Transformations

TRANSFORMATIONS
DR. JIM DIXON
HEBREWS 5:11-14
SEPTEMBER 5, 1993

Metamorphosis is a word biologists use to describe the transformation that certain animals experience through their stages of development. Moths and butterflies, for example, experience metamorphosis as they are transformed from an egg to larvae to pupa and to the imago or the adult stage. For a caterpillar, the cocoon is simply a means through which they might experience transformation or metamorphosis to a butterfly.

Now, the word “metamorphosis” comes from the Greek word “metamorphose.” That word is used in the Bible. The word ” metamorphose” in the Bible is used in a number of ways. Sometimes it is used to describe Christians because Christians are meant to experience metamorphosis. Christians are meant to experience transformation. As we examine the Bible, we see three primary transformations that Christians must experience. I would like us to examine these three transformations this morning.

The first transformation in the life of a Christian is the transformation from death to life. In order to become a Christian, you must be transformed from death to life. The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians in Ephesus said, “And you He made alive when once you were dead. You He made alive when once you were dead.”

Now in the year 1918, on the island of Haiti, there was a labor shortage and there were not enough people to do the necessary work. Tragically, in Haiti in 1918, they began to buy and sell slaves. But even with slaves, there was a labor shortage and so some people in Haiti in 1918 went to voodoo priests or voodoo sorcerers and they purchased what were called zombies. Zombies were people who were allegedly dead but made alive through the infusion of demonic spirits. Now of course, voodoo began to be practiced first in western Africa. It spread to the Caribbean. It flourished in Brazil and for a time even in the deep south of the United States of America in regions such as New Orleans.

How did people who practiced voodoo… How did voodoo priests and voodoo sorcerers create zombies? Well, scientists have examined what happened in Haiti in 1918 and they believe that what the voodoo sorcerers did was they took poor people who could not write, and they cut out their tongues so they could not speak. Then they drugged them into a drug-induced coma and then they buried them in a public ceremony and then again, later in a public ceremony, revived them, taking them out of the ground and bringing them out of the coma through other drugs and selling them as zombies.

Now, zombies were allegedly the walking dead. You might be sitting there thinking, “Well, what does this have to do with our subject this morning?” But the Bible is clear. The Bible tells us that every single man and woman in this world, every single person in this world, is walking around dead. Spiritually speaking, every human being on the planet is walking around dead. Spiritually, everybody, apart from Christ, is a zombie. You see, everyone in the world is alive biologically, the Greek word “bios,” but in the Bible there is another word for spiritual life. It is the word “zoe.” Zoe life is far more important than bios life because zoe life is eternal. Zoe life is the life of God. It is the life that comes from God. It comes from relationship with God.

The Bible tells us that when men and women fell into sin, they were separated from God and cut off from “zoe” life. That is why everyone in the world is just walking around dead, spiritual zombies. The Bible says we are in need of regeneration. Every man and woman on the planet desperately need to be regenerated, brought from death to life. Biblically, the word for regeneration is the word “gennao” or another combination of words “gennao anothen.” These words mean to be “born anew.” They mean to be “born from above.”

The Bible is clear that if we would be transformed from death to life… If we would be regenerated… If we would be born anew… If we would be born from above, then we must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin and we must embrace Him as Lord, receiving Him as the Lord of life. The Bible tells us that when we do that God sends His Spirit to reside within us and we are regenerated. We are born anew. We are brought from death to life, born into the family of God. That is the first metamorphosis a Christian must experience. But biblically there is a second metamorphosis, a second transformation, and this is the transformation from milk to meat. This is the transformation from milk to solid food. Having moved from death to life, having been regenerated, having been born anew, we must now grow into maturity and move from milk to solid food. This is the second metamorphosis, the second transformation of the Christian and that is why in Romans 12 the Bible says, “Be ye transformed,” and the Greek word is “metamorpho.”

In 1 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul complains that many of the Christians in Corinth were living on milk and not on solid food. Again, in our passage from Hebrews, the author of Hebrews expresses the same complaint, that Christians are simply milk drinkers and they’ve not learned to grow on solid food.

Many of you have heard of Sir James Matthew Barrie. Sir James Matthew Barrie, in the year 1866, experienced a tragic death of his brother. At that time, James Barrie was only 6 years old. His brother who died was 13 years old. James didn’t understand that he would not see his brother again, but he did understand that his mother was deeply hurt and deeply wounded. In those subsequent years, James Barrie tried to comfort and encourage his mother. He would do things like standing on his head and kind of doing comical things. He learned that by doing that he could make his mother laugh. He would tell children’s stories to his mother, and she loved to hear them. He learned that he could please his mother by kind of becoming like his 13-year-old brother had been.

He learned to whistle as his brother used to whistle. He even began to wear his older brother’s clothes as he began to grow up. This pleased James’ mother. James Barrie’s mom, as James grew up, kind of discouraged him from growing up. As he became older, she discouraged him from growing up. She told him how beautiful childhood was. She told him how horrible adulthood was. So, of course, James Barrie began to write beautiful children’s stories. He did this his whole life. In all of these stories he glorified childhood and he kind of criticized adulthood. One of his most famous stories, I think most of you know, is the story of Peter Pan, the story of children who lived in Neverland, a place where children never, never grew up. In a sense, the story of Peter Pan was autobiographical, telling the story of James Barrie who never grew up, who remained a child. What a tragedy that is. Today, many psychologists and counselors refer to people who will not grow up as experiencing the “Peter Pan syndrome.”

Now, we all want to see our children mature. Barb and I, just last week, took Heather, our daughter, out to Westmont College in California. We drove out there, over 1,000 miles, to California, in Santa Barbara. It was honestly kind of a strange experience. It was fun, but it was also kind of sad. As we drove out there, we realized that Heather wasn’t going to be living at home. I was thinking how hard this was going to be on Barb. I was thinking that I really need to show her some TLC.

They had two days at Westmont of parent orientation and then after that, we said goodbye to Heather and began that drive back to Colorado. I just began to cry. The next day as we were coming through Utah and moving towards Colorado, Barb and I would tear up from time to time throughout the day, just thinking about the fact that our daughter wasn’t… She was gone. I mean she is at college, and she is not coming home. Then getting home is just weird. It is just strange to be in the house and Heather is not there. You go into her room, and you realize she is not away at camp. She has gone to college, and she has a life of her own. Even though that’s kind of painful for parents and I think it’s painful for the children too, it’s really beautiful. It’s really necessary. How important it is that children grow up and they move to adulthood and they live a life of their own. How important it is for parents to see their children grow up. I think parents who see their children remain immature weep at that.

Now, we understand when we think of God the Father that as Christians we have been born, regenerated, transformed from death to life and brought into His family. We have been born anew into the family of God and we have become His very own children, but He longs to see us grow. He longs to see us move towards maturity. The Bible expresses that as moving from milk to meat or milk to solid food. The primary means of growth is God’s Word. The primary means of growth is the Bible. The Bible says, “All scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man or woman of God might become complete, equipped for every good work.” So, God uses the Bible to transform us. He uses the Bible for this metamorphosis to grow us from milk to solid food.

Now, we have many opportunities here at the church for you to study the Bible. I know Bob is really looking forward to Tuesday morning, a week from Tuesday, when he starts up his new journey for men, a new study for men called “The Spiritual Adventure.” I know a week from Wednesday I’m really looking forward to the women’s Bible study where I’m going to be teaching on 1 Corinthians. I know Sunday night worships are wonderful and I know we have a great selection. I know we have a great selection of adult education classes over at the Seminary, but we want you to understand that the primary adult education offering we have as a church is Wednesday night. I mean, our primary focus in adult education is Wednesday night right here in the sanctuary. We really want to invite you to come out a week from Wednesday night as we start Wednesday night worship again. Bob’s going to be taking us through the book of Hebrews. What an important book for Christian growth and for maturity.

I tell you this, in the Lord. Your study of scripture, whether it is personal, private, and devotional or whether it’s corporate in the context of church teaching and proclamation, your study of the Word will not produce growth into maturity unless you come with the right attitude, unless you come in the midst of the right experience. Let me explain what I mean.

According to the United States Army, from 1958 to 1960 at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma soldiers were given artillery training at Ft. Sill. According to the United States Army, during that 3-year period, from 1958 to 1960, the instructors at the artillery training school found it impossible to teach to soldiers. They found it impossible to teach the recruits. The students did not really listen to the instructors. They fell asleep constantly during the time of instruction. But then according to the United States Army, from 1965 to 1967 at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, the same instructors taught the same material to other recruits. In that 3-year period, from 1965 to 1967, all of the students, all of the soldiers, all of the recruits, were alert. They took copious notes. They hung on every word and yet it was the same instructors, and they were giving the same material. What was the difference?

The United States Army tells us the difference was that those soldiers from 1965 to 1967 were about to go to war. Less than 6 weeks after graduation they would be going to Vietnam. Less than 6 weeks after graduation they would be facing the enemy so at this artillery training school they listened to every word. They brought a different attitude to their instruction.

Now I think God wants us to understand that unless we come to Bible study with a hunger and thirst for righteousness… Unless we come to Bible study willing to struggle for inward godliness… Unless we come to Bible study wanting an active ministry in this world… Unless we believe that there is a great battle between Christ and antichrist, and we’ve been called to enter that battle… Unless we believe there’s a great war between light and darkness and we’re called to be part of that… Unless we believe these things, biblical instruction will not transform us as it was meant to.

The power of the Holy Spirit for metamorphosis, the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation will not be fully given unless we really long for godliness inwardly and we’re willing to enter into that struggle, unless we really want to have an active ministry in this world. Unless we really believe there is a battle of eternal significance between Christ and the fallen powers of darkness, we’re never going to approach the study of the Word of God in the way that we should and it’s not going to have the power in our life that it should. God wants us to understand this second transformation is critical in the life of the Christian.

There is a third transformation that the Bible speaks of. I want to mention that in conclusion. The third transformation in the life of the Christian is the transformation of earth to heaven. That is the final metamorphosis, from earth to heaven. First, we move from death to life and then we grow from milk to solid food, but the final metamorphosis is that transformation from earth to heaven.

I think perhaps some of you who have studied some history have heard of the Akkadians. The Akkadians lived a long time ago. The Akkadians represented the first world empire in the history of this planet according to historians. That empire flourished long before the Chinese emperors. It flourished long before Alexander the Great and the Greeks. It flourished long before the Egyptian Pharaohs. The Akkadian Empire flourished more than 4,500 years ago. It was developed by Sargon of Akkad. He ruled from the royal city of Akkad in Mesopotamia. That royal city had a beautiful harbor where boats from the then-known world came. Something very mysterious happened to the Akkadians. Historians tell us they just disappeared. They were a great empire and they had great rulers. They built great cities. Archeologists have unearthed some of those cities. Somehow the Akkadians just disappeared from the world. The people that were ruled by Sargon just ceased to exist.

Archeologists have searched for the royal city of Akkad. They have never found it. They know that the Akkadians kept imperial records etched in cuneiform and they have sought to find those records, thinking that there might be some chronicling of their demise, some explanation of their history. They have not been able to find the imperial records. But just recently the archeologists and geologists, looking at the layers of the earth, have discovered what happened to the Akkadians. They have found that in Mesopotamia there was a massive violent volcanic eruption. They found that at the same time there was a 300-year drought in that region of the world. That combination of the deaths brought about by the volcanic eruption and the three hundred years of drought just destroyed the Akkadian people.

Biblically, God wants us to understand that all of us are going to go the way of the Akkadians. I mean, we are all going to leave this earth. We are all going to die. It’s not going to take a 300-year drought to kill any of us. It is not going to take a volcanic eruption. Our bodies are frail, and this is a message the world doesn’t want to hear because to the world this message that we’re all going to die, we’re all going to go the way of the Akkadians, that’s a tragic message to the world. It is a message of doom, and it is a message of gloom. But you see, for the Christian, this is a wonderful message because for the Christian it’s understood that death is a door from earth to heaven and death is that glorious moment when we experience our final metamorphosis.

Of course, the Bible tells us that in heaven we’ll be given new bodies. The Bible says our commonwealth is heaven. This is in the book of Philippians. “Our commonwealth is in heaven. From it we await a Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ who will change, transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body by the power which enables Him to subject all things unto Himself.”

So, the Bible tells us we will be transformed inwardly and outwardly. At the Bema seat, at the judgement seat of Christ, all that is impure within us, all of the sin that is within us will just be burned away. Outwardly we will be given new resurrection bodies just like the glorious body of the resurrected Christ. The final metamorphosis.

You know, sometime ago when elevators were first invented, people used to tell elevator jokes. This was around the turn of the century. One of the most commonly told elevator jokes was the story about the farmer who came into the big city for the very first time. He had never been in the city before. He came with his wife, and he came with his son. As they came into the big city, the farmer’s wife saw a department store. She had never seen anything so wonderful as that. She began to shop and look around in the department store. The farmer and his son went into the bank. The bank was the tallest building in the city. They went into the lobby of the bank. The farmer and his son looked, and they saw two steel doors over on one wall of the lobby just open up. They saw a large elderly woman go inside. Then they saw these two steel doors close up. They saw a dial above the door move to the right and then the dial moved back to the left. Then they saw, a few moments later, those two steel doors open up again and a beautiful young woman come out. The farmer started to run out of the lobby. The son said, “Where are you going?” He said, “I’m going to get your mom and I’m going to put her in that thing!”

I am sure a lot of moms would like to put dads in there too, but the truth is we all need transformation. Would not it be wonderful if it were as simple as just stepping into an elevator? Wouldn’t that be great? You see, the reality is for us as Christians… We have this promise from God, and we have this sure hope that one day we will be given glorious new bodies. Like the freshness of the morning dew, our youth will return to us the Bible says. That promise, this final metamorphosis, is the hope that Christians carry with him or her every day of the Christian’s life.

So, we have from God’s Word a teaching of three transformations, three expressions of metamorphosis. The first is from death to life when we are regenerated and born anew. The second is from milk to solid food as we grow into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ, as the Holy Spirit transforms us through His Word. The final metamorphosis is the transformation from earth to heaven as our souls are purified and our bodies resurrected and made new. Let us close with a word of prayer.