“At the heart of the Christian experience is a radical transformation
from what we were by nature into what God intends us to become by grace.”
― ROBERT H. MOUNCE
What a comprehensively riveting quote on
Christian spirituality this one, above, is!
We are, all of us, destined, predestined for
that matter, by God, for a divine transformation, for we are all – all true
believers – being changed
into the image of Christ by beholding the glory of the Lord. We are to be
consumed by that vision of consummate purity; to gaze upon the Lord as in a
mirror.
Yet, in our world we are more aptly
criticised and condemned for going overboard on ‘religion’. We are more likely
to be asked to calm down, when instead God wills it that we go headlong into a
life diversion that leaves no stone unturned in discovering what it is that God
has for us, as individuals, in our development that is, from the beginning,
vouchsafed for eternity.
What Do We Make of ‘Radical
Transformation’?
Some of us are scared of going too hard for
God. Some of us are afraid of not giving enough of ourselves. The former are
worried about controlling their passion; they are all-or-nothing persons. The
latter are worried they won’t be able to sustain the pace of growth and the
demands of change.
We needn’t be worried at all. As the author,
above, puts it, “Transformation into the likeness of
Christ is the inevitable result of gazing upon his glory.”
We are being changed as we reflect,
continually and intermittently and seasonally, on his glory. There is no need
to worry about falling short or going too hard. All we are to do is focus on reflecting upon Christ’s glory.
There is an inevitable result – an outcome
transcending every other outcome – from gazing upon the glory of the Lord. We
are being transformed from what we were by nature into what God intends us to
become by grace. We are becoming. No need is there for any pressure. Grace
covers us.
The less pressure we place on ourselves the more
we focus on God in all his divine glory. These are all upside down realities.
The moment we debunk the pressure – rejecting it out of hand – is the moment we
are taken into the holy of holies in order to truly experience God.
God, beginning, middle and end...
***
It is simply beautiful what God is doing
within us – the believers. As we behold the glory of the Lord we are changed, transformed;
renewed no less. As we reject legalism – following a bunch of rules – we are
granted access to a radical transformation simply by beholding God’s glory all
the time.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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