Becoming Whole Sermon Week 1.3

Intro

I used to have a motorcycle

2001 Harley Sportster, hugger edition [PIC]

nothing better than the open road, back country in Washington State

The freedom, the exhilaration, the boundless opportunity

Maybe you enjoy getting out on the road as well

This is what you and I were made for.

Many of us are driving in traffic

or at worst we are at a complete standstill.

We were made for freedom, but we are stuck in traffic

This series is about

how do we get back on the open road

In other words, what hinders us from becoming all that God designed us to be.

What obstacles are in our way?

This series will be about revealing & removing those obstacles so that we will be free to become all that God has intended for us.

Isaiah 57:14 CSB "prepare the way, remove every obstacle from my people’s way.”

The Bible calls this process Transformation.

Today we will be in 2 Cor 3:18 which was in many ways the impetus for this series.

We are going to do an introduction and overview of the series

Name, Welcome to One Hope

Open your bibles

Pray

Pray

Transformation is a Complete Change

Let’s look at our verse

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

There’s our word “transformation”

The greek work there is metamorphe

We get metamorphosis

Caterpillar to a butterfly [PIC?]

seed to a flower

We don’t just need:

better programs and policies

new presidents or politicians

more information or education

The Bible says what we need is utter transformation

Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people alive

this is the level of change that you and I need to experience

Total transformation

A Complete Change.

Transformation is a Process

From this text we see that transformation is a process

it happens over time

“from one degree of glory to another”

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Beginning and End

It has a definite beginning point

And it has an end goal.

Romans 8:30 ESV And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Our glorified state — it’s what we all long for

To be finally completed, made whole, transformed

This is God’s vision for your life, God’s plan for you.

Just what is God transforming us into?

We see this just one verse earlier

Romans 8:29 ESV For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son

What is God’s vision for humanity?

What is God’s vision for you and I?

The answer is quite simple.

God’s vision for you and I is Jesus Christ.

What are we being transformed into? Jesus Christ.

to live a life like His and to have a heart like his

You and I get to image Christ in a way that is unique to our story and our make up

Jesus is our Model (mold?)

How does this process happen?

Transformation begins by Removing the Veil

“With unveiled face”

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

What does this mean?

The veil in this section is representative of the first obstacle that needs to be overcome

This is the proverbial green light to get us actually moving.

It is the first step in our transformation

The Veil represents our unbelief, our natural sinful condition, our unredeemed and unregenerate self — Hardness of heart, spiritual deadness

[ANNOTATION]

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 ESV And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The veil prevents us from seeing and believing in the Gospel.

So the first thing that needs to happen if we are to become whole is that veil needs to be removed.

Well how does the veil get removed?

[ANNOTATION]

2 Corinthians 3:14–16 ESV But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Two Things Here:

The veil is removed when one turns to the Lord = Repentance

it’s only taken away through Christ

When Jesus died on the cross we read in in Matt 27:51 “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”

This curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple

The very place where God’s presence resided

Where the High priest would make atonement for sin

Hebrews 10:19–20 ESV We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

Transformation begins in our first act of true repentance.

In our first act of repentance we turn to the Lord, that is to Christ by faith

Ultimately this happens through the spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

My 1st Act of Repentance:

Now for me, this was a major turning point for me.

I had pursued everything I could, but this is the one thing that I was not experiencing: transformation.

I may have looked good on the outside, but I was dead on the inside, the veil remained.

Once the veil is removed we have freedom, for the first time.

We can now begin to see with new eyes and a new heart.

Call to Respond in Faith

This is the First step.

Maybe you have not taken this step

You are not hearing this by accident

God wants to transform your life in ways you never dreamed.

The first step is coming to him

Give you life to him, now

give your life to Jesus

Moment to Pray and Respond

Transformation comes from beholding Christ

once the veil is removed we can for the first time see the glory of God revealed in the person and work of Jesus.

We can now see God, but it doesn’t remove the obstacles in our life

We now know our intended destination, but there are hindrances in our path

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The glory of God, which is Christ!

And just what is the glory of God?

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

To behold Christ is to behold person and work of Christ.

Beholding and becoming

But this verse says that we don’t just see Jesus, but we are beholding Him.

What does this mean?

This word behold is very important

The CSB translates this as to ‘look as in a mirror’

The CSB translates this word ‘behold’ as ‘looking as in a mirror.’  It is decidedly more than a visual or intellectual activity. There is a hint of intimacy in this term.  To behold something is to see it, is to study it, to hold it close. 

Think about yourself looking into a mirror, you see an image of yourself.

Think about getting ready for a wedding, you are doing your hair, putting make up, you are ‘beholding’ yourself.

Transformation is by the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This is all the work of the Spirit of God

First the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts and removes the veil so that we can respond to the Gospel Call

Then the Spirit’s work is to transform us progressively to become more like Christ.

John 14— Spirit’s job is to remind us of Christ’s Work and teaching.

Acts 1:8- empowered by the Spirit for witness

“Are being transformed”

The passive voice, “are being transformed,” indicates that this transformation is something done by God, and Paul’s exegesis makes clear that it happens through the Spirit.

You and I are not alone

It is the Spirit that is at work within us

Our job is to listen to the Spirit, to follow the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, to yield to the Spirit’s work in our life

The Holy Spirit is about exalting the person and the work of Christ.

The Problem: Obstacles = Idols

Sounds easy right?

So why are we sitting in traffic?

We have obstacles in our path

They are wounds we have recieved from others

They are sins in our life that we have not dealt with and repented of.

The work of the Spirit is to reveal and remove these obstacles from our lives and in so doing we are refined.

Sinner/Sinned Against

The problem is we live in a broken world.

There are two simultaneous truths about each of us:

We are sinned against — develop heart wounds

We are sinners — we respond in sinful ways.

We are ‘sinners’ and ‘sinned against’

These becomes hindrances in our lives.

We need to learn how to

truly repent

truly heal

truly walk in resurrection power.

How do I do this?

We will get there in the coming weeks exactly what this process looks like.

Closing

For the next ten weeks we are going to unpack what this transformation process looks like in detail.

And my hope in this is that we will lay a spiritual foundation for us individually and thus corporately as a church for a transformed life

And as each of us step into this process, we will be progressively freed to become what God has made us and called us to be.

And with this spiritual foundation, One Hope Church will become the church God has called us to be in this place and in this time to reach the City, Nations and Generations with the Hope of Jesus Christ.

What should you do?

Commit to walk through this process

It will take work to identify the obstacles in your life

And then to walk through the healing and repenting process.

Get in a Community Group

Each of our Groups will be going through this content.

So if you are not in a group yet, fill out a next steps card and try to get in a group.

Transformation happens in community “And we all” plural.

For helpful study to go along side:

Do the Reading Plan

Grab a Copy of The Key to Deep Change

Pray against the enemy

His whole goal is to put obstacles in your way

Don’t let him win.

Let’s Pray