The Transformers

I preached a message a few years back during a Youth Explosion in Lexington, KY entitled, "The Transformers." The scripture text was taken from Romans the 12th chpt verses 1-2 where it reads, "I beseeched ye therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And, be not CONFORMED to this world but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your minds that ye might prove what is that acceptable and perfect will of God." Paul is the author of this book of Romans and in this book he had the arduous task of laying down the foundation of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to those newly saved Christians in the Church of Rome. And, whenever you are tasked with being first there is a tremendous amount of pressure placed upon you, because everyone after you will be looking at the example that you set either to follow or one not to follow. It's important to note that the Pauling Epistles, which make up 2/3rds of the New Testament books of the Bible were written to the churches that Paul founded on his missionary journeys. So, these epistles were not written to the unsaved, but they were primarily written to those who were newly saved; providing instruction to them on how to live a saved life according to the Word of God.  This Church at Rome, although they were newly saved, were still engaging in the salacious and seditious ceremonies and orgies in the temple. They were living riotously and without restraint or self-control. They were newly saved, but didn't know how God would have them to live and this is where Paul came into guide them and to direct them in the way God would have them to go.

In this particulare scripture Paul opens by telling the Church at Rome to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Paul lets his audience know that once you have recieved Christ salvation through  repentance of sins, baptism and the in filling of the Holy Ghost as it is outlined in Acts 2:38, then you are a new creature and your body is now a temple unto the Lord. You are to treat your physical body as such and not infect it with the posinous behavior of your past lives. You are now the property of Jesus Christ; bondservants of the Master, and your lives have now been set aside for the Masters use. In today's world, our bodies are used as tools of sexuality and promsicuity. Our bodies are used to sell products, along with everything else. And, the reason God wants us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto him is because are lives should be a outward reflection of an inward change within us. Salvation is not an exterior change, but it is an interior change that is reflected in our exterior image. This being said, the changes or the adjustments one makes in our lives as we endeavor to walk according to God's will is not a superficial change or even an outward change entirely. But, the Bible tells us that the Holy Ghost will lead us and guide us into all truth. So, the Holy Ghost will begin to lead us and guide us in every aspect of our lives, as long as we allow it to be our guide. This is how Paul opens up the 12th chapter of Romans, telling them that is now time to present your bodies to Christ as a continual example of Holy Living.

In the 2nd component of this message we dealt with the two types of individuals that I believe live in our world CONFORMERS & TRANSFORMERS! Paul directly addresses these two individual in this opening verse in chapter 12, "And be not CONFORMED to this world, but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind." The Holy Ghost comes to transform our thinking; it comes to give us a new perspective a new outlook on life. The scripture clearly states, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. old things are past away behold all things have become new." So, when Jesus died on Calvary for our sins, He endeavored for his death to make a lasting impact on our lives. He wanted His death to bridge the gap the sin had created, because of Adam & Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. He wanted His death to equip us and empower us to die to sin, so that we can live forever with Him. Conformers are the kind of people that follow the status quo, they do whatever society is doing; they follow the trends and the fads. They are a typically viewed as followers and are a reflection of the times. But, is that what God is calling His people to be in these last and evil days? Is God looking for us to conform to the ways of this world, are is God calling for us to be more? 

Everything in the Word of God explicity suggest that God wants us to be TRANSFORMERS, and He has empowered us through his Holy Spirit with the power of TRANSFORMATION. Romans 8:31, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" God has not called us out of darkness into this marvelous light to be followers but to be leaders. We have the ability to not just changed ourselves, but we have the ability to change our environments, our neighborhoods, our schools, our communities and our jobs. God's spirit that dwells inside of us is powerful enough for us to impact the world for the benefit of Jesus Christ. And this is the real definition of "Change." Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:15, " To let your light shine that men may see your good works and glorify the Father which is in heaven." It's important for those of us who have His spirit within us to project that light onto this dark world. His light in us has the power to transform darkness into light.

So, I truly believe in this day and time, God is calling His people not to be CONFORMERS and mirror the world and its practices, but to be TRANSFORMERS and change the world for the better. We are to be that city set on a hill that cannot be hid. This kind of change takes the ownous off of God to do everything for us as His people, but what this scripture clearly states is that we are now spiritual agents of change. God has empowered us to do somethings ourselves, and I believe the Holy Ghost is all the power that we need to get the job done. Ghandi said that you must be change you wish to see in the world. And, Jesus Christ wants us to be an outward expression of a inward change that has taken place inside of us. When the world looks at us they should see the Jesus inside of us in our attitude, our talk and most importantly our walk.

My question to you is how do you see yourself reflecting the light that's inside of you to change something's in your environment? What are some ways you can be a TRANFORMER for Jesus Christ?