Vol. XXXIX February 2, 2007 No 2
“BE TRANSFORMED!”
by Tom McLemore
Human beings are created in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26, 27 we are told, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This fact is the basis of the sanctity of human life. In Genesis 9:6, God sternly warns, “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind.” In showing the inconsistency of the tongue, James affirms the dignity of humans made in God’s image when he writes, “With [the tongue] we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9).
To what does this idea of the image of God refer? Fundamentally, it refers to fact that man, like God, thinks, feels, decides, and wills. In other words, it speaks of the spiritual likeness which humans share with God in his spiritual nature. This capability distinguishes human beings from what the Bible calls “irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct” (2 Peter 2:12; cf. Jude 10). But the concept of the image of God also seems to carry with it the goodness which characterizes God, i.e., God’s moral nature. The story of the experience of the first pair in the garden indicates that when they chose to follow their own desires rather than the will of God that they denounced God’s moral nature. When they sinned, they chose the way of rejecting God’s will, and thus that way was introduced into the world. It had such an impact that the whole creation was affected, including human beings. Ever since, the image of God has been spoiled in human beings by their choosing this way, the way of rejecting God’s will and being a god to themselves. Paul bears witness to the universality and thorough-going effect of this phenomenon: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned . . .”(Romans 5:12).
God easily could have given up on human beings, what with our universally marring the image of God, “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But instead, “. . . God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). The most remarkable statement of the relationship of the coming of Christ and the restoring of the image of God is found in Hebrews 2:6-18 (please read the entire passage). The key idea is expressed in Hebrews 2:10: “It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
What this remarkable passage describes is a mission to restore us to the original glory and image that God intended for us when he created us. This rescue mission involves God’s image being manifest in human form. Jesus Christ is “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3). Paul emphasizes this fact in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “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.” Furthermore, in Colossians 1:15, Paul affirms that Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Jesus’ mission is to bring many children to glory (Hebrews 2:10). He is precisely what God made every human being to be. Hear the keynote of Jesus’ life: “‘Then I said, “See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)’ . . . ‘See, I have come to do your will’” (Hebrews 10:7, 9, alluding to Psalm 40:7, 8). Jesus Christ’s every breath was devoted to doing God’s will. Not only is Jesus God made flesh, but he is also human flesh living for God, i.e., what God intended for humans when he created them. And his purpose for coming is to bring us back, to restore human beings to their original purpose, viz., to reflect the image of God.
How does Jesus bring us back to the glory which God originally intended? First, there must be the payment for our sins which have severely marred the image of God in us. Peter describes this process in 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews also described this work of Christ, who is “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Hebrews 1:3, 4). Thus, we are delivered from the guilt of our past sins. However, there is still present in us the tendency to reject God’s will and to live by our desires. Paul reminds us of this: “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want” (Galatians 5:17).
Paul himself experienced this struggle which he described in his epistle to the Romans: “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:14-24). Even though God has dealt with our past guilt, how can God’s image be restored in its glory in us under these present circumstances?
This leads to the second part of the process, viz., transformation. This part is referred to in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. . . . And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” In this connection, Paul declares, “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
The goal of this is described in Romans 8:29, 30: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Thus, each of us who are seeking to be restored to what God intended all human beings to be have clothed ourselves “with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). This has begun with our entrance into Christ by baptism: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). We continue to clothe ourselves with “the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
What this involves is portrayed by Paul in Colossians 3:12-17: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” When we are doing these things, we are being transformed into the image of the Son of God, and God is accomplishing his practical purpose of restoring the glory of his image in us.
However, though God in Christ has removed the guilt of sins, and transforms our behavior into the behavior which reflects the glory of his image, the physical body still is subject to the consequences of sin’s having entered the world (Romans 5:12). Thanks be to God, that his transformation process includes the physical body as well. Paul writes, “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52). When Jesus comes again, he will “transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself” (Philippians 3:21). Then the transformation will be complete. The transformation will make for the complete restoration of what God intended for human beings in his creation: human beings willingly living according to the way of God in fellowship with him forever. When we contemplate the marvels of God’s great transformation of humans, we are moved to doxology: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).
Will you believe in Christ, repent of sins, confess faith in Christ, and be baptized into him, thereby receiving forgiveness of past sins and clothing yourself in him? In other words, will you allow God to begin the transformation? If you have already clothed yourself with Christ in baptism, are you actively seeking to clothe yourself with the new self? Will you allow God to make the transformation in your life? Will you mind the things of the Spirit, learn Christ, and strive to continuously behold God’s glory in the face of Christ? Be transformed!
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