Biblical Christianity
Pt 4 ¡V Transformation Theology
John 3:1-21
Over the last three weeks we have been looking at the early church as described in the book of Acts. I won¡¦t take time to read those passages again but I encourage you to read them Acts 2-5.
It¡¦s clear in these passages that something happened to these people to make them who they were. Remember these people who are coming to Christ ¡V many of them are the same people who called for his execution just a few short months before. Now they are standing in testimony to His being the Christ ¡V the Messiah of God. What happened to these people to induce such a change? I believe it is the same thing that happened to change a scraggly bunch of misfits who afraid of their own shadow and who just didn¡¦t get it ¡V into a band of missionaries who evangelized the entire known world. I believe it¡¦s the same thing that transformed a cold hearted, murdering, religious zealot like Saul ¡V into the man we know as the Apostle Paul. I also believe that it¡¦s something that the modern church has lost interest in. What is it?
For the answer to that let¡¦s look back at a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. You may not recognize all of this conversation but I¡¦m sure at least one part will be familiar to you.
John 3:1-21
In this conversation we find the heart of what I call Transformation Theology. Nicodemus a Pharisee comes to Jesus in the night. He wants answers but doesn¡¦t want to lose his position, or compromise his power to get those answers. I love the way Jesus handles Nicodemus. Nicodemus comes and fumbles through some kind of introduction and says ¡§We know that you have come from God¡K¡¨ Jesus almost cuts him off here ¡V before he can even ask a question ¡V Jesus says ¡§Nicodemus, unless you are born again you won¡¦t see the kingdom of heaven.¡¨ Imagine with me the shock on Nicomdemus¡¦ face. He is a scholar ¡V a teacher of the law ¡V the expert on Hebrew doctrine and practice ¡V the enforcer of the codes of conduct ¡V he is the one who says who will and will not see the kingdom of heaven. Yet this is the first time in this very religious man¡¦s life that he has ever been confronted with Spiritual Truth.
Jesus then goes on to describe a process that was missing in Nicodemus¡¦ life and I believe too often is missing in ours.
The process looks like this:
1) We are formed ¡V this is a natural process instituted by God. A process in which husband and wife are joined in bearing of children. A child is formed in it¡¦s mothers womb. A biological process where two cells are joined into one ¡V the genetic substance from mother and father joined to form the life of their child. The child will take on the characteristics of mom and dad. (my eyes, your ears, etc.) It is also a supernatural process ¡V the creation of life is more than the joining of two cells ¡V Psalm 139 clearly brings God into this creative process ¡V ¡§For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother¡¦s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.¡¨ Life is a precious thing ¡V the joining of two into one ¡V the design and artistry of God molded in a mothers womb. Far from the inanimate tissue that so many talk of today ¡V this is the miraculous formation of a unique unrepeatable creation of God.
2) The Problem ¡V We are Deformed. What God created, designed, and ordained to be Holy and beloved ¡V is twisted by and deformed by sin. Since Adam we are born with a deadly disease ¡V a crippling disease called sin. It distorts and deforms God¡¦s plan for his creation. Look around you at Eden destroyed. God¡¦s creation deformed by sin. War, murder, pollution, disease, hatred, violence, destruction, ruined relationships, corrupted values, rampant immorality, wounded people ¡V this is the result of sins deformity. Eden didn¡¦t look like this and Heaven doesn¡¦t look like this. God created man to be with Him ¡V created Eden as the garden of man¡¦s delight ¡V but man is now cast out of Eden. Deformed and depraved the heart of man now is filled with idolatry, enmity, and strife. We are born with it ¡V and we soon choose it of our own volition. Sin has deformed what God has created.
3) What Jesus tell¡¦s Nicodemus is that He has provided a way to be Re-formed. Now here is the first problem of the church today. I believe we mistake the meaning of Christ. We mistake being reformed with be re-formed. To be reformed according to Websters Dictionary means to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults. To be re-formed according to Christ means to be born again. To be made over not just amended. I believe that is the problem in too much of our theology today ¡V we think that Jesus came to reform us ¡V to amend us ¡V to change us. I believe Jesus came to do far more than that. I think Jesus came to remake us. I believe Jesus meant it ¡V He wasn¡¦t just kidding when He said, ¡§If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35¡§For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel¡¦s will save it. 36¡§For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?¡¨ This is not a process of adding on ¡V it¡¦s a process of dying and being raised to new life. I believe that for too many of us ¡V Christianity has become an add-on to our lives ¡V an amendment to our hearts. Jesus says to Nicodemus ¡V ¡§unless you have been born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.¡¨ This is the beginning and the lynchpin to Transformation Theology ¡V transformation begins with re-birth. Not physically but spiritually. Paul talked about this as the old man and the new man. BC vs. AD. Jesus is the way to this rebirth ¡V look at verse 16. Being born again starts a process of being¡K
4) Transformed ¡V Here is where I begin to get controversial. You see I believe that being reborn begins a process of transformation in our lives. I also believe that the transformation is an outward evidence of that rebirth. If we are not being transformed I have questions about whether we have been re-born. I think this is the difference that we talked about early in this series. The difference between being in love with the idea of Christ and being in love with Christ. You see I believe that to be in the presence of Christ is to be changed. I don¡¦t think we can be in the presence of absolute love and perfect holiness without being changed (transformed) in the process. I think we can play church ¡V we can be indoctrinated with religion ¡V we can be fluent in the language and still not be born of the Spirit. That is where Nicodemus was. He new it all, had been weaned in rabbinical teachings, his entire existence was wrapped up in the Temple ¡V but his heart was empty. The early church was filled with transformation ¡V they started one thing but they became something different. They were reborn and transformed. Look at verse 19. Jesus says that we will know them by their fruit, that people will know us by our love, that a good tree bears good fruit. Paul says to the church in Galatia that the deeds of the flesh are evident ¡Vbut the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Paul says ¡§If we live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit.¡¨ This is transformational theology. Being transformed leads us to the ultimate end of Christianity being¡K
5) Conformed ¡V Paul says in Romans 8:29 that being conformed is the reason we were formed in the first place. ¡§For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son¡¨. God created us for this ¡V to be conformed to the image of Christ. To look like Jesus.
The early church looked like Jesus. Do we look like Jesus? If someone looked at our lives collectively not while we are sitting here but throughout the week, would they see Jesus? If not is that all right with you? You see that is the entire question of this series. Is it OK with you that we don¡¦t look like Jesus ¡V the early church looked like Jesus that¡¦s why things were happening the way they were. For them it was more than just salvation it was loving Jesus with all their hearts, centering their lives around being his disciples. It was about growing to spiritual maturity ¡V and being transformed into the image of Christ. If we want to look like them we have to love and live like them.
I opened this series by sharing with you some frustrations in my life.
ħ I become frustrated with Christianity that is content to be less than we are called to be.
ħ with Christianity that is polished on Sunday and Tarnished on Monday.
ƒß with Christianity that Talks and doesn¡¦t walk.
ħ with Christianity that praises God in one breath and curses His people in the next.
ħ with Christianity that is more loyal to a man-made denominations than it is to Christ.
ħ with Christianity that lacks power, conviction, and passion.
ħ With Christianity that is afraid to go over the allotted time limit for worship.
ƒß With Christianity that demands it¡¦s rights more than it offers it¡¦s sacrifice.
ħ with Christianity that beautifies the outside while leaving the inside empty.
ƒß with Christianity that doesn¡¦t make it hard for people in our community to go to hell.
I am committed to a life that is better, stronger, higher, and greater than that. Are you? I believe that God wants to work a great work in us ¡V if we are willing ¡V if we are ready for the ride.
