From Nature To Glory By Grace

“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...

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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.