HOW TO BE TRANSFORMED
HOW TO BE TRANSFORMED?
We all want to experience change. How can we change from whom we are to whom we desire to be or whom God really created us to be? There are three major ways linked together but distinct.
Through effective prayers.
Mat 17:1-3 KJV 1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
In the text Jesus took three of His disciples to the mountain apart. What were they doing and why were they there? What causes the transfiguration that Jesus experienced?
Luke helped us with the answer.
Luk 9:28-29 KJV 28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.
They were there for prayers and it was in the course of praying that Jesus was transfigured before them. His fashion appearance was altered. The Greek word used for “altered” there is “heteros” which means another. In order words, He was altered into another form other than He used to be.
This was similar to what happened to Moses after spending 40 days with God in communication. I believe it was a prayer session.
Exo 34:29-30 KJV 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
This tells us that when we are praying things are changing and altering. We are altered. We can be changed and we can alter things too. We can effect a change around us, in us.
My testimony
Another way we can be transformed is when we begin to renew our mind with the word of God.
Rom 12:1-2 KJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The same word they used for transfigured in Mt 17:2-3 is the same Greek word used for transformed here. It is metamorpho. Our mind is the headquarter of our personality comprising will, emotion, intelligence and mind. The spirit is already renewed and changed but the life and power of God are locked up in the spirit.
Your mind. This is the instrument of the transformation. The ‘mind’ is naturally under the dominion of the flesh; it needs renewal, which is wrought by the Holy Spirit, faith being the subjective element of its operation. Through this renewed mind there results the transformation in the whole man. The passive suggests the agency of the Holy Spirit, while the exhortation implies moral freedom.
But when we renew our mind to what is already a reality in our spirit, the two spirit and mind are going to prevail over the body, the body will submit and access is open and the life of God flows into our body bringing healing, breakthrough, ideas and into our circumstance. But if we dont renew our mind, our mind will always agree with our body and whatever God has placed on the inside remains there.
Take for instance, you feel pain or the doctor said you have a particular sickness-malaria, fever, type 2 or 3. That is a fact. It is based on a medical test. But that is not the truth. The truth is that the word of God says by His stripes we were healed 1 Peter 2: 24.
1Pe 2:24 KJV Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Even though our bodies feel differently, the truth is that we were healed. We don’t walk by sight but by Faith 2Cor 5:7. Faith does not deny the fact but refuses to allow the fact to dominate and control. If we stick long enough with the word, it will prevail. Act 19 says the word prevail.
Act 19:20 KJV So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
We will be changed, healed and delivered. It is a life time job, we continually renew our mind. To the degree we are able to renew our mind in a particular area, to that same degree the life of God will be made manifest for us. The areas we are still struggling, defeated and frustrated are the areas we are yet to renew our mind fully.
It is the truth that you know that will set us free not the fact. Truth versus fact: which one will you believe?
When the mind is renewed, our thinking changes, character changes, habits changes and our lives change too. Our lives go the way of our dominant thoughts.
Pro 23:7 KJV For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Another area by which we can receive transformation is when we begin to behold the word of God.
2Co 3:18 KJV 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.
This is what we called “the mirror principle”
“We see ourselves in a mirror because of how light reflects off surfaces. When light from our face hits the mirror, it bounces off at the same angle, and some of that reflected light travels to our eyes, creating an image of ourselves. This reflection appears reversed (left to right) due to the way the light is redirected.
Light and Reflection:
Light travels from a source (like a lightbulb or the sun) and bounces off objects, including our bodies. This is called reflection.
How Mirrors Work:
Mirrors have a smooth, reflective surface (usually a thin layer of metal behind glass) that reflects light in a very organized way.
Light Reaching Your Eyes:
When you stand in front of a mirror, light from your face hits the mirror and bounces back towards your eyes.
The Image You See:
Your eyes detect the reflected light, and your brain interprets the incoming information as an image of yourself. The image appears reversed because the left and right sides are switched”
The word “changed” there is the Greek word “metamorphoo” used for “transfigured” in Mt 17:2 and “transformed” in Rom 12: 2
It is possible that there may be an allusion here to the effect which was produced by looking into an ancient mirror. Such mirrors were made of burnished metal, and the reflection from them would be intense. If a strong light were thrown on them, the rays would be cast by reflection on the face of the person who looked at the mirror, and it would be strongly illuminated.
The idea may be, that the glory of God, the splendor of the divine perfections, was thrown on the gospel, so to speak like a bright light on a polished mirror; and that that glory was reflected from the gospel on him who contemplated it, so that he appeared to be transformed into the same image.
What is this image Paul is talking about?
Heb 1:3 KJV Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Col 1:15 KJV Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
2Co 4:4 KJV In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of those which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
“We are changed into his very image by a continued succession of glory, as it were, streaming upon us from the Lord.” The figure is one of great beauty; and the idea is, that by placing ourselves within the light of the gospel; by contemplating the glory that shines there, we become changed into the likeness of the same glory, and conformed to that which shines there with so much splendor.
By contemplating the resplendent face of the blessed Redeemer, we are changed into something of the same image.
It is a law of our nature that we are moulded, in our moral feelings, by the persons with whom we associate, and by the objects which we contemplate. We become insensibly assimilated to those with whom we have social contact, and to the objects with which we are familiar. We imbibe the opinions, we copy the habits, we imitate the manners, we fall into rite customs of those with whom we have daily conversation, and whom we make our companions and friends.
So, by earnestly contemplating the Gospel of Jesus, and believing on him who is its Author, the soul becomes illuminated with his Divine splendour, for this sacred mirror reflects back on the believing soul the image of Him whose perfections it exhibits; and thus we see the glorious form after which our minds are to be fashioned; and by believing and receiving the influence of his Spirit, our form is changed, into the same image, which we behold there; and this is the image of God, lost by our fall, and now recovered and restored by Jesus Christ:
As we behold the glory of God, we will be transformed . God will change our lives, and change us from the inside-out.
The best and most enduring change comes into our lives when we are transformed by time spent with the Lord. There are other ways to change (guilt, willpower, coercion), but none of them are as deep and long lasting as the transformation that comes by the Spirit of God as we spend time in the presence of the Lord.
Yet, it requires something. It requires beholding . The word means more than a casual look, it means a careful study.
As we look into “God’s mirror,” we will be changed into the same image of the Lord. When we spend time beholding the glory of the God of love, grace, peace, and righteousness, we will see a transforming growth in love, grace, peace, and righteousness.
Of course, this is how you can know someone is really spending time with the Lord: they are being transformed into the same image. When we behold the picture of God as He is in truth, we will be transformed into His image.
This is God’s great design in our salvation,
Rom 8:29 KJV For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
“that the image of God, which has been defaced by sin, may be repaired within us . . . the progress of this restoration is continuous through the whole of life, because it is little by little that God causes His glory to shine forth in us.”
To resemble his Son; to be of like form with the image of his Son.this may be understood of the saints’ conformity to Christ in his human nature, both here and hereafter: that is, to be His sons after the pattern, model, or image of His Sonship in our nature.
After resurrection, we will receive a glorified body like that of Jesus and thereby conformed to Him.
When the resurrection occurs, God’s people will be changed. Christians will somehow share in the glory of Christ’s body and thus be “ conformed to the image of His son” (compare 1Co_15:49 ; Php_3:21 ; 1Jn_3:2 ) .When the saved are finally glorified, they will stop falling short of God’s glory (ROM 3:23). This is a spiritual blessing that will only be realized in eternity. Further proof for this view being correct is found in the fact that conformed ( summorphos ) is used only here and Php_3:21 :
Phi 3:21 KJV Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.“
The work of transformation is a continual progression. It works from glory to glory.
When people see us do they see Christ? People don’t see my born again spirit, they may not know that I speak in other tongues and I prayed fervently but when they come in contact with me, do they see Jesus? Many of us are forming it, we come to church looking like an angel, well composed and put on our best performances but we are at home, we are like a roaring lion, we talked back to our husbands, when they quarrel with our neighbours, we throw caution to the wind and scattered ground, we talk to our seniors and boss anyhow. The image of Christ should be seen in our characters, words, speech, actions and behaviour all the time. When they saw the disciples, they called them little Christ.
Act 4:13 KJV Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Song: I want to be like Jesus in my heart, in my heart, in my soul, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.