Section 1 God’s Purpose for the Christian

This post is the third in a series titled “Transformation Workbook“.

God is a Person of purpose. Everything He does has a purpose that aligns with His essence. All of the methods and procedures He has provided for living the Christian life lead us to perform His purpose. God’s ultimate purpose for creating the universe, the angels and man is to bring glory to Himself. In this section of our study, we will discuss what it means to glorify God and also the means that He has provided for us to do so. As we will see, the way He has made for us to glorify Him, fits perfectly with the means He has provided for transformation.

The Greek word for glory is the word doxa and means “the outward manifestation of inner qualities causing praise and adulation”. When something is glorified, its qualities and characteristics are made visible and these qualities evoke praise from those who see it. Jesus gave us the example of the lily which has more glory that Solomon in all His kingly array (Mat 6:28-29). A lily begins as an ugly bulb. Unseen, inside the bulb, God has placed qualities that under the right conditions produce a beautiful flower. When the bulb flowers out, it causes those who see it to praise it beauty. The glory of the lily is the flower that came from the unseen, inner qualities of the bulb. Likewise, God has unseen, inner qualities in His essence that He has made manifest through His creation. David declares,

Psm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Again in Psalm 97:6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

Paul explains in Rom 1:18-20 that God has revealed His Righteousness, Justice, eternal existence and power through what He has made. God’s unseen essence is revealed through what He has created. The revealing of His essence evokes praise and gratitude from those who see what he has done.

In addition to glorifying Himself through His creation, God has chosen to perform a greater type of revelation through His children. God has designed the church age to be a time when God reveals His character through the average every day believer. In order for this to happen, He has devised a system for bel’s to be transformed into the image of His Son. Jesus, as the God-Man was the exact image of the eternal God.

Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Christians, who grow in grace and purify their hearts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the word, are transformed to be like Jesus in their inner man. We glorify Christ, meaning we manifest His unseen, inner qualities when we live our lives using the same beliefs as Jesus. The Holy Spirit uses these beliefs in us to produce the love of Christ in and through us to others. As we manifest the character of Christ, other humans and even angels are able to see the character of God revealed. This revealing of God’s essence through the believer’s life is instructive for angels and inspirational for mankind. The primary way that we as Christian glorify God is by becoming like Him in our hearts and behaving like Christ in our relationships.

The only way this is possible is for the believer to undergo a supernatural, inner change. This inner change is what the bible calls transformation. The mechanics or means of transformation is a renovation of the mind.

Let us consider the word transformation and then the idea of renewal. The Greek word metamorphoo where we get our word metamorphosis indicates an inner process of change that occurs in stages. Just like a larva passes through stages to emerge as a butterfly, so the growing believer passes through stages and enters into the mature phases of the Christian life. These changes occur within the heart as we grow spiritually. As we grow, our old ideas are discarded and new ideas from the word are embraced. Paul discusses his own changes in his second letter to the Corinthian church,

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

The Greek word renewed is anakainoo, meaning to renovate and is in the Present Passive Indicative construction. The present tense describes a continuous progression, while the passive voice indicates that the work performed is the work of God, not man. The work of renewal is the work of God in the believer. As this work progresses, God-Holy Spirit produces the character of Christ in the heart of Christians who are submitting themselves to this process. Jesus Himself discussed this effect with His disciples,

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The light is the light of God’s character shining forth through the life of a believer who is being renewed in His heart. As this happens, others can see the good works (fruits of the Spirit) and credit them to the glory of God. Peter learned this concept well and reports it in his first book.

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

In summary, God has designed us for His own glory. He glorifies Himself, that is He reveals His essence to angels and men so that creatures may know Him, love Him and praise Him. His primary mission for Christians is to undergo a supernatural, inner change of our beliefs and behaviors so that we lay aside false beliefs and embrace the beliefs of Christ. This change is called transformation and is achieved by the renovating of our thinking. As we grow in this way, we manifest the character of Christ and glorify God. The focus of the Christian life is the inner man. The war is won or lost in the soul of the believer.

This first section of the workbook is intended to be instructional as well as inspirational. In the next sections we will move into more mechanical aspects of our divine design and how we process information. These sections will require that we think, meditate and pray for them to have impact on our lives.

Exercises:

1. Read Rom 12:2 and 2Cor 3:18. Write out how transformation occurs What is the result that Paul envisions?

2. Renewal is renovation, meaning to tear out old things to put in new things. What area of your life needs immediate change? What area of your life is the least Christlike? What overt behaviors have caused you to highlight this area?

3. The inner change is a change of thinking. Are you aware of thinking that occurs when you behave sinfully? What benefit do you envision from your sinful behavior? Ex: sex outside of marriage – the benefit can be the pleasure of sex; the feeling of closeness; etc. Are you willing to change your wrong thinking and sinful behavior? Be honest.

4. Do you think anyone can see Christ in you?

View all posts in the Transformation Workbook series