2 Corinthians 3:18
Romans 12: 2
Transformation means: giving another form or aspect to something or someone. This gives us a basic definition of the definition of transformation as a type of change.
However, for us as Christians, what does the transformation mean? Does it mean that our behavior is reformed or improved to be a little more like Christ or that we live by practicing a series of rules and regulations? When we pay close attention to the verses mentioned above, we find that in the Bible, transformation really means something totally different from all these things.
In the original Greek of the New Testament, the word used for transformation is metamorphosis. According to the dictionary of the RAE, the definition for metamorphosis is "a change that many animals experience during their development and that manifests not only in the variation of form, but also in the functions and the way of life".
Although a change in appearance or form takes place, the change comes from the life of the organism. A caterpillar is born of life that causes it to become a butterfly. He does not wear a butterfly costume to act like a butterfly. While it is being fed, its metabolism ingests the nutrients it consumes, assimilates them in the caterpillar and leads it to grow so that finally the caterpillar changes and becomes a true butterfly.
A caterpillar that becomes a butterfly is an excellent picture of what the Bible talks about the transformation of believers into the image of Christ
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- THE TRANSFORMATION THAT OCCURS IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE
When we prayed to receive Christ as our Savior, we were regenerated or born again with the life of God to become children of God. We were born again with the divine life of God in us and this life transforms us into the image of Christ.
But like the caterpillar, it is necessary to remain in the process of eating transformation. In John 6:35, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." The Lord wants us to take it as spiritual food. . If we want to grow and change, it is necessary that we eat it every day.
Some caterpillars eat only one type of leaf throughout their lives. Also, as believers, we were also made to eat only one type of spiritual food during our entire life: Christ. When we eat and drink, we are supplied by His life for our Christian life and we grow with that life. As we grow, we are in the process mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:18, being transformed from one degree of glory to another, little by little, to the image of Christ.
By taking Christ as our food, more of His element is added to us and more assimilated. We experience a transformation that is not merely an external change, but one that comes from our spiritual nourishment and from the life of God that operates in us.
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- THE WRONG CONCEPT OF TRANSFORMATION
Transformation has nothing to do with a change that comes from doing good or improving our behavior. Imagine a person who is malnourished, sickly and pale, but who puts on makeup to improve his appearance. You may look like a healthy person, but makeup is a cosmetic, something that is applied externally. What this person really needs is a genuine change that comes from an internal process in his life. .
If the same malnourished and pale person were fed in a healthy way, with nutritious food, a very remarkable change would take place. The color of the person would improve and his body would be strengthened. Finally his appearance would become healthy not because of something he tried to do externally, but because of something that has changed internally.
Adapt our behavior imitating Christ is as if we apply external makeup. Our inner condition remains the same, but we try to cover it by doing good or trying to improve our behavior. As a result, what people see is not really Christ himself who is reflected outwardly in us and expressed in our lives, but to spiritually malnourished people striving to imitate the life of Christ in the best possible way.
The genuine transformation is different. An inner change takes place in our being as we take Christ as our spiritual food and drink. While we eat, the divine life in us can operate and our "appearance" gradually improves until we spontaneously begin to express Christ more in our daily life.
Maybe people comment: "That person is very different from what he used to be. What happened to him?". The difference comes from being transformed by the life of God through eating Christ and assimilating him into our being until we express him more and more.
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- HOW CAN WE COOPER TO BE TRANSFORMED?
We can not transform ourselves, but we can "transform". That is, we can cooperate with the Lord so that this process of transformation takes place in us. To transform, it is necessary to take Christ as our food and drink. We can do it in many ways, such as:
1- By invoking his name throughout the day, saying: "Oh, Lord, Jesus", or "Lord Jesus, I love you".
2- Through singing with our spirit to the Lord.
3- Through praying in our spirit.
4- By praying what we read in the Bible.
5- Through giving thanks to God.
6- Through praising God.
7- By preaching the gospel or speaking to others about Christ.
All these are ways to eat Christ as living bread and drink it as living water.
Thanks Community
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for the good messages from God that we read every day, and thanks also for allowing us to express what the Lord Jesus transmits to us through intimacy
Greetings to my friends and brothers in christ @sirknight, @steemchurch and @sniffnscurry
The focus is that we must unite and be prepared for battle together as brothers in Christ:
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The strength is in the joining
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://blog.biblesforamerica.org/what-is-transformation-in-the-bible/
Leaving behind your past ways and doing the will of Jesus is also transformation.