A Transformed Life

 

“And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matt. 17:2).

 

For just a moment, in our physical timeline, Jesus' disciples saw the glory and majesty that truly belonged to the Lord. The brilliance of His physical presence was to help Peter, James, and John understand He truly was the Son of God, as God assured them (17:3-5).  Peter would later refer to this event and say, “For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased'” (2 Pet. 1:17).

Although we do not take on the physical appearance Jesus did when He was transfigured, Christians are to be transformed.  “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:1-2).  Paul uses the same term for our transformation that was used of Jesus' transfiguration (μεταμορφόω, metamorphoo).

Sin produces a distortion of our lives, shaping and molding us into its hideous and ugly image, which results in death.  Through Christ we are set free from sin and created anew in Him.  We put aside a mindset on sin to one renewed by the will of God.  We show by our lives being lived in Christ and His will what is “good and acceptable and perfect.”  This transformation begins when we obey the gospel and continues throughout our lives.  We are to “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Col. 3:10).  This means we must “grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:15).  We should constantly imitate Christ in our lives (Gal. 2:20). We should ever seek to be more and more like our Lord. There is no place no place where we can say, “This is good enough.” We should ever strive to reflect more of our Lord in ourselves. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). It’s a lifelong process.

The end of such a transformed life is to be transformed into the image of our Lord Himself.  "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3).  To share in this final transformation provides the greatest promise and hope of all.  Jesus was transfigured, and we are able to transformed now and eternally.  May we pursue the life that can help us change brings each day from reflecting the carnal to the spiritual.  "By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice.”

Robert