Transforming Grace pt. 3

Good morning Woods Harbour Wesleyan! I am so excited to be here with you this morning. For those of you I haven’t met yet, my name is Jonathan Hoogerwerf and I am the Director of Worship and Creative Arts this summer here at Woods Harbour. So pretty much anything music or tech related I will be involved with and giving leadership to. In addition to worship leading I also have a deep passion for teaching the Scriptures and helping others come to a better understanding of what God’s word is communicating. I believe as Christians we should not only read the Word of God but we should build the foundations of our life on it. Another thing you should know about me is that I love good coffee. Is anyone here this morning thankful that coffee is a good creation created by a good God? Amen. So I would love to connect with some of you over a cup of coffee sometime and get to know what your heart is and who God has gifted you to be. And isn’t God faithful? I’m so happy to be doing in-person Church again. So why don’t you celebrate and give your neighbour a social distance high-five right now? There is something special and uniquely powerful when we gather as a corporate body and worship the Lord and I am anticipating really great things this morning as we gather as one body.

Hook

Subject

Today I would like to share about the process of becoming.

Backtracking to last week’s sermon, Pastor Jason taught us what it meant to be “saved” - to experience that “initial sanctification.” We know that we have been adopted by God, regenerated spiritually, justified, sanctified, born again, and reconciled to God. That’s a lot of things which happen at the same time. So what’s next? Today I would love to share with you all about the process God walks us through of becoming more like Him. In Wesleyan theology this is reffered to as “Progessive Sanctification” - a transformation which takes place over a period of time.

Fallen Condition Focus

Sometimes as Christians we can become like a stagnant pond. I like to call this “spiritual stagnation.” Let me explain. A stagnant pond is a body of water which has no circulation and therefore becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and unpleasant smells. What once had the potential to be a healthy body of water has now lost its effectiveness because it is not being poured into, nor is it pouring itself out. It is stagnant. Did you know that one of the main reasons a stagnant pond is unhealthy is because it actually has too many nutrients in it? Since there is a lack of oxygen in the stagnant pond, the nutrients needed for vegetation and aquatic life cannot be used, so instead they begin to form algae which harms the water quality.

I don’t know about you but I can remember times when my life felt very similar to a stagnant pond. These were times when I had a relationship with Jesus but I was experiencing zero growth in my faith. I would take a guess that many of you watching have felt this way before in your own faith.

Transition Text (Scripture)

Lets take a look at what Scripture has to say about this issue.

I am reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 so you can feel free to follow along in your Bible if you want. 2 Corinthians was Paul’s second letter composed to the Church in Corinth and also to the Christians throughout the province of Achaia which is the lower part of modern day Greece.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Context: Unveiled faces is a reference to the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus Moses is up on the top of Mount Sinai recieving the two stone tablets which contained the covenant God had made with Israel and once Moses arrives to the base of the mountain, the Israelites were afraid to look directly at him because his face was radiant with God’s glory. After being in the presence of God, Moses had to put a veil over his face when he spoke to the Israelites because the glory of God would radiate so intensly off of him.

Point 1 - We reflect God’s glory.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate (reflect) the Lord’s glory”

The first part of the passage we are working through mentions that we contemplate or reflect God’s glory. Unlike Moses though, we do not have to wear a veil over our face and that is because Jesus came and repaired the bridge of relationship between God and man. Jesus is the reason we as human beings can have a relationship with the almighty and all holy Father.

E - So what does reflecting God’s glory mean? It means that not only our heart is transformed when we accept Jesus. Our outward appearance is too. I mean, the way we live life should reflect the heart of the Father. When we go out to the store or when we are sitting in traffic, the way which we hold ourselves is a reflection of what God has done in our life. Heb. 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”

Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. When we are living in relationship with Jesus, we begin to radiate God’s glory just as Jesus did! As Christians, we get to allow the beauty of the Father to radiate from our lifestyle. How crazy is that?

I - Do you know someone who is a spitting image of their mother or father? When you look at them you can’t help but think about how much they look like their parent. Think of God’s glory like this; a son reflects the image of his father. Not only in his genetics but also in his mannerisms, thinking patterns his outlook on life. This isn’t because of any direct effort from the son; it is simply a natural result of spending time and learning from his father. The more time the father and son spend together, the more the son is going to resemble his father.

A - In the same way we reflect God’s glory not because of anything we have achieved but because we spend time with our heavenly Father. One of the easiest ways to intimately connect with God is through Scripture. You want to get to know what God’s heart is like? Look to Scripture. Like really read it and study it to find out who your Creator is. One of my friends uses the terminology “becoming a student of the Word” and I love it. The root of the word student is someone who studies. So don’t simply read God’s word. study it, analyze it, ask God whatHe is speaking to you through it.

Another way is through Silence and Solitude. If you remember watching Pastor Jason’s sermon on Silence and Solitude, this is the perfect scenario to put it into practice! When we completely quiet ourselves before God, He speaks to our souls and works to make us more like Him. This leads me to our second point.

Point 2 - We are being restored to the image of God.

We “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory”

The language Paul uses in this passage is active. We are actively being transformed into God’s image. It is not just something that has been done in the past. This is the idea of progressive sanctification. Rather than a one and done situation, it is a process of becoming more like our Creator.

E - Gen 1:26. “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”

The Hebrew word for image in this passage is often used in Scripture to refer to statues or carvings created out of wood or metal. So God literally sculpted or carved us into His image when we were created. The issue all humanity faces is that sin corrupted our godly image and caused us to fall away from our intimacy with God. The work of progressive sanctification is the process of returning back to God’s image. And get this! The glory with which with God is transforming us with is not only greater than the glory Moses radiated but it is ever-increasing. This new glory of the covenant brought through Jesus is always becoming greater and greater!

I - It is as if we were all once sculptures of God’s image but sin has caused unwanted buildup all around us which prevented us from seeing God. This is what was happening to the Israelites when they were under the old covenant. It’s the reason Israel was not able to look directly at Moses after he came down from Mount Sinai. But there is good news! The sculptor is offering to chisel away the buildup so that we once again resemble the image of God and live in communion with Him. We are undergoing the process of restoration back to the image of God.

A - The process of transformation into the image of God is not always pleasant. It requires daily sacrifice and surrender to God’s will. Ultimately you must make the choice whether you are going to trust God through the process of transformation. Philippians 1:6 says that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” I believe this is God’s promise to you today. That the work which has been started in you is not finished yet. God will not give up on you. He promises that we will see it to competion. Sometimes it is rough having all this sin chiseled off of yourself but our hope in things to come is greater. The next time you come face to face with a trial which challenges your faith, remind yourself of the hope we have in becoming like Christ and what impact that will have on the Kingdom.

Point 3 - Transformation can only come from God (who is the Spirit).

“which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Transformation occurs when the Holy Spirit is at work in your life.

E - Transformation into the image of God is not something we achieve or earn by our own efforts. Earlier in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 Paul writes, “not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” There is a danger in believing that we have acheived something which only God could accomplish. That’s called pride. Yes, it takes a willing spirit to begin transforming into the image of God, but it is God who does the transformation. When reading the Old Testament we see time after time people attempting to live godly lives but failing immensly. King David may have appeared to have it all together - until he had an affair with Bathsheba, Rahab may have helped Joshua’s spies - but she was a prostitute, Israel may have been set free from Eygpt - but they were discontent with God’s provisions. This is why we need sanctifying grace. As people who were born with a sinful nature, we need to embace the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we desire to see transformation.

I - A sailboat is capable of floating in the water without any help of the wind but once it wants to start going anywhere, it then needs to hoist its sails so the wind can direct it to where it needs to go. Sometimes we can float around like boats that forgot to put their sails up. God desires for us to be willing to hoist up our sails and allow Him to take control over the direction of our lives. This is what it means to surrender your life to God. You give up your own control of where your life was headed and let God take over.

A - If you are still thinking, “wow, this process of transformation sounds like a challenge,” I’m not going to fool you, you’re not wrong! Go ahead and read 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul talks all about these challenges we will face as Christians. But get this. Verse 16 says, “therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” I bet you didn’t know the Apostle Paul was a ryhming poet! God renews our souls everyday when we come into His presence. If you are desiring to be transformed into the image of God, pray for it during your prayer time. God values what you ask of Him and Scripture is very clear that His heart for us is to become more like Jesus.

Conclusion

So, we learned we reflect God’s glory, we are being transformed into the image of God, and that this can only happen with the power and direction of the Holy Spirit. This is simpy the process of becoming more like Jesus. And this is real transformation! it isn’t just a metaphorical idea of thinking differently. We are authenticly being transformed from the inside out into people who resemble Christ. My hope for you today Church is that you would embrace God’s grace and allow Him to transform you more and more into His image.

I believe today that God’s desire for you is to be restored back to His image. To the original image He intended for us way back in Genesis chapter 1. God desires to have the same intimate relationship with you that he had with Adam and Eve before sin separated them. He made a way for us to come back to relationship with Him and that way IS Jesus.

So today, live like you are being transformed! Because you are. Yeah we are going to mess up, yes it’s sometimes a difficult process but God renews our souls. I believe that there are some of you today who have accepted Jesus aready and have confessed your faith in Him but you have yet to allow the Holy Spirit to transform you into the image of God. You feel like a stagnant pond in your faith today and something inside of your soul is craving transformation. I am here to tell you that God is beckoning you forward this morning to take the next step in your faith journey and to begin the process of becoming.

I’d like to pray for us to end off.