2 Corinthians 5: 17 « Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! »
Today, the goal is to present Jesus in His
extraordinary role as a transformer of lives. This article is more an
expression of my gratitude than an exhortation. It is an invitation to
experience the ultimate transformation with Jesus.
I have never met anyone who regretted
experiencing the genuine transformation that only Jesus can bring. Those who
have regretted their experience are those who followed a man instead of Jesus;
those who obeyed people rather than the Word of God found in the Bible; those
who were merely "performing" to please others instead of seeking to
know and do the will of Jesus Christ.
My journey with Christ so far has taught me
that the more we grow attached to Jesus, the more we know Him, and the more we
love Him. This attachment causes us to place less importance on people's
opinions, and as a result, we become less frustrated. After all, it is often
people's expectations that frustrate us.
When we understand that the One we are called
to please is also the One responsible for our transformation, the opinions and
expectations of others lose their influence over us. Therefore, this article is
an invitation to be transformed by Jesus rather than by the strange doctrines
of men.
Let us begin with a simple question: What are the requirements to experience this
transformation?
There is only one: to accept Jesus as Lord
and Savior with all your heart.
Making Him your Lord means agreeing to submit
to His will. It means being willing to say, as Jesus said to God the Father
(Luke 22:42): "Not my will, but Yours be done." This must be more
than a statement we make once. It is a commitment that must be renewed daily
through our decisions, our words, our actions, and every area of our lives.
And when we allow Him to take control, my
friends, we step onto the path of an ultimate transformation that we will never
regret. For we surrender ourselves to the One who knows us better than we know
ourselves and who desires only our good. Whatever He decides is for the perfect
happiness to which He predestined us from our mother's womb.
Jeremiah 1: 5 « Before I formed you in
the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. »
Jeremiah 29 : 11 « For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future. »
No one was created for a life of suffering.
We all have a happy destiny, but to reach it, we must make the right decisions
every day, no matter how unreasonable they may sometimes seem. And the best way
to make the right decisions is to submit ourselves to the perfect will of the
One who created us and knows all things.
Indeed, no one understands the purpose of an
invention better than its inventor. Therefore, God alone knows what we need to
fulfill our destiny and fully accomplish the purpose for which we were created.
So, when we stray partially or completely
from our destiny, there is only one Person who can lead us back to it: the One
who created us. And that process necessarily involves transformation. If a
knife no longer cuts, it needs to be sharpened. If a car breaks down, a
mechanic must repair or replace the faulty parts. If a house is no longer
habitable, it must be renovated or completely rebuilt.
The same is true for us as human beings. When
we drift away from our purpose on this earth, it is a sign that our nature has
been altered and that we are no longer “functioning” as we were designed to.
Therefore, a transformation through Jesus becomes necessary so that our
original nature may be restored and we may fully live out the destiny God has
prepared for us. Yes, indeed, the mechanic in our case is none other than Jesus
Himself (Galatians 2:16).
In Jesus, Paul went from being a murderer and
persecutor to an apostle, becoming a fisher of souls for Christ. Zacchaeus, a
dishonest tax collector, was transformed after encountering Jesus (Luke
19:1-10). Peter went from being impulsive and cowardly to becoming a pillar
and builder of the Lord’s Church. The list could fill thousands of pages.
But the most important transformation of all
is the one in which we move from being condemned sinners to becoming righteous
sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ.
