You're Perfect Just The Way You Are Not (2)

Story:

“You are perfect just the way you are.” Phrase commonly within culture. A slogan to make people feel good about themselves.

Billy Joel or Bruno Mars have written songs promoting this idea of being amazing “just the way you are” and this has quickly become the anthem to the world we live in today: “Never change; you are perfect just the way you are.”

But what if this wasn’t true? What if each and every one of us was not perfect just the way we are? In his song, Bruno Mars writes, “If perfect’s what you’re searching for then just stay the same.”

But what if it is God’s will for all of us to change because we are imperfect? That would mean that I would have to work on my patience with people and try to be more compassionate to others. More intentional with how I spend my money. It probably more thankful.

If we are imperfect, how are we supposed to live in a relationship with a holy God?

Subject:

Today I would like to talk about this Biblical idea of … SANCTIFICATION

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

-Pray-

Setting:

I will provide some context. Apostle Paul second letter to the church in Corinth.

Referring to chapter 34 in the book of Exodus when he references our “unveiled faces.”

Moses would wear this veil over his face when he was in front of the Israelites because after he came down from receiving the 10 commandments in the presence of the Lord, the face of Moses was so radiant with the Lord’s glory that it scared the Israelites.

Every time Moses would go back into the presence of God, he would remove the veil again. This is why Paul refers to all of us, who have unveiled faces. It is because we have the same direct access to the presence of God through Jesus.

Substance:

Point 1: God Has Sanctified You

E - The moment we decide to follow Jesus and receive His forgiveness for our sin, He sanctifies our heart and removes our guilt before Him. But what does sanctification even mean? And what does it have to do with reflecting the glory of the Lord? The New Bible Dictionary defines sanctification as “the process by which an entity is brought into relationship with or attains the likeness of the holy.” This means, it is the process of coming into a relationship with God, who is holy and perfect, and then becoming like God in His holiness. This process has two major parts to it: Initial sanctification and progressive sanctification. First, we are touching on initial sanctification which is the immediate holiness we receive when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. Paul writes in our passage we “who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory.” Just like Moses after he came down from Mount Sinai after receiving the 10 commandments, we too reflect the glory of God and His holiness because we have been sanctified by His grace. We have been made holy in the sight of God. The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 10, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” You see, the sacrifice has already been made for our sins and we have been made holy through the death of Christ if we have received His forgiveness.

I – It is kind of like a deep clean of a house. Picture a really messy house that has useless things lying around everywhere. It is hard to walk around because there is so much garbage on the floor. Just when you thought one area of the house was clean you walk into a different room and are astonished by the amount of trash everywhere. This house is humanly impossible to clean. When Jesus died on the cross and took upon Himself all of the sins of the world, He cleaned each of our houses which were beyond human repair. This is the initial sanctification we receive when we choose to allow Jesus to be the Lord and Saviour over our life.

A – We can only receive this sanctification when we realize and confess, “we are not perfect just the way we are” and we need help. We lay down our notion of what perfection looks like and embrace God’s sanctifying grace that cleanses our hearts from all sin and puts us in a right relationship with Him. If you have never asked God to forgive you of your sins and enter your life, the first step is admitting you are not perfect the way you are. It is when we humbly bow before the Lord in need of a saviour that He forgives us of our sins and sanctifies us to make us holy. This is the event of sanctification our heart experiences when we accept Jesus, but there is also an ongoing process of sanctification, which directs me into my second point…

Point 2: God is sanctifying you

E – The process of sanctification refers to the act of growing more and more into the likeness of Christ. The second half of the passage we are looking into today says we are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This process of becoming more and more like Christ is referred to as “progressive sanctification.” God is the ultimate state of holiness, so the process of sanctification is really the process of reflecting more and more of who God is. This is a continuous process. Even the Apostle Paul writes this in his letter to the Philippians: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” The goal is to be made completely holy. You might ask why this process of becoming holy is important? Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:21, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves of the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” The more holy you become through the Holy Spirit, the more useful you can become to God!

I – The Greek word for “transformed” that Paul uses in the passage we are looking at is metamorphoo. It is immediately clear that this Greek word is related to where we get the English word metamorphosis. Metamorphosis describes the process of an animal or an insect changing into something different. For example, caterpillars undergo metamorphosis when they morph into a butterfly. If we backtrack to grade 5 science class for a second, the caterpillar hatches from a small egg, and then it grows until it turns into a pupa or a chrysalis, which then usually waits weeks until a butterfly emerges. It is a period of time when they are transforming into something new. This is the reason Paul used the word metamorphoo when he wrote we are “being transformed into God’s image with ever-increasing glory.” We too are currently in a process of being transformed into something new.

A – If you are anything like me, you like things to be measurable. You enjoy seeing tangible progress when it comes to working out or getting better at an instrument. My dad recently asked me, is there any way you can actually measure goals like holiness? There are a few practical steps you can take to actually make sure you are living a life of holiness before the Lord. A life of sanctification. Something I would recommend to every Christian is becoming invested in an accountability group of some sort. Accountability groups are a large way in how I have experienced growth in living a holy life. It could be as simple as meeting weekly or bi-weekly with a small group of people you trust and pushing one another towards Christlikeness through the confessing of sin and encouraging one another. Through an accountability group you can set personal goals and work toward achieving them within the accountability of other Christians and God.

Sum-up:

Today we have looked at how the topic of sanctification is both an event and a process. First, my point was that if you are a follower of Jesus, God has sanctified you. Your sins have been wiped away and God, by His grace and power, has made you holy in His sight. And second, God is sanctifying you. And He will continue to do so for the rest of your life if you allow Him to have control.

Suggestion:

I don’t know where you are at with God today, but I want to encourage you that it is His will for you to reflect His glory. He can begin that process of sanctification wherever you are at in life. I would suggest you to first recognize your need for a holy God because we are not perfect just the way we are. If you aren’t involved in an accountability group yet, talk to some of your closest friends and meet consistently to encourage one another. If you are involved in an accountability group already, who is someone you could invite into your group who doesn’t have a group yet? The reality is most people will never enter into an accountability group unless they are asked, so I would encourage you to either invite someone into your accountability group or take the initiative and start one.

Swing-around:

Culture and the media might be telling you that you are perfect just the way you are, but the Gospel says that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Each of us is in need of a Saviour who continuously sanctifies us from our sin and shortcomings.

Stop.