To transform something is to change the form of that thing. The form of a thing is the structure, the construction, the design and the mold of that thing. To transform then is to change from one form to another form. This involves converting, redoing, reconstructing, renewing or remaking.
To illustrate the process of transformation, we are going to use an agricultural product, a piece of yam. A lump of yam is peeled, cut into pieces and, dried. It can then be ground into powder or flour. What we have simply done here is that we have changed or converted the yam from one form to another form. This is just a simple example of transformation.
We shall now look at how this relates to Christ and His goal of transforming humans.
First, we must go back to the beginning when man was created. You may recall, according to Scriptures, that man was created in the image of God. In the very likeness of the Almighty was he created. Genesis 1 verses 26 and 27.
Man was glorious in beauty when he was in the image of God. He demonstrated all the attributes of God. At this time, man did God's bidding, he had fellowship with God and oozed the glory and power of God.
However, something happened that changed all that.
Man was changed or transformed from the image of God into the image of the devil. This was exactly what happened when man ganged up with Satan to rebel against the Almighty God. This happened in the garden of Eden when man agreed with Satan and moved against God by rebelling against His Word. This was referred to as the fall of man. It was indeed the fall because it was the time when man was emptied of God's nature. Man now became endowed with another nature, that is, the nature of Satan. Man became obsessed with himself, always in the throes of evil.
The bible says in Genesis 6 verse 5, 'And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.'
What happened at the fall of man was that the devil downloaded his nature into man. Man became a carrier of the devil, a walking disaster.
Anyone who has studied the history of man from the time of the fall until now will not dispute the fact that man's nature is the complete opposite of the nature of God who created him. The evidence is there everywhere you look, on every continent, in every country, in every city, in every town and in every village. Man turned his back on God.
However, the truth is that God had always had a plan for man. His plan was to transform or recreate man from the image of the devil back into the image of God.
At the fall of man, the Almighty spoke about the coming of the Seed of the woman. Genesis 3 verse 15. The Seed of the woman was to be the person, by the plan of God, who would be produced by the human race and who would succeed where the first Adam failed. This Seed of the woman would invite all mankind to Himself and give everyone the opportunity to be remade in the image of God.
In all of human history, the only person to fit the description of the Seed of the woman was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was born of a woman and He championed the cause of the human race in a way no one else could. He would often refer to Himself as the Son of Man. Luke 5 verse 24. The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 11 verse 28, ''Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''
The plan of God is that as we carried the image of the fallen first Adam, we must also carry the image of the Seed of the woman who is the last Adam. This is why the bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 49, 'And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.'
Therefore, anyone who wants to escape the wrath of God and the fires of hell must key into the plan of God and be recreated in the image of the last Adam.
The Seed of the woman, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born into the world over 2,000 years ago. Humans do not have any excuse to remain in the image of the devil. If we truly play our part, God will play His part.
Therefore, as we embrace God's plan, as we repent of our sins, as we fall in love with Jesus Christ by believing on Him and as we bury our will in His will, we are being transformed into His image. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18 says, 'But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'
Paths to transformation:
1. Believing God's plan
2. Repentance
3. New birth
4. Growing into His image
No comments:
Post a Comment