Transformation

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

It’s Resurrection Sunday!!!

***Play video: That’s My King

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 15.1-4

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

The simplicity of the Gospel: The Death, Burial, & Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The catalyst: Belief

This series: The Gospel of Jesus C.H.R.I.S.T.

The Purpose: To explain the Gospel on a deeper level and answer the questions of why it matters so much.

Have we done that? Has everyone enjoyed this series? Has everyone learnt something in this series? Do you feel more equipped to share your faith because of this series? I sure hope so!!!

Context

Creation

Hesitation

Reconciliation

Imputation

Salvation

Transformation

To help us unpack this idea of transformation, we are going to be looking at 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3 NKJV

1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. 12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Let’s Pray!

Content

What does it mean to you to be a Christian? Not just in terms of becoming a Christian, but being a Christian...

What does it mean to you to bear that title… to bear the name of Jesus Christ?

Here’s what Paul says: “To be a Christian is to be transformed by the power of God into the image of God.”

This whole Chapter is dedicated to that transformation. He explains to us the radical difference between the letter of the Old Covenant and the Lord of the New Covenant.

The former was a ministry of death, but the latter is a ministry of life.

The Old Covenant was driven by fear, but the New Covenant is driven by faith.

The Old Covenant was impossible to live up to, but the New Covenant is impossible to live without.

The Old Covenant could only provide a temporary filling of God’s Glory that was fleeting, but the New Covenant provides a timeless filling of God’s Glory that stands forever.

It is unto this New Covenant that we are called and commissioned.

In this Chapter, Paul is going to give us three things concerning the transformation that takes place under this New Covenant: The Significance of this Transformation, The Sufficiency of This Transformation, and The Sanctity of this Transformation.

Significance

2 Corinthians 3:1 NKJV

1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?

As Paul does in all of his letters to the different churches, he is about to hand out some tough information. Paul loves these people, and out of that love for them, he can’t hold back. They must know the truth.

That means that Paul is gonna have to address some things and say some things that they probably don’t want to hear. He is going to have to call them out on a few things and speak some truth to them for their own benefit.

In other words, Paul is speaking here to an already established relationship that he has with the church at Corinth.

He goes on in verse 2 to say:

2 Corinthians 3:2 NKJV

2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men

“I don’t need letters,” Paul says, “for you are the proof of our ministry.”

Watch this…

Corinth was also a capital city within the province of Achaia and is estimated to have a population of around 90,000 people. It was very liberal in its religiosity, meaning that many different religious cultures existed there and was accepted. Anyone could be anybody without judgment. A massive temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, desire, pleasure, and procreation, existed there, and it is said that more than 1,000 temple prostitutes served there, selling their bodies at a price for the temple. Corinth was a cesspool of moral filth.

Paul is saying that the fact these people were transformed by the power of God in such an environment as this, was to be a written epistle of God in itself. He says that their transformation was “known and read by all men.”

2 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV

3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

So, what is the significance of this transformed life in Christ?

These people, who once lived very comfortably in sin as everyone else in Corinth did, are now different. Not different as in they changed their hairstyle or hair color, but different as in they refused to live life the same way anymore. The places they used to frequently visit are now off limits. The words they used to say are now forbidden from their lips. The people they used to keep company with are now cut off. And most importantly...the sin that used to define them can no longer be found in their lives. Their anger has been replaced with joy; Their anxiety, depression, and fear has been replaced with peace; Their arrogance has been replaced with humbleness; Their constant negativity has been replaced with love.

They are happier, healthier, and more honorable than they have ever been, and the people in their circles instantly notice a difference.

Paul says, “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ…written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” These people have been transformed into completely new people; they have been delivered from the plagues of life; and there is only one explanation: They have been transformed by the power of God into the image of God.

Our lives should likewise be “known and read of all men.”

Our lives are to be the witness of God’s transforming power. Our living testimonies are to be the proof that God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness works.

As Annie Johnson Flint wrote in her poem “Hands and Feet for Him!”

We are the only Bible

The careless world will read,

We are the sinner’s gospel,

We are the scoffer’s creed;

We are our Lord’s last message,

Written in deed and word;

What if the type be crooked?

What if the print be blurred?

Notice the illustration that Paul uses here. He references back to when Moses was on Mt. Sinai with God and God reached down out of the heavens to write with His own hand on the tablets of stone the ten commandments.

That was such a glorious moment. It was so glorious in fact, that when Moses came down from the Mountain, his face was literally glowing with the radiance of God’s glory (we will talk more about that in a little bit).

But Paul says that this moment here, is even more glorious. The Spirit of the living God is the pen, those being transformed are the parchment, and Christ is the author.

And the message being written upon the hearts of man and lived out within their lives, is a message of the soul-saving, life-transforming power of the gospel.

The transforming work of God within our hearts is more significant than we could ever realize, but it is also sufficient…

Sufficiency

2 Corinthians 3:4–6 NKJV

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Paul says that the power of this transformation does not come from him, or anyone else for that matter, but from God. It is sufficient because the author of it is sufficient.

Paul says the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

See there was a difference between the letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law. The letter of the Law represents the Old Testament. It represents a very limited understanding of the Law. It represents mankind’s vague attempt to live according to God’s will by following some 600 commandments. But truth be told, they couldn’t even do that. Even with very clear, detailed instructions of what to do and what not to do, they still couldn’t cut it.

Jesus comes along and then adds another layer to this already impossible task. He tells them that the Law is more, and deeper than just what is read on the surface. The letter of the law said that you cannot kill a man, but the Spirit of the law says that if you are even angry with the man without cause, you have already killed him in your heart. The law says that you cannot commit adultery, but the Spirit of the law says that if you even look at another person with lust in your heart, you have already committed adultery with them in your heart.

In other words, by the law, the letter of it and the Spirit of it, we are all doomed. The letter kills. As mere human beings bound by a sinful nature, it is absolutely impossible to live such a life. But when someone places their faith in Jesus and truly surrenders to Him, the Holy Spirit comes in and transforms that individual into a new creature in Christ Jesus. We are set free from the bondage of sin to live a life that is pleasing to God. And because this transformation was administered by the One who never changes, this transformation is sufficient in Him.

So this transformed life in Christ is significant, and it is sufficient, but it is also:

Sanctity

2 Corinthians 3:7–11 NKJV

7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

Now we have to be careful here. We in no way want to downplay the glory of God in the Law or the glory of Moses as the leader of Israel during this time. The Law was sacred and Moses was held in high esteem by God, handpicked to lead God’s people. It again references how that the face of Moses shone brightly with the Glory of God when he came down the mountain.

With that being said, Paul is not downplaying that glory of the former things, but rather elevating the glory of the latter things. The glory of God’s grace in the salvation and transformation of a lost person to himself is far beyond what Moses could have even imagined.

So Paul says, “But if the ministry of death… was glorious… how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”

The glory of Moses was passing away. This means that Moses shone brightly when he came down the mountain, but the glory did not remain. After being down from the mountain just a short time, the radiance began to dissipate. He had to go back up the mountain in order to shine brightly again.

But the glory that remains is much more glorious. It is glory that never fades, because it is the glory of the eternal Father being bestowed upon us through Christ. That glory will not fade away, because it is not our glory, it is His glory, and His glory will never wane.

I was talking with Landry the other night. I was sitting at the kitchen table doing some reading and he came in there and started asking me some questions. Somewhere along the way, he said, “I have always thought it would be cook to see a miracle of God happen today like they did in the Bible.” I said, you know what, I have said the same thing over the years. I have been guilty of saying to God, “Just give me a Red Sea experience. Let me see just one miraculous thing like what You have done before and I will never doubt again...I will never struggle again...my faith will be whole. Just one… that’s it.”

But here is what Paus is saying, “There is no greater miracle in all of the earth than that of seeing a sinner transformed by the power of the living God.”

See, those in the Old Testament who witnessed theses miracles that we long to see, they continued to live a life of sin, even after seeing those miraculous things. But when someone has been transformed by the grace of God, born again through the power of the Holy Spirit, and renewed by the precious living Word...that is a miracle that leaves lasting effects. It does not go unnoticed, and it is not easily forgotten.

2 Corinthians 3:12–13 NKJV

12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

When Moses came down the mountain glowing, it scared everyone who looked at him. But they were scared and Moses was scared for two different reasons.

They were scared because they had never seen anyone emit light like that before. It was weird, almost as if Moses had become some spiritual being or something. Moses on the other hand was afraid for them to see that this radiance did not last. He hid his face because he did not want to notice how quickly he lost this beautiful glory of the Law. These people had already questioned Moses’s leadership before, but if they could see how quickly he lost the glory of God upon him, this might makes things even worse. But what Moses experienced was as good as it got under the glory of the Law. It was temporary.

But we see another individual in the New Testament whose face shone brightly like Moses. His name was Stephen. Stephen was a faithful man of God who had been chosen by the early church to be a Deacon. He was living this transformed lifestyle that we are now speaking of. When Saul got wind of what Stephen was doing, he was arrested and arraigned by the Sanhedrin, which hired false witnesses against him and which accused him of blaspheming Moses and of preaching in the name of Jesus. They brought him before the people and sentenced him to death by stoning, but as they began to throw the stones, everyone present that day noticed something different about Stephen. It was undeniable. It was “Moses like”.

Acts 6:15 NKJV

15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

Stephen was glowing just like Moses did. But this glow did not come from the glory of the Law, but from the glory of the Lord. He had been born again, saved by grace, and transformed under the New Covenant.

Where Moses placed a veil over his face, Stephen went out in a blaze of glory with the Lord Himself, in heaven, standing to cheer His faithful martyrdom.

Then Paul illudes to the reason for such hostile action against Stephen and the church:

2 Corinthians 3:14 NKJV

14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

Exploring 2 Corinthians: An Expository Commentary Part 2: Paul and His Commission (2 Corinthians 1:3–5:21)

The Lord Jesus had been revealed to Israel. He had come exactly as foretold, born in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, preceded by an Elijah-like forerunner, and mighty in word and deed. He had both declared and demonstrated His deity. He had performed countless miracles (

The Jews, by their deliberate rejection of Christ, had brought blindness to the truth upon themselves. They were blind both to the Scriptures and to the Savior.

But Paul says this same veil is still in effect:

2 Corinthians 3:15 NKJV

15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

When people reject the truth of Christ, this veil of blindness covers them just as it did with the Jews. We wonder why certain things are the way they are today, it is because the veil remains. They are blinded to the truth of God’s Word through their rejection of Jesus Christ, and as a result, their actions clearly show no remorse for destroying the things of God, or making a mockery of the things of God.

But praise God that there is hope:

2 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

When one comes to faith in Christ, the veil is removed and the veil of blindness is taken away. Truth is settled in their hearts, equipping them to live for Christ.

That freedom is what Paul next speaks about:

2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Praise God for that verse… Amen!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

Paul spoke of this entanglement of sin in Romans 7, when he says, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

When one turns to the Lord, they now for the first time in their life get to experience freedom in Christ. Freedom that comes through life in Him. As Jesus died and rose again, we too die to sin and resurrect to everlasting life in Him when we place our faith in Christ.

Finally Paul closes this section with this:

2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Through Christ, the veil has been removed. The glory of the Lord has filled our hearts. The Holy Spirit has equipped us to live through Christ and live for Christ.

Praise God for His faithfulness!

Commitment

Have everyone bow…