Becoming / Metamorphosis / Let God Work On You
Notes
Transcript
Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, 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 by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
1–2 12 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
New Living Translation Chapter 12
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Metamorphosis - meta•mor•pho•sis \ˌme-tə-ˈmȯr-fə-səs\ noun
1 a: change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means
b: a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances
2: a typically marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching
Stage - a: a period or step in a progress, activity, or development: as
(1): one of the distinguishable periods of growth and development of a plant or animal 〈the larval stage of an insect〉
one passing through a (specified) stage
In other words, we do not become OVERNIGHT, we become over TIME.
In view of God’s compassionate actions, which he has described in the first eleven chapters, Paul now urges his audience to respond by giving themselves to God. This act of consecration is the necessary foundation of Christian living.
12:1 Paul urges his brothers (and sisters), through the mercies of God, to present their bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, (which is) their reasonable worship. Although the sacrifices prescribed by the law are no longer necessary, since Christ has fulfilled the law, believers should still offer themselves to God (see 6:13). The word for “worship” can also mean “service.” Their bodies were formerly the dwelling of sin (see 6:12), but they have been liberated from “sin in the flesh” (8:3) by Christ and the Spirit, so that they can now be dedicated to God.
12:2 The physical consecration of 12:1 should be accompanied by an intellectual and spiritual consecration. Having been freed from sin, believers now have a choice (see 8:5–6): they can continue to live according to the old era, or they can open themselves to the transforming Spirit, so that they can live according to God’s will (see 6:12–14).
Romans 8:6-8 “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 6:12-14 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
We’re discussing Metamorphosis but the text calls it Transformation. Transformation uses a word in the Greek called: Metamorphoo which means: “Be changed; Be Transformed.”
To Be Transformed – To be or become changed in outward appearance or expression as manifesting a change in nature or essence.
There are Three Themes in this text:
Sacrifice – An offering of something to God.
Worship – Praise, adoration and reverence of God, both in public and in private.
Commitment – Devotion or faithfulness to some cause.
Romans 12:1-2 (Message)
1–2 12 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Dr. Tony Evans on Romans 12:1-2
12:1 Throughout chapter 12, Paul discusses what our faith looks like with “one another,” a phrase he uses four times here. But before we can have a dynamic, personal involvement with one another, we need a dynamic involvement with God. Step one is responding to the mercies of God (explained in chapters 1–11) by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. That means complete and total surrender. It’s the difference between what a chicken and a pig bring to a bacon-and-egg breakfast. The chicken makes a contribution; the pig gives everything. What we often try to do with God is give an egg here and an egg there, but God wants sacrifice—the ham and bacon. Only total surrender can be called true worship.
12:2 Once we offer ourselves to God, our relationship to the world is altered. Paul urges us not to be conformed to this age, meaning the world system that leaves God out, but to be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind. Notice that both commands are passive. We aren’t conforming or transforming our minds. Someone else is. When God has all of us, and when the world has none of us, God does the work of renewing our confused minds. He brings our thoughts in line with his own so that we think God’s thoughts after him (see 1 Cor 2:16).
God has a goal in renewing our minds. This renewal allows him to merge his thoughts with our thoughts so that he can bring his plans into our lives. He calls it the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. God has a purpose and a plan for each of our lives—one that finds us when we are fully surrendered. But as we’ll see in the following verses, that purpose isn’t just about us.
mercies of God Refers to the undeserved kindness God shows toward sinners—one of Paul’s main themes so far in the letter.
bodies The Greek word used here, sōma, refers to the entire person.
living sacrifice This expression might indicate that believers are to continually offer themselves in service to God. It also could describe believers as dead to sin yet alive to God (Rom 6:11).
holy Indicates that the sacrifice is set apart for God. In the ot, such terminology is associated with worship in the tabernacle and temple (Exod 30:10; 40:10; Lev 6:25).
reasonable The Greek word used here, logikos, can mean “spiritual,” suggesting worship that involves the heart and mind in contrast to physical offerings and sacrifices. Alternatively, logikos could be translated as “reasonable” or “proper,” indicating worship that reflects a correct understanding of the gospel message and a rational response to it. It also might mean “true,” implying that worship is appropriate for those with a renewed mind (Rom 12:2).
service The Greek word used here, latreia,commonly refers to priestly duties in the temple (Heb 9:1, 6). Believers do not operate in a physical temple but are themselves God’s temple (1 Cor 6:19). They offer themselves because God has made them a holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:5, 9).
12:2 this age Refers to the present evil age (see note on Gal 1:4), the tim
renewal of your mind Refers to mental conformity to the truth of God. This renewal results in a transformation in the life of the believer.
perfect will of God Describes the purpose of renewal and transformation. Israel had failed to recognize God’s will and purposes—that He was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ (2 Cor 5:19). Paul provides this instruction so that the Roman believers will not do the same.