Today, let’s start with the bottom line and work our way up. Or, to put it another way, let’s start at the finish line and work our way backward.
What is the ultimate goal of the Christian Life? We are clearly told that in Romans 8:29-30;
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Now don’t freak out over that word “predestined.” It is used 6 times in the New Testament and simply means to determine something ahead of time. This email you are reading or podcast you are listening to was predestined to happen because I determined yesterday that I was going to write it.
Now there is a big difference between me “predestining” something to happen and God. My determination to write something last night might not have happened because I might have died in my sleep. Our problem is we do not know exactly what is going to happen before it does.
However, God is different in that He knows all things and has always known all things and there is no chance God will die in His sleep…because He doesn’t sleep…because He never sleeps…because He is God.
If you want to believe that some things God has not predetermined, and we are spinning through the centuries with Random Chance at the helm then good luck with that. But the bottom line is God has predetermined that you and I will be conformed to the image of His Son. He chose us before creation, and He predetermined that we would be saved through the faith and grace He would give to us as the gift of salvation.
So, the ultimate goal of the Christian Life is we are all going to be conformed to the image of His Son. We are all going to be made perfect and spend eternity with Him and one another in Heaven…forever.
Now if we look more closely, we find there are 5 stages to our Christian Life.
Stage One – we were foreknown – He knew us ahead of all time.
Stage Two – we were predestined before time began. (See Ephesians 1:3-4)
Stage Three – we were called – The Father drew us to Jesus
Stage Four – we were justified – Through the gift of faith God declared us not guilty forever.
Stage Five – we were glorified – Not yet but will be in heaven.
Let me explain why the word glorified is in the past tense. Even though it has not happened, it is written in the past tense which is a tool in the Greek language of stressing that it is most definitely going to happen with absolute certainty that the past tense is used instead of the present.
The great news is that stages 1-4 have already happened. We are 80% there. Stage 5 happens when we die and go to heaven forever with no sinful nature, no devil, and a freshly remade world with no evil in it whatsoever, no viruses, and no pollution.
We are living in the “right now” of our lives. We cannot change our past. God has our eternal life in heaven all worked out. We just need to deal with the time we have left and do so one day at a time. Now, look at this passage…
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For, this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
So, where is the Spirit of the Lord? Inside of our bodies. We have been sealed with the Spirit as our guarantee of the eternal life God has for us. We are signed, sealed, and to be delivered. Don’t tell Amazon because they will try to make a dollar off of it.
He is in us to transform us. And this is what so many Christians do not realize or are not taking advantage of what we have been given. Have you gotten it figured out yet that you cannot change yourself in this area of sexual addiction? If not by now you will eventually come to that conclusion after falling flat on your face trying to recover in isolation.
Now, very carefully look at that verse again and answer this question. We are told that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM. Yet you are finding that you do not have freedom but are still enslaved to sexual sin? Then we read that we are BEING TRANSFORMED. Yet, you do not see that transformation taking place. So, what are we told we need to be doing for transformation to take place???
BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD!!!
Perhaps, and this is only a suggestion…perhaps you are not being transformed because you are not beholding the glory of the Lord. And what pray tell is beholding the glory of the Lord if it is not WORSHIP???
There is the transformation that happens by the renewing of our mind which certainly involves the reading, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word. What about the renewing or transformation of our hearts and the transformation of our desires so that we love the Lord more than we love sex, and we begin to desire purity over hardcore porn?
So, today imagine this. When you are being tempted to go and lust after people in porn you have a choice. Let’s use the metaphor of smell. You can either pick a rose and smell the fragrance of the Rose of Sharron or you can smell a fresh, warm, pile of dog poop. Or, you can taste and see that the Lord is good or … well, you get the picture.
We have trained ourselves to think that porn and sexual sin are good because in the moment it feels so good and helps us escape. However, in the end, it is worse than excrement…it is poison to you and all your relationships.
When will you begin to fast from the news of doom and gloom in our world today and begin to add worship to your daily activities that will help you be transformed?
More Tomorrow …