Transformation only by the Spirit

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:17-18)

Last week we looked at the freedom the Holy Spirit brings. Now we look at what happens once we have been freed: the journey of transformation.

We are always in a state of transformation. It is not possible to remain as we are. Our lives are being shaped by people and the things that surround us. That transformation can either be positive or it can be negative. It cannot be neutral.

Good parents will often instruct their children to choose their friends wisely because they know what happens. When we surround ourselves with bad company, it rubs off. This is a form of transformation. Imagine it like this. If you have a crate of good apples but in the crate is one bad and rotting apple. The good apples do not make the bad apple good. The bad apple spreads its disease and rotting quickly to the other apples just by being near them. (Hence the old saying ‘he/she is a bad apple’.) The bad apple needs removing if all the apples are to remain good.

If we rely on the standards of the world to inform how we live we soon become deaf to the things of the Kingdom of God. the Psalmist puts it like this: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. (Ps135:15-18). The sad but true fact is the more we surround ourselves with things that are of the standard of this world, the further away we go from God. The less we become like him and the more we become like that to which we have drawn near. The process of transformation still occurs but what we are being transformed into will not be good or nice: spiritually deaf, blind, dumb and numb. The process of transformation is one of disintegration where we become less and less integrated. To keep with the analogy if we have been influenced by a bad apple, is there any way of removing the rot and restoring us? If we want to maintain a good, healthy and productive life, we must remove the bad apples that influence our lives and surround ourselves with people who will call us on to better things. That is why Life Groups and prayer partnerships are so vital. Or, if you are a bad apple, what hope is there for you? The great news is that God is in the business of turning dead things back to life. He opens blind eyes. He makes the deaf to hear. He heals the outcast (lepper). He awakens valleys of dead bones and makes an army of them. He speaks life into the graves we seem to have dug for ourselves and calls us out of them. Jesus pulls us out of our apple crate. God then speaks to us and says ‘leave all you have and follow me’. This leaving is vital to be able to follow Jesus. We cannot follow Jesus and do what we have always been doing. We have to leave first. We cannot have an ‘our life and Jesus’ faith because we will be subject to positive and negative forces of transformation and not get anywhere. To be truly transformed we must place ourselves solely in the hands of God. When we surrounding ourselves with the things of God we start to become transformed into God’s likeness. This process is generated and sustained by the Holy Spirit we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD who is the Spirit (2 Cor3:18). When we invite Jesus into our lives the Holy Spirit takes up residence and starts to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (Ez 11:19, Ez 36:26). This is the transformation that we all desire and gives us life. We start to become like that with which we surround ourselves. In a culture that is obsessed with what we can get and how we can benefit, we see this transformation turns us outward away from the unhealthy ego-driven introspection: and we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory (v18). Paul is taking this analogy from the story of Moses. Moses spent an extended time in God’s presence on Mt Sinai and upon his return to the Israelite camp, his face is shining. He was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD (Ex34:29). He was reflecting the LORD’s glory and the people ‘were afraid to come near him’ (Ex34:30). The result and the benefit were to those who saw him. They knew he had been in the presence of God because he reflected God’s presence. There is a dynamic of transformation whenever we spend time in the presence of God. Whenever he [Moses] entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant (Ex 34:34-35). Before I became a Christian, I remember meeting Christians and seeing something in them that I couldn’t figure out. I now know it was the presence of the Holy Spirit to which my spirit-starved soul was responding. Christians who allow themselves to be constantly transformed, reflect outwards the inner transforming presence of the Holy Spirit. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life (2Cor 2:16-17). All of this transformative work comes from the LORD who is the Spirit (v18). Another translation, instead of saying ‘with ever-increasing glory’ says we are being changed from one degree of glory into another (v18). This helps us to understand that the work of positive transformation never ends and the next level is more glorious than the previous one. Wow! Pull up the handbrake and stop there!! There is more for us. Even when we think it can’t get any better, there is still even better on offer! In this life, there will always be room for more transformation. The goal is transformation is to turn us ‘into the likeness of Christ’. This gives us the possibility of a great confidence. Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Cor 3:12-16). In Christ, our veil has been removed to allow yourself to reflect the LORD’s glory. This transformation is not by our own power but by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the Spirit’s residence is the declaration of the mouth that Jesus is LORD: Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor12:3). Therefore if we declare Jesus’ lordship, the Spirit lives within us and then we have the potential to allow Him to increase his complete transformative work in our lives. One of the earliest prayers I constantly prayed was “Lord, make me like you. If that means you have to break me, I give you permission. Break me to make me, only make your work complete in me. Make me like Jesus.” It is a brave and painful prayer because the Trinity then gets to work! May this week be one where you press into the things of God. May you enter your Tent of Meeting. Spend time with the LORD intentionally, not accidentally or incidentally. There is a transformation on offer that is far better than any other transformative power. Allow the work of the Spirit to start to transform you because what is on offer is beyond your wildest imagination. Unveiled through Christ you will become a reflector. This will then become visible to all as you reflect with LORD’s glory which comes from the LORD who is the Spirit. Blessings Fraser