Transformed

As a young man I was never interested in religion. By religion I mean the external traditions and trappings that most faiths, including Christianity, develop. I was, however, very interested in the possibility of a spiritual reality, which always seemed just out of my reach. In my more thoughtful moods, before I became a Christian, I would ask myself three searching questions. All three questions have, I suspect, concerned every human being on this planet, at some point in their lives.
The first question sounds simple but has profound implications. I sometimes wondered, “Is there a God?” Is there an all-mighty, all-knowing Divine Being who has a plan for humanity and who is in ultimate control?
The second question was both personal and universal. It was this, “How can I become a better person?” All of my attempts at self-improvement ended in frustration and disappointment. New Year’s Resolutions seldom lasted beyond January! Permanent, meaningful character development seemed frustratingly impossible.
The third question, which combines elements of the first two, was this, “Is there any meaning or significance to my existence? Is there more to life than eating, drinking, sleeping and waking?” Dared I believe that I, and every other human being, might have an eternal and significant purpose?
Having discovered the answer to the first question I attempt in this book to explore the Bible’s answers to the second and third. The following chapters record my own journey of discovery, aided by the truth of God’s Word and the wise counsel of the Holy Spirit. You, the reader, will be delighted to share my joy and wonder at affirming that there is a loving, gracious God who has an amazing plan for our lives and who has both the desire and the ability to transform us into something infinitely better than we were when we first came to Him!
Picture a butterfly chrysalis. You would scarcely believe that something so beautiful and free as a butterfly could spring forth from something so ordinary and restricting. Now, picture your own life. It may be even harder to believe that your inner self might be transformed – even by the power and grace of God. Dare we believe that we could become spiritually transformed into His workmanship, into people full of light, purity, freedom, beauty and power? And can we believe that God has an even more astonishing plan for us than merely improving on the desperate person who gladly grasped His offer of salvation? How could you or I ever fulfil God’s stated plan for us, to become the “likeness” of Jesus? The Bible makes such a promise and if it is indeed true, as I am convinced that it is, then how can God perform this astonishing work in us?
Our transformation can only begin when we personally accept the truth and power of the words of Christ1. What is the truth about individual transformation, as taught by the Bible? The New Testament provides the answers, and we will explore these in detail throughout this book. The Old Testament also contains promises of personal, individual transformation, as it anticipates the ministry of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. One example of these Old Testament promises is expressed in Isaiah 61:3. Here we are encouraged to accept that we need not be permanently shaped by our sinfulness, by genes or by negative circumstances; rather we can be transformed by God for His glory:
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” 2

Although there is a specific context to these promises (“them that mourn in Zion”) there is nothing in this passage that is not promised repeatedly, throughout the Bible. Indeed, Jesus quotes these words at the beginning of His ministry, as His divine manifesto. These promises are made by God to the individual – Jew or Gentile – who seeks God through salvation in Christ with all of his or her heart. God’s promise to such a person is this: you provide the ashes and He will transform them into something beautiful, for His glory. This is Good News!
It is said that when the master sculptor looks at a block of stone he already sees in it the statue or carving that he will create. We may look like unpromising blocks of stone in our own eyes but when the Master Craftsman looks at us, He already sees Christ formed within us! He sees us not just as we are but as we will be. You may struggle with faith for yourself but God has no difficulty in believing that He can transform you, if you are willing.
As we shall see, God has guaranteed your ultimate transformation into the likeness of Christ, in His divinely inspired book, the Bible. Search it for yourself to see the wonderful promises He is making to you. I have now followed Christ for over thirty years and, to my great joy and excitement, I have observed – in my own life and in the lives of others – the miraculous transformative power of these promises made real in believing individuals by the work of the Holy Spirit. In a world full of empty claims, Christianity, when wholeheartedly lived and faithfully applied, works! Any promise of any kind is only effective when backed up by the means to make good on it. When we believe that the promises of the Bible have all the weight, authority and resources of heaven behind them we can stake our lives and our eternal destinies on them.