TRANSFORMERS

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2 HCSB)

It was 1984 and my oldest son, Chris, was 6.  He became mesmerized by a new cartoon called, “Transformers.” The show began with, “Transformers, more than meets the eye! Transformers, robots in disguise.”  In the show, the Transformers were giant robots from space that looked like cars, trucks or planes and would transform into Autobots to fight the evil Decepticons that were trying to take over the Earth.

But, that’s kid’s stuff.  What I am talking about today is the serious business of what you are on the inside as a Christian, transforming you so that becomes the expression of your life on the outside.  Something or someone is going to shape your life and Paul tells us in our text, that we will either be conformed to the world or transformed by the Word. The choice is ours. 

How can we be transformed?  There are three critical components to true life-change. 

First, there must be THE DECISIVE DENIAL “Do not be conformed to this age…”

This is an act of the will, but do not think that sheer willpower alone is sufficient for more than surface change.  Spiritual change requires spiritual power.  The Christian life demands the very life of Christ and His grace to enable us to live obediently.  Our human resolve can never be enough.  We need heavenly resources. 

Yet, the corollary to this is that God will not transform us apart from our willingness to yield to Him.  We cannot expect some kind of Divine “zap” that makes us holy against our own will. 

We started this discussion talking about robots—but we are not robots! If you do not make a decisive denial of the world’s standards, you will be conformed to the world—this present age of darkness. 

It is important at this juncture to consider THE PERIL TO CONFORM WE WILL FACE—what Paul calls “this age.”  This refers to this present evil age of rebellion against God. John MacArthur says it is “the sum of the demonic-human philosophy of life.”  It is the unregenerate world’s philosophies, passions, and pleasures which are contrary to God’s will. 

The Apostle John helps us clarify this in 1 John 2:15-17. He writes:

“Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.  For everything that belongs to the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle — is not from the Father, but is from the world.  And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.”

Many have surrendered to this foe.  It is easy to do, for the current of contemporary culture in its corruption flows this way, and this is our natural proclivity.

But, there is THE PRESSURE TO CONFORM WE MUST FIGHT.  We are commanded, “Do not…” give in to this.  The Greek term suggests an external pressure, like squeezing something into a mold.  That’s what the world is constantly seeking to do—to twist your mind into accepting its warped values, to bend your heart to pursuing its wicked vices, to shape your life into a mangled moral mess of no use to God. The world is pressuring you to spend your time on carnal pleasure, to spend your treasure on material possessions, and to spend your talent on egotistical promotion of self. 

You must say, “No!” If you surrender to the pressure, you will be shaped by it.

But, there is something more than a decisive denial that must take place—there is further required THE DELIBERATE DISCIPLINE: “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

Nature abhors a vacuum.  Something is going to fill the space between your ears.  Something is going to fill the void in your heart. It isn’t enough to try to keep out the world’s garbage—you must welcome the truth that will transform your life. 

Here is the reality—there is THE POTENTIAL OF LIFE CHANGE seen in this term “transformed.”  

You know, they seem to be making kids brighter these days.  At least, my grandchildren are particularly brilliant!  When my little redheaded Josie was only five years old, she popped up and said to her grandmother, “Nana, I know a word that means change—metamorphosis.” Then she went on to explain the metamorphosis of an ugly old caterpillar wriggling across the ground becoming a beautiful butterfly flitting through the air.  See—didn’t I tell you my grandchildren are exceptionally intelligent!

I hope you understand this process that a five year old could describe.  The word “metamorphosis” comes from the Greek word used by Paul, translated here into the word “transformed.”   Another time it is used in the New Testament, is the transfiguration of Jesus—it’s the same word. 

Do you recall what happened on the mountain?  Peter, James and John were witnesses to the transformation of Christ that occurred there.  Jesus began to glow—His appearance radiating a bright light, His clothing becoming whiter than any laundry service could bleach them.  The glory of God—who Jesus was on the inside—began to shine on the outside.  That is illustrative of what ought to be happening spiritually with the child of God—Christ’s Spirit within us, should be increasingly manifested by us.  There is the potential for Christ in you, to be seen from you.

I heard about a little boy who wanted to know about being saved, and his Dad told him that when you are saved it means for Jesus to come live inside you.   The little fellow was puzzled.  He thought about how big Jesus is, and how small his own body was, and asked, “But, Daddy, if Jesus comes to live inside me, won’t He stick out?”  He sure will!

If Jesus is inside you, then more and more He ought to be “sticking out” as people see more of Jesus and less of you and me.

Every child has this potential, but for it to happen we must apply THE PROCESS FOR LIFE CHANGE, which the Apostle describes as “renewing of your mind.”  

God has given us a fabulous computer called the mind.  That is where life change takes place.

Have you ever had the hard drive of your computer to crash?  Maybe you downloaded a virus that wiped out your data.  It’s happened to me—and I was not a happy camper when it did.  I had to do “System Restore.”  It took some time and effort, but when completed, I would be able to download files and reload programs—getting the computer system restored to its prior condition.  But, I have to continue to shield my computer from more viruses and maintain it by defragmenting the hard disk periodically so its capacity doesn’t deteriorate, its computing ability diminish and it crashes again.

Spiritually, we are born with a defective hard drive. At salvation, God does “System Restore.”  But then we can allow the world’s malware and Satan’s viruses to infect our computer.  You cannot continually look at the world’s movies, listen to the world’s music and love the world’s manner without being squeezed into the world’s mold.

It is such a gradual process that we may not notice that our operating system is degrading.  We could liken it to erosion.  The steady flow of water will even wear away rock over a process of time.  Then, we may have heard of the frog in a kettle.  You take the old frog and toss him into hot water and he’s going to jump out.  But, if you put him in water that is room temperature, and gradually turn up the heat, he just sits there and cooks.  That is what we see happening to professing Christians in this polluted culture.

The fact is that there are places a child of God shouldn’t go and things he shouldn’t look at or listen to, because they will gradually “fragment” your thinking, and those thoughts will shape your convictions and such convictions will direct your actions.   

You may argue, “I have the right!”  You believe you are free to look at that or listen to that or go there or be with—and you fill in the blank—something that is infused with the spirit of antichrist.  Do you really have the right?   

Freedom is the privilege to do what you ought to do, and not the permission to do what you want to do.  I am free to travel down the interstate—deciding what kind of car I will drive and where I will go.  I am not free to drive in the wrong lane or at the speed of 120 MPH!

Don’t forget that Romans 12:2 is preceded by this: “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.”  I am not my own—I have surrendered my life to God.  My desire is no longer to please myself, but Him.

But, again this shouldn’t be viewed as negative—though there is a negative dimension.  The best way to shun corruption in our soul is to saturate our minds with the truth.  We must consistently take into the windows of the soul (our eyes and ears) the Word of God—that will renew us and transform us. 

This is a process too! It won’t happen overnight. It involves effort—discipline and devotion. It’s not about conforming to a set of rules—it’s about genuine transformation from the inside out.  We come face to face with the Living Word in His written Word. 

Here’s how Paul portrays this principle in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

If I tell you, “Do not think about pink elephants,” the harder you try not to think about them, the more you think about them!  In fact, before this day is out, you will probably be sorry that I even mentioned pink elephants, because you are going to think about them now all day!   There is a way to stop thinking about pink elephants, however, and that is to think about blue ones!  Concentrate on those, and you won’t think about the pink ones.

That’s silly, I know, but the principle is very serious, if you want a renewed mind.  The best way to align your thinking to God’s perspective isn’t just to concentrate on avoiding the world’s warped ideology—though you should—but rather to supplant that with Scripture.  As we meditate on truth it flushes out error.  Focus on Jesus and worshipping Him and that vision eclipses the world.  The hymn says it well,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.” (Helen H. Lemmel)

A consistent contemplation of God as we meet Him in His revelation will transform our thinking!

This thinking then must lead to THE DEFINITE DEMONSTRATION if true transformation is to take root.  Paul drives this point home with these words, “that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

THE WILL OF GOD IS DISCERNIBLE, “that you may discern”

The Greek word is dokimazo and means, “to recognize as genuine after examination.”

How can we know the will of God?  It is not inscrutable—for God wants us to discern His will so we can do His will.  He has spelled it out in His Word—so all our beliefs and behaviors need to be filtered through the screen of Scripture.  We talk a lot about, “finding God’s will” and hear talk of, “praying and seeking God’s will” and I understand—we should.  But, the beginning point is to open your Bible!  I would even suggest that if you do that, there is enough to occupy you that you won’t have time to be concerned about much else—and even when you do face other choices, not directly spelled our in Scripture, they will, nevertheless, be informed by the Word.

 THE WILL OF GOD IS DELECTABLE, “good”  

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say.  Why do we think the will of God is a bitter pill to swallow?   The Psalmist beckoned, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.  How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Ps.34:8)   An infinitely wise and utterly loving God only wants your good!

THE WILL OF GOD IS DOABLE, “pleasing”  

If God expects us to please Him, we can be sure that He will equip us to do so.  God would only ask us to accept the possible—or what He makes possible. You can do the will of God.  He will give you grace to do what you ought to do.

THE WILL OF GOD IS DEMONSTRABLE, “perfect will of God.”

Inner transformation brings outer demonstration.  The word, “perfect” means brought to completion.   This is the triumphant cry of Jesus, on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30)  This is Paul’s testimony when he reached the end of His life’s journey: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim.4:7)

We can do likewise. By the way, God’s will is perfectly suited for you—as He has designed you, He will direct you.

When my life is transformed, God can use me to transform my family.  If enough families are transformed in a church, that body of believers can be transformed.  If enough churches are transformed then a community can be!  It is God’s will for that to happen—the question is, “Are we willing?”