Greetings,
God is transforming human lives to become testimonies of His love and testimonies of who He is to the world around them. He is not just God; He is our heavenly Father. As children of God we must reveal who He is to those around us in this world. This means we will not be conformed to this world, but we will be transformed through a metamorphosis in our thinking.
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We cannot think like we used to or like those in the cultures of the world. The renewing of our mind is the metamorphosis that happens in our thinking when we are submerged in the power of His Holy Spirit. Jesus reconciled us to God our Father while we were still sinners. He paid the price to reconnect all people to God. He wasn’t merely the expression of God connected to humanity. He came to connect humanity to God’s divinity. This is the gift of God’s grace. God’s grace is the power that changes human lives. The beliefs of our heart are changed and the thinking of our mind is transformed by God’s presence in our lives. The purpose of Christ’s reconciliation was not merely the forgiveness of sins, but the connection to the source of true life and change in our lives. Jesus made a way for all of humanity to become a testimony of being a son or daughter of God. This means that we progressively grow in the character, nature, way, power, and authority of God.
People in the cultures of this modern day world pride themselves in their independent thinking and independent values in life. God loves diverse expressions of creativity, but diversity of creativity cannot become diversity of character. The only true character of the family of God is the character of Christ. We must be holy as our Father is holy. This is not an action, but a character of substance. There is an unlimited expression of creativity in the expression of Christ, but the character of God is the sole rule of the culture of the kingdom of God in the hearts of those who believe. It is a culture motivated by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within the human heart.
Romans 14:17 …for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
A dependency upon God, oneness with His presence in heaven, and an open access to His presence in our lives are values to be embraced by children of God. Self-dependence and personal independence are not values in the kingdom of God. Although these things appear to promise the liberty of life, true liberty only comes when the Spirit of the Lord motivates our hearts and God’s values become the motivations of our will, mind, intellect, reasoning, and emotions.
2 Corinthians 3:17: Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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 by the Spirit of the Lord.
When we look in the mirror we see a reflection of ourselves. The glory of God that we see is the testimony of life and change that comes from the Spirit of the Lord at work in our hearts. The reflection we see is a testimony of Christ and a testimony of who we are. It is uniquely us, but us as we are being changed from within. Light is shining out of darkness, that darkness being our old way of thinking, our old values, and our own will and way in life. The light of Christ within us is transforming us to become children of God by the Spirit of Christ within our hearts.
2 Corinthians 4:5-7 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus ’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
It is the power of God at work within our hearts that transforms us to become testimonies of God’s love. We are increasingly, progressively, and forever changed to become testimonies as children of God in this world. The real issue of the reconciliation of mankind to God through Christ is not one of the forgiveness of sins, but of being children of God. If we are children of God we must become a testimony of our Father. We must expect to be changed. The forgiveness of sins doesn’t justify us to remain in our sin. It justifies us to live and true life is only found in an eternal relationship with God as our Father and Jesus as His son. This is made real through the work of Holy Spirit in our lives. This is where the iniquities of our hearts are transformed by the power of His grace. His Spirit forever changes the values and personal desires of our hearts. The self-preserving and self-motivating desires of our past are changed to a testimony of loving God and others in the character of Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
