TRANSFORMATION

Ron Campbell

Ephesians 4: 10-13; Romans 12: 1,2; 2 Corinthians 3: 17,18 ; Philippians 3: 17-21

I have been thinking about transformation or change, which enters into each of these scriptures. I suppose, from one standpoint, it is something that takes place in our coming initially to the Lord Jesus and appreciating Him as our Saviour, and having Him as our Object. The glad tidings are not only to save us from our sins, but are intended to convert us, to change us. You can see that in the book of the Acts, in Saul of Tarsus, and in the Philippian jailor and others, that they were not only conscious of their sins being forgiven, but there was a real moral change with them so that they had Christ as their Object, and instead of living to the flesh, they began to live to Christ. I think it is important that we should appreciate the glad tidings, not only as I have said, in the way that they would save us, but that they should have a deep inward effect upon us, and change us thoroughly. Conversion suggests a change through and through; there should be some obvious difference from what persons were to what they are; it should be obvious.

I thought initially of this great system that is available to us, initiated by the Lord Jesus. The One who has "descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that He might fill all things;" (v 10). Now He has gone to that place in glory, above all the heavens. He has reached the pinnacle of power, the great place that He was intended to fill - and which He does fill. So He is giving character to a new order of things. Everything in the assembly and in our individual experiences has its origin in the Lord Jesus: everything flows from Him, He is there above all the heavens, and He is filling all things. From that point - He is influencing downwards and using a great system of support that is available to us that we might arrive at God's ideal. Change would be in relation to formation after Christ, and this whole system is set on that we might all arrive "at the fullgrown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ;" (v 13). What an ideal, beloved brethren! That is God's intent: Christ is God's ideal, and His desire is that we might arrive at the full-grown man, "at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ".

From there, He has given some apostles. It was in the inauguration of Christianity that these gifts were given, but I think it might suggest that even now there is what is authoritative - the Lord Jesus using ministry and our local gatherings in view of emphasising and bringing in what is authoritative. "And some prophets" (v 11) - I think we have some experience of that. However feeble we are we have some experience of the Lord Jesus using persons to bring in what is prophetic, that is, that the mind of God for the moment is brought in giving us direction. The prophet would be with God and would bring in the mind of God - a challenge to us in these meetings for the ministry of the word that there might be something prophetic in it to meet the conditions of the saints at this moment. "And some evangelists" - I think that these are gifts which were given, as I have said, in the inauguration of Christianity, but the work of the evangelist is to continue. We have no specifically ordained persons: we have no apostles; but we have what is apostolic in the sense that there is authority in what is said. We do not have prophets, but we have persons available to bring in what is prophetic. do not have evangelists - designated evangelists - but Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. That is the position in which we are at the present time, that we can do the work of an evangelist.

That is intended, as I have said, to bring about change, ''with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;" (v 12). We can have the sense of what is apostolic and prophetic as God's mind comes in, and we can do the work of the evangelist. I believe these things continue in these characters at the present time. It is all ''with a view to the work of the ministry, to the edifying of the body of Christ; until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ;" (v 13). Now that must involve change. What we are naturally and what we are after the flesh cannot be worked upon. It involves something in the soul of the believer that can be worked upon, and developed, and progressed, with this great end in mind, to arrive at the full-grown man.

May we be encouraged by these things, however small our conditions might be, that the Lord can use persons to bring in what would be needed just at the present moment to encourage and to help us. The prophetic word in Corinthians is said to be for edification, for consolation, (see ch 14: 3). The word would come in to encourage and help us at the present time, to see what God has in mind, that we ''who once were afar off...", (Ephesians 2: 13) as belonging to the Gentiles who had no claim to anything there might be a change in us and we might appreciate what God's end is, that is that we might arrive at the full-grown man.

These other scriptures all speak of transformation. It might encourage our hearts to appreciate what there is for us to go in for and to be occupied with. Romans 12 is the believer having worked out certain moral exercises in his own experience - he brings his members under control, he has his mind under control. It says, "I myself with the mind serve God's law; but with the flesh sin's law", (Romans 7: 25). So that he has arrived at something in spiritual experience or moral history, and comes to the appreciation of the gift of the Holy Spirit as the power to maintain him here in relation to what is of God. The believer has his whole body brought into subjection to the will of God. That is a test, (I find it for myself), that my life might be governed by the will of God, that I might put my body on the altar and be committed - fully committed - to what there is of God in our own souls, and use it in view of the pursuit of the will of God. And he says, “to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service", (Romans 12: 1). The mind is involved in that: "your intelligent service. The renewed mind sees what is in God's mind, that our bodies are available, livingly available, in view of the pursuit of the will of God. He brings in this word of warning: "And be not conformed to this world ...". How easy it is to be conformed to this world. I suppose the trend has never been so great in relation to the reducing of divine standards and conformation to the world. The enemy would be constantly at us as believers in the Lord Jesus - that we might be conformed to this world. But Paul says: "And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God", (v 2). The mind is a very important faculty, especially in the working out of exercises in this epistle, and our mind are renewed - we think differently, we do not think as persons in the world think. We think as persons who have come under the will of Another and our minds are controlled, so that we might prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. This involves change. The whole bent of our life is different, the way we think is different we begin to think for God. We have put our bodies on the altar and our minds are changed: not to think about ourselves and the pursuit of what might be in relation to the world; now we are set fully in the pursuit of the will of God.

May we see this, beloved brethren, and be encouraged by it, that this change is taking place as we set our minds on divine things, on holy things - in relation to what is collective, what would be in relation to the assembly. We do not get the assembly formally in Romans, apart from a reference in a later chapter but it has often been said that a good Roman can go anywhere. Once we arrive at these things in our individual history, we are ready for the pursuit of the divine interests in relation to the testimony here. This is an exercise for ourselves; we have a certain responsibility. Paul says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". We have to set ourselves; we have to have our mind on divine things - our minds set in the pursuit of the will of God, with our mind changed from what we would think according to flesh to what we would think according to God, proving the help of the Holy Spirit in it.

In 2 Corinthians 3, it is also our responsibility; it suggests that we do something. It says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord" (vv 17,18) would suggest what is collective, but it would have certain effects in each one of us. What an Object we have for our affections, to fix our eyes on the glory of the Lord, to have Him before us. What a change that brings in, what transformation! It suggests that we are moving from glory to glory, which involves a certain progress. It suggests a metamorphosis, that is, imperceptibly we change, like Moses who went up the mountain and his face shone. I believe this is intended to enter our experience that we have the Lord before us in all His perfection, in all His glory, that we might be transformed according to the same image"; that is, we become Christ-like, or we become more Christ-like. That is the great object, the great ideal, as looking upon Him - having Him exclusively before us - we are “transformed according to the same image from glory to glory". What a change; it is constantly taking place: from glory to glory.

Then we have the great final change of which I read in Philippians. In a sense we have no responsibility in relation to that. It is the Lord Jesus who acts Himself. What a moment that will be. The apostle writes of those who mind earthly things, who "glory in their shame" (Phil 3: 19). What conditions there are around us in the world and even in what takes the Name of Christ, the great religious profession, there is no real presentation of Christ, or representation of Christ. Persons "mind earthly things". But the apostle says: "for our commonwealth"; that is our life together. Our associations of life do not belong to what is earthly or what marks this scene at all. "Our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens", (see v 20). What an area in which to have our links, to be with one another in the enjoyment of what is heavenly in character, that which we will enter into fully when the Lord calls us to Himself. But then he says, ''from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour'' "who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of the power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself", (v 21). He will subdue all things - His enemies He will put under His feet (see 1 Cor 15: 25). He has the power to subdue and subjugate every element - He will do that in a day to come - but before that the Lord will transform our bodies of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory. What a change. These earthly tabernacles, these bodies of ours which are weak and feeble in the physical side: but the work of God proceeds in each one of our souls; and the moment will come when the Lord Jesus Himself will ''transform these bodies of humiliation into conformity to His own body of glory..." You think of that moment when the dead in Christ shall arise first; then we, who are alive and remain, shall be caught up to be with the Lord" (see 1 Thess 4: 16,17). The Lord Jesus will operate from His own side, He will initiate this: He will set it on. My responsibility is to have my mind transformed and to be transformed from glory to glory - the work of God progressing in my soul; but the Lord Jesus initiates this change: He sets it on; and our portion will be in the enjoyment of our associations with Him in bodies like unto His own body of glory. Oh, the great final thought - Christ's body of glory. He "shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory" (v 21).

What an object we have! What a hope we have despite the weakness here - and we feel it - that moment will come when the Lord will transform our bodies of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory. May we be encouraged. beloved brethren for His Name's sake.

 

HELSTON

25 July 1995