glory. He had to veil himself.

8. Paul picks up on this & applies it to our transformation. Again, we are being transformed into his likeness. The Lord who is the Spirit is doing the transforming.

9. by the Holy Spirit’s power at work in our lives we progressively experience more & more freedom to obey God. This results in our being changed into the likeness of Christ. This is a deep, inward change that we are powerless to produce on our own. It must come from God as we surrender to the work of his Spirit in our lives.

10. Galatians 4:19: here is Paul’s heart for Christ-followers. Until Christ is formed in you. Until you take the shape of Christ. Paul goes into labor for those in the church NOT just that Christ would dwell in them BUT that Christ would be seen & formed in them.

The goal
1. the goal of transformation is to become like Jesus.

2. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity the Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. To become new men means losing what we now call ‘ourselves.’ Out of our selves, into Christ, we must go. The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. Lewis calls this process Transformation.

3. of our 5 values transformation is our foundational value. Unless we are inwardly & deeply changed into the image of Christ we will fail to worship, pray, build community & engage in mission in a Christ-honoring & kingdom-spreading manner.

4. we are entering a new threshold in the life of our church. Over the past few years we have been through the fire – the fire of some internal conflict & the fire of our church building.

5. fire is a metaphor for cleansing & refining in Scripture. God wants us to rise from the ashes. Into new life. Into new pathways of transformation. Into new avenues of change.

6. God wants to create a CAC church culture of revolution, renovation, change, transformation, sanctification, growth & metamorphosis. We’ve been targeted by God. And ours is to surrender.

7. transformation is the key to our future. The key to becoming a praying church. A worshipping church. A community-minded church. A missional church. No transformation – no difference-making for the kingdom of God.

8. I love apples which is part of the reason I love the fall. Liken your life in Christ to producing apples. Some of us have produced blossoms for years & that’s all. Some of us have produced walnut-sized apples but little else. Others of us have produced green apples ready to ripen. How many of us have produced a ripe, crisp, sweet honey crisp apple?

9. Christ is waiting within us to produce apples of his kingdom work in & through out lives.

10. this morning I challenge you to pursue transformation is Christ. Move on. Move ahead!