METAMORPHOSIS
DR. JIM DIXON
ROMANS 12
NOVEMBER 20, 1994
Our scripture today is a few verses from the twelfth chapter of Romans. “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I bid everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:1-3a). This ends the reading from God’s holy Word.
Some people say it happened on Mount Herman. Others say it happened on Mount Tabor. God only knows. We know that Peter, James, and John saw it happen. They saw the transfiguration. They saw Jesus Christ transformed. They saw him change from his earthly to his heavenly countenance. They saw his body radiate light. They saw his faith shine like the sun. They heard the voice that came from heaven. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5b). Peter said, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18). They saw the transfiguration.
In the Bible, the Greek word for transfiguration is the word metamorphosis. This is the same word that scientists and zoologists use to describe bullfrogs and butterflies in the stages of their development. Metamorphosis is the same word that the Roman poet Ovid used to title his collection of stories, including the story of Pygmalion, the story of a stone statue that was transformed into a beautiful living woman. Metamorphosis is also the word that is used in our passage of scripture for today when the Apostle Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed”—metamorphosis—”by the renewing of your mind.” The Bible says we need a kind of mental metamorphosis. We need to have our minds transformed. Our minds need to be renewed, and for two reasons.
First of all, the Bible indicates that every one of us has a damaged brain. In the year 1777, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin formed a committee. They were given the responsibility of making suggestions as to what should be on the Great Seal of the United States. Thomas Jefferson immediately looked to the Bible. He wanted the Great Seal to have the image of the Israelites moving through the wilderness with the divine cloud and the pillar of fire in front of them. He said that this would show that we are a nation founded by divine providence. John Adams looked to Greek mythology. He wanted to see the image of Hercules choosing between the paths of virtue and self-indulgence on the Great Seal. He said this would show that we are a nation that understands the importance of morality and self-discipline. Benjamin Franklin, like Thomas Jefferson, looked to the Bible. He said that he wanted the image of Moses crossing the Red Sea on the Great Seal. He said that this would be an indication of tyranny and would show that our nation stands against tyranny wherever it is found.
Strangely, all three of their recommendations were refused. They were all rejected, and the committee was disbanded. In 1780, a new committee was formed. They offered recommendations that were also rejected. In 1782, a third committee was formed. This committee had its recommendations accepted. On one side of the Great Seal of the United States, you will see the great pyramid for the so-called eye of providence. On the other side of the Great Seal of the United States, you will see the American bald eagle, that symbol of majesty and power. The American bald eagle was also designated the national bird and a symbol of our country.
Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter in 1784 complaining that there should not be a bird on the Great Seal of the United States. But if there were a bird on the Great Seal, he said it should not be the American bald eagle because the American bald eagle is a bird of low moral quality. He said it is a scavenger that lives off the work of others. He said if we were going to have a bird on the Great Seal, it should be the turkey. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird because he said the turkey was a noble bird.
I do not know whether the turkey is a noble bird, but ornithologists tell us that the turkey is a rather dumb bird. Ornithologists tell us that the turkey is the dumbest of all birds, even dumber than the dodo bird, which became extinct long ago. We are told that the turkey has an IQ of minus 10, however, that works. We are told that little turkeys, when they are born, have to be taught by their mothers how to eat. There are a number of animals that need to be taught how to hunt when they are young, but turkeys need to be taught how to eat. Turkeys will drown themselves in storms. This is not because of flooding, but because they will turn their heads upward and drink the rain until they drown.
My sister-in-law, Barb’s sister, raises turkeys in Southern California. She tells us she cannot believe how dumb they are. She actually has to put rocks to keep the turkeys from putting their heads too deep into the water when they drink to keep the turkeys from drowning themselves. This is a dumb bird. When you eat your turkey this Thursday on Thanksgiving Day, you can remember that.
The Bible makes it very clear. Holy scripture makes it very clear. You are not a turkey. You are the crown of God’s creation. You are created in his image, in his likeness. You have an amazing brain. Your brain weighs about three pounds. Though it comprises less than 2% of your body weight, it requires and uses 25% of your body’s oxygen. It is a powerful organ. Your brain has a brain stem and a cerebellum and a cerebrum. It has hundreds and hundreds of millions of brain cells with neurons and synapses so complex that neurologists and scientists are just scratching the surface of their understanding. The human brain is an amazing gift from God. But there is a problem.
The Bible tells us that our brains are kind of like the new baggage system at DIA (Denver International Airport). It is complex and sophisticated, but it is malfunctioning. Our brains are damaged. It is not just our brains that are damaged. Our bodies are damaged. The Bible tells us that all of creation is damaged. Nothing is working like it was created to work. Nothing is working like it was meant to work. Romans 8:20 says, “Creation was subjected to futility.” Futility means failure to attain its created potential. Romans 1:21 says that we have become futile in our thinking. 1 Corinthians 13:11 and 12 says that we now reason like children, that we see in a mirror dimly.
Everything is an enigma. Our brains are malfunctioning. Scientists and physiological psychologists confirm that something is wrong with our brains. We have amazing memory banks in our brains. Scientists tell us that most of the events of our lives are recorded in the memory bank of our brains in living color. So, what is the problem? The problem is with our conscious minds. Most of the experiences of our lives are actually recorded in living color in the memory banks of our brains, but we cannot access them. Sometimes under hypnosis some of this can be accessed. Scientists can place electrons to neuron patterns in the brain and trigger some of these memories. But your conscious mind is not able to access those memories fully. There are some physiological psychologists and people in the scientific world who claim that we use only 1 to 2% of our brain functionality.
Something is wrong. Who knows what we would be like had sin not entered the world. The Bible says it is sin, the fall, which has affected creation. Because of sin and the fall, nothing is working as it was meant to work. Who knows what our brains would be able to do if they were whole? Perhaps some of the phenomena in the realm of parapsychology would be possible—mental telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis. We know that our brain functionality is not going to get any better in this life because those of us over 30 years of age are losing a hundred thousand brain cells a day. For some of us it is getting critical. Down the road there is Alzheimer, senility, dementia, brain death.
But the Bible says there is hope for all who believe in Jesus Christ, for all who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is a great metamorphosis that is promised. The Bible says, “Our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:20-21). We who believe in Christ Jesus will be resurrected. Our bodies, the Bible tells us, will be glorious. Our brains will be glorious. There will be a metamorphosis through Christ.
But we have another problem. It is more serious than our brains being damaged. It is much more serious. The second problem we have is that we are sick. The primary reason that we need to experience metamorphosis and a renewal of the mind is because we are soul sick. Psychopathology literally means the study of soul sickness. Psychology is the study of the soul, and psychiatry is the healing of the soul. You might question, is not psychology the study of the mind and psychiatry the healing of the mind? This is true, yet biblically, the mind is part of the soul. In the Greek world, the word “psyche” is the word for soul and includes the mind. The mind is part of the soul. The soul is where our will resides, where we have moral autonomy and volition, and where we make decisions. It is where our minds reside.
Your brain is part of your body. Your body is going to die. Your brain is going to die. But your mind transcends your body. Your mind is part of your soul, and your mind survives death. It survives death. The greater problem is that our souls are sick; therefore, our minds are sick. This part of us that transcends the brain, this part of us that survives death, the soul, is sick. The Bible says the soul is sick because we have all experienced a kind of spiritual death. The Bible says we are trichotomous—body, soul, and spirit. We have spirits, which by God’s design are meant to commune, to communicate, with God. When sin entered the world, we died spiritually. The Bible says we are in desperate need of regeneration. When we accept Jesus, when we ask him to be our Savior and Lord, the Bible says we are regenerated spiritually. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and our spirits are once again able to commune with God.
But the problem is that our souls are still sick. We have been regenerated and brought spiritually to life, but our souls are still sick. Our souls have been influenced by the world. Our minds have been conformed to the world. Therefore, when we are regenerated, our minds need to be transformed from the world’s way of thinking. That is why metamorphosis in this passage in Romans 12 is in the present continuous tense. It is a process of transformation. It begins as soon as we are born anew. Our minds begin to experience transformation by the power of Christ, particularly if we are faithful to bask in his word. This is soul food. This book, the Bible, is able to minister to our souls and to begin to heal the sickness that is there. Our minds can begin to be transformed as we study God’s Word. We are no longer conformed to the world’s way of thinking. We begin to think like God thinks. There is a test the Bible gives us. We can see how we are doing in this metamorphosis, in this mental transformation. The test is found in James 3 where the Bible says there are two kinds of wisdom. The Bible says there is a wisdom that comes from hell and there is a wisdom that comes from heaven.
If we are being renewed and transformed in Christ, then we are beginning to manifest the wisdom that comes from heaven rather than the wisdom that comes from hell. James tells us that the wisdom that comes from hell is selfish ambition and bitter jealousy. That is the wisdom from hell. Certainly, this wisdom permeates the world. In the suburbs we see a lot of selfish ambition. In the inner cities we see a lot of bitter jealousy. Satan is having his way with this world. This world is the mind of Satan. It was Satan who in the beginning, at the dawn of time, was jealous of God. It was a bitter jealousy. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 14:13-14 (and Ezekiel 28) of Satan’s selfish ambition. “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…. I will make myself like the Most High.” Satan’s mind permeates our world. Do not be conformed to this world. The Bible says we need to be transformed.
In Mark 10:35-45, we read that James and John came to Jesus. They said, “We want you to give us whatever we ask you for.” Jesus said, “What is it you want?” They said, “Grant that when you come into your kingdom, we will be the second and third most powerful guys in your kingdom.” Jesus told them that their wisdom was from hell. It was not the wisdom from heaven. Jesus said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44-45).
The Bible says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Have this mind in you. That is what metamorphosis is all about—moving away from the wisdom of the world and moving toward the wisdom of Christ.
Jesus told a story about a rich man and his barns (Luke 12:16-21). This man had worked his whole life to accumulate this wealth. In the end, God called him a fool. God said to this man of selfish ambition, “You fool.” The Greek word is anóitos. Anoitos literally means “without a mind.” God said, “You are a mindless fool.” It is just like a monopoly game. It all goes back in the box.
Wisdom is from hell if it is not the wisdom of heaven. James tells us the wisdom of heaven is meekness, power under control. Biblically, your power, your abilities, your gifts are under God’s control that you might live to serve him and to serve people for his sake rather than to exalt yourself.
As we conclude, I want to tell a story of what I believe was the greatest funeral service the world has ever had. If someone were to ask you what is the greatest funeral service the world has had, you can tell them this story. On September 9, 1715, there was a funeral procession for the King of France, King Louis XIV. King Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles. He built it for the manifestation of his glory. King Louis XIV gave himself the title, “The Great.” He also called himself the Sun King. He chose the sun as an image of his own greatness. When people asked what the greatest needs of the state were, King Louis XIV said, “I am the state.”
He ruled for seventy-two years and died on September 1, 1715. His funeral was unbelievable. He was in a gold casket. The casket was brought into the great cathedral where thousands of people gathered. Bishop Massillon conducted the funeral service. With the crowd silent and the gold casket up front, a single candle burned over the casket. Bishop Massillon approached the casket, blew out the candle, and said one sentence: “God alone is great.” And then he sat down. That was the funeral service. That is the greatest funeral service the world has ever had. “God alone is great.”
This is not the wisdom that comes from hell. The wisdom that comes from hell says, “I am great, and I am going to make myself greater every morning.” If we are to experience metamorphosis, if we are to be transformed, we need to wake up every morning and say, “God alone is great.” Begin to live for him and the things of Christ, that we might experience metamorphosis.
We have this message from God today that we are in need of mental metamorphosis. Our brains are damaged, and more seriously, we are soul sick. Our brains will be healed at the consummation, at the great resurrection. But our minds can begin to be healed today if we will be clay in the hands of the Potter. Let us look to the Lord with a word of prayer.