Gospel Prism

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Introduction

Our third value that flows from ‘All things for the sake of the Gospel to God’s glory for our joy’ is the following:

We value the TRANSFORMED LIFE as a result of the Gospel’s power.

There can’t be any other way to see the Christian than to see him or her transformed by God. The Bible makes this clear in Romans 12:2 where Paul writes: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect,” and in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “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.” In both instances, the English translates the Greek word metamorphoo which is where we get the word ‘metamorphosis.” The same root word is also used in 2 other instances in the New Testament, in Matt 17:2 and Mark 9:2 where both instances refer to Jesus’ transfiguration recounting Jesus’ dramatic transformation. It’s obvious then that this word is used by Paul to depict radical transformation.

Now I know what you’re wondering. You’re thinking, “I don’t feel transformed. I still feel like the same creature that I was before I was saved. I still sin the same sins. I still fail to love God and love others. How in the world can I truly be transformed?” I think this is a very important question to ask, one that all Christians should be asking themselves. So I’d like to deal with two basic questions on transformation. The first question is, “How am I transformed?” The second question I’d like to tackle from within today’s text is “What is transformed by the Gospel?”

How Am I Transformed?

So the first question is this, “How am I transformed?” If you read the Bible, you will see a story of transformations. You will see people who were living one way and sharply turned to a different direction. The Bible describes this in various ways, darkness becomes light (Isa 42:16), crooked paths become straight (Isa 42:16), the deaf hear, the lame walk, the blind see (Luke 7:22). And then of course we see transformation through the lives of people: Moses the inarticulate, fearful man boldly leads hundreds of thousands, Joseph the former slave and inmate becomes Prime Minister, David the shepherd boy becomes king, Peter the impudent fisherman becomes the rock upon which the church is built, and of course, Paul the killer of Christians becomes the church’s greatest missionary and evangelist. All of these transformations pale in comparison to the Word who became flesh (John 1:14), the King of Kings who become a servant, God the Son who became a baby born in a manger, the pre-existent Word who became a bloody sacrifice, and the dead Savior who became the Risen Lord. Thus, to be a Christian is to be transformed. We must start with this biblical presupposition. To understand how you are being transformed, let’s look at what you are being transformed into as a Christian.

2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” There is no denying the transformative nature of this statement. God takes a person and makes him something so radically different that he becomes unrecognizable from his previous state, now called a ‘new creation’. Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 add to this idea by teaching that transformation is NOT something from within. Sheer willpower, intellect, life experience, new clothes, plastic surgery, self-help courses, a Ph.D., winning the lottery, marriage, children, a sports car, none of these transform the soul. Romans 12:2 and 2 Cor 3:18 also make clear that we are being transformed by God. We receive transformation and it has nothing to do with what we do or accomplish. Furthermore, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, there is a picture of this transformation that we must stop and admire. Paul writes in verse 18: “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.” To understand this statement, we need to go back to Moses as Paul does in 2 Cor 3:7-12. Remember in Exodus 33 when Moses so desperately wanted to see God’s face? God told him that this was impossible because no sinful man could ever see the face of God and live. And so, God allowed Moses to see the ‘back’ of His glory. And what was the result of viewing God’s back? Ex 34:30, 34-35 recounts: “Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him…Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” And this happened by merely seeing the back of God’s glory.

Look at 2 Cor 3:18 again. We behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled, uncovered, and an impeded view. We are not hid into the cleft of the rock to be protected from God’s glory. We’re not given a mere glimpse. We’re not even given a full view of God. No, far, far greater is this wondrous truth, we are BEING TRANSFORMED into the same image as God’s Son. We don’t see this in the ESV but the word ‘beholding’ in verse 18 has the meaning ‘beholding as in a mirror.’ In other words, God is transforming us into the same image of His Son. We see this also in 4:6 when Paul writes: “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” My friends, there can be no greater transformation than a sinner who is made into the image of His Son. And though this process, what we call sanctification has yet to be completed, it is happening all the time if you are a Christian. And the more we are sanctified, the more we are prepared for that place we will be eternally. J. C. Ryle makes this point in his book Holiness when he writes:

Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there. Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are holy; its occupants are holy. To be really happy in heaven, it is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for heaven while we are on earth…No man can possibly be happy in a place where he is not in his element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits, and character. When an eagle is happy in an iron cage, when a sheep is happy in water, when an owl is happy in the blaze of noonday sun, when a fish is happy on the dry land—then, and not till then, will I admit that the unsanctified man could be happy in heaven.(J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 28-29)

John Owen similarly says:

There is no imagination wherewith man is besotted, more foolish, none so pernicious, as this—that persons not purified, not sanctified, not made holy in their life, should afterwards be taken into that state of blessedness which consists in the enjoyment of God. Neither can such persons enjoy God, nor would God be a reward to them…Holiness indeed is perfected in heaven: but the beginning of its invariably confined to this world.(Quoted in J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 29)

You are being transformed into the image of God’s precious Son, and you are being transformed and prepared for a place where you will enjoy God to the utmost for your greatest, ultimate joy eternally. What you and I experience on this earth then, both in times of joy and trial, times of gladness and sadness, times of ease and difficulty, is what God uses to transform us to be the new creation that we will perfectly be when we see Him as He is as John writes in 1 John 3:2.

Now how does this all happen? Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 5 again. Look at verses 14-16: “One has died for all.” “He died for all that those who might live no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” “Though we once regarded Christ in the flesh [because of sin], we regard him thus no longer [because of His death and resurrection].” THEREFORE, we are a new creation. It is so plain and simple. What God uses to transform us is NOT what we do for Him (living the purpose driven life, doing the Navigator Topical Memory System, feeding orphans and widows in Africa, going to unreached peoples in the world, evangelizing to the barista at Starbucks, being an organized and compassionate and well-put together mom, etc.), but what God has done for us! And as if Paul almost imagines people to miss the point, to still think transformation comes from within one’s own will power, skill, discipline, intellect, experience, strategies, he continues in verse 18: “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” ALL THIS IS FROM GOD. Christ reconciled us TO HIMSELF and GAVE US. GOD RECONCILED the world TO HIMSELF. HE CHOSE not to count trespasses. God did ALL the work!!! And He made our relationship right with Him by the death and resurrection of His Son. And so the powerful conclusion of verse 21: “FOR OUR SAKE HE MADE HIM TO BE SIN who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” My friends, this is called grace! Who can understand such a kind, merciful, and gracious God who would do everything for us so that we might come to live with utmost joy now and eternally. How can we ever think God is unfair, unkind, uncaring during our trials and sufferings? No, quite the contrary, we must declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness at night as Psalm 92:2 proclaims. Charles Spurgeon adds: “Let us have a little indulgence tonight. Now, you that feel that you must cry aloud for joy, join with me and cry ‘Hallelujah, Hallelujah, glory be to our Redeemer’s name’. Why should we not lift up our voices in his praise? We will. He has put a new song into our mouths, and we must sing it.”

Well, not only must we sing His praises, let me take the rest of our time to show you how you can respond to such grace by explaining to you what is transformed by God through the Gospel.

What Is Transformed By the Gospel?

The first reality that is transformed by the Gospel is our identity which deals with this question, “Who am I in light of the Gospel?” The Gospel changes our source of identity from being ourselves to Christ Himself. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” What does this mean that I no longer live but Christ lives in me? It means that my reputation and worth and value is no longer rooted in who I am naturally and what I obtain through my own means. It means that because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, that He was crucified as a substitute for my sins, according to from 2 Cor 5:21, I am a bearer of Christ’s righteousness. And so what defines me is not whether I get into the exclusive country club or whether I drive a certain make or model of a car or whether I am popular amongst the people I associate with, I am defined as a child of God through the atoning work of God’s Son. And when you’re dealing with people of all sorts, you don’t know how freeing this reality is.

Have you ever been in a situation where you know very few people and you’re forced to ‘mingle’? Of course you have. You notice the ‘in crowd,’ those people who seem to know everyone all of the time. And if you think this happens just in high school, you are not living in a world with people. In this past month, I was at the Hands Conference where I barely knew anyone except for those I was with, Lauren, Jon-Paul, and Charlie. How comfortable it was to have them around, like a security blanket. But you know what was tempting? When any one of them developed relationships or had conversations outside of our group, it was tempting to feel jealous, to feel left out, to feel alone. I was tempted to want to be the most popular. I wanted to say, ‘Hey, I’m the pastor.’ In other words, I wanted to define myself on the basis of my reputation. I say tempted, because what kept me from acting out on such things (which in the past would have led to self-pity, jealousy, and withdrawal), was knowing that my identity and reputation is in Christ and His work. This gives me such joy and satisfaction that I need not give in to such temptations and evil. I feel this every time I’m with a new group of people, at softball practice with other dads, in the church fellowship hall, any place where I am forced to deal with people. Thank God for the transforming power of the Gospel that allows me to be rooted in Christ’s perfect record rather than my faulty one. And so allows me to be content whether I’m alone, whether I know a few people, or whether I am the most known person in the room. I am defined by my identity as a child of the Almighty God and no one can take that away from me, from us.

Another way in which our identity is transformed by the Gospel is by the way we think of race and ethnicity. At T4G, Thabiti Anyabwile powerfully spoke on the transformative nature of the Gospel over race. (At the Together for the Gospel Conference 2008) He compellingly argued that there is no biblical basis for our understanding of race. In many ways, the current understanding of race was an alien idea created by Europeans who were encountering Native Americans in the New World and wanted to find a justification for slavery. The fact of the matter is, in Adam, we are all from the same parents regardless of our outward biological differences. But for Christians, because of the second Adam, that is Christ Jesus, we are now defined no longer biologically, but spiritually. As Thabiti put it, “Christ’s blood creates a deeper lineage than our genes. Our doctrine of man must be informed by our union in Christ.”

When you look around, how do you assess what you see in the appearances of people? Do you see mostly Asians with a sprinkling of non-Asians? Or do you see only blood red, the covering of Christ’s blood over those who trust in Christ? The Gospel re-defines our views on race and ethnicity. It transforms our identity. I am not a Korean-American, Asian-American who happens to be a Christian. I am a Christian who happens to be Korean-American. I am defined not by my Koreanness, nor my Asianness, nor my Americanness, but by the righteousness of Christ through His blood. I appreciate my ethnic identity, by it does not ultimately define me. And so, when Tim Kurtz and I go out to eat, I ask him if he would like to eat Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, General American fare, or Korean. He doesn’t mind eating Korean and I don’t try to avoid Korean believing he wouldn’t like it. Instead, we enjoy the diversity of all ethnicities but what defines our conversation, our fellowship, our interests is our great Savior who saves great sinners such as us. What I am saying is that Wellspring Church must never be a pre-dominantly Asian church. But Wellspring Church must also never be a multi-ethnic church. Our identity is not rooted in biological similarities or differences. What defines us is that we are a church of great sinners who worship a great Savior. And so, our values and our vision flow from this truth.

The second reality that is transformed by the Gospel is our understanding of our possessions which deals with the question, ‘What is my treasure in light of the Gospel?’ In the following chapter in 2 Cor 6:3-10, Paul spends a significant amount of reminding the church that he has personally made his comforts and possessions subsidiary to his understanding of the Gospel. The reason for this is not asceticism. This is not some mystical value that Paul has in being poor. As he states in Philippians 4:12, Paul knows what it feels like to be in abundance. Paul is not a communist who is trying to bring about a Marxist economy. In Ephesians 4:28, Paul’s admonition to refrain from stealing assumes the reality of personal property and ownership. No, what drives Paul is what he says in 2 Cor 6:10 when he says that he “possesses everything.” In 2 Cor 7:4 he says he’s “overflowing with joy.” This comes on the heels of the powerful transformation of 2 Cor 5:17ff. that Paul has experienced. In light of this transformation then, Paul finds joy and everything that leads to that joy is not in what he owns but who has saved him. And so he can be content in all situations. Heaven becomes the backdrop of his treasures and treasures on this earth pale in comparison to the treasures of heaven. Or as Paul so aptly put it, such treasures are in ‘jars of clay’ (2 Cor 4:7) which can be destroyed in a mere slip of the fingers.

So what does this second reality practically look like? How does a transformed person through the Gospel live when it comes to possessions? He is a giver. The logic of Paul in 2 Corinthians continues in 9:7-9: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Grace is abounding in the believer’s heart which is why he gives with joy. And there is a wondrous promise to such giving: “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” The more one gives because of their joy in the Gospel, the more it produces even more joy or what Paul calls ‘thanksgiving to God.’ I asked George Snyman why very few people experience the kind of miracles and provisions that he has received in his life. I asked him already knowing the answer. Very few people trust God fully with their lives in the way George and Carolyn have. And in doing so, the Lord has shown them His miraculous provision in their lives. Like George, unless we give of our time, money, and energy to the point of pain, we won’t even need God’s grace in us. The billionaire who writes a $10,000 check for the poor doesn’t need transformation of his eternal view of possessions to write such a check. But the widow who gave the last two pennies she had to the Temple in her worship needed to be transformed in her soul by God. She believed that in her giving, there would be more received in her delight in God than even what those two pennies could ever bring. And there was a firm trust that God would truly be her Provider. I would imagine that not only did she go home 2 pennies lighter, but she also went home to see how God would continue to care for her. Without a continual giving of our time, money, and energy, we will never find the joy and satisfaction that God promises through His Word. In what ways can you give more of your time, money, or energy?

The third reality that is transformed by the Gospel is our relationships which deal with the question, “Who is close to me in light of the Gospel?” According to Ephesians 2, through the blood of Christ (v. 13), we are members of God’s household (v. 19). We’re one family in Christ. How does this happen? John Owen gives the example of a woodcutter who goes out into the forest. He cuts medium logs, small ones, and large ones. He suddenly realizes that he cannot carry them all home. But he finds a cord and he ties them all together and drags them home. Similarly, we are all different from one another. We have different life stories, different personalities, different experiences, different emotional makeup. So how can we all come together? Owen notes that only when “we realize that we have a common Father, a shared birth, the same Elder Brother, the same family characteristics, and therefore love one another, can our fellowship be what the Lord wants to make it.” (Sinclair Ferguson, Children of the Living God, 58-59) Jesus’ work on the cross is the cord by which we are bound together. Therefore in this binding, the Gospel transforms our relationships.

Many of us still think, “But Sam, the reality is blood is thicker than water.” When push comes to shove, we can only depend on our blood relatives and not those in Christ. No! The truth is that we don’t believe that the Gospel transforms our relationships. We are members of God’s family. I will be your brother and sister in Christ far longer than I will ever be my brother Frank’s and my sister Anne’s brother. I love my wife Shua more than anyone in this world. But one day we will not be married, since there is no marriage in heaven. But I will be your brother in Christ. If we believe in this Gospel, then we must believe in this new reality of relationship.

So what does this mean for us? It means that we live as if our union in Christ truly makes a difference in our relationships. We must be willing to forgive others when they hurt you. It means we must care sacrificially with time, energy, and money, not expecting payback. It means that love must define our conversations and relationships. It also means we are willing to speak hard things into each others’ lives and receive correction as well. And the more we make the Gospel the foundation of our relationship within the church, I know with certainty it will impact those outside the church. Jesus says so clearly in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” As we grow in the Gospel together, because that will be what you are continually reminded of from brothers and sisters in Christ, you will be exhorted to extend such love and grace to family members, co-workers, anyone who you might currently have a difficult relationship with. If you have a strained relationship with another person, whether it’s a parent, a sibling, a co-worker, your next door neighbor, a roommate, it is the transforming power of the Gospel in your heart, that is being expressed in this fellowship, that will give you the patience and grace to care and love the most unlovable of people. So to truly make your spiritual family your first family is not a request to forsake your blood relatives. On the contrary, a right view of the Gospel and the transformation of your relationships should overflow to your blood family that would allow you to have more love and more understanding or more grace for the most difficult of relationships.

The fourth reality that is transformed by the Gospel is our motives which deal with the question, “Why do I do what I do?” Let’s look at what Paul says again in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15: “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” When Paul says the love of Christ controls us, he is saying that when we understand the powerful message of the Gospel, that Christ has died for us and has taken the punishment we deserved, this love controls our self-centered, self-seeking love. What is our self-centered heart like and why does it need control in the first place? Because left, unchecked this heart is ruinous, disastrous, people-despising, and God hating, and this heart apart from the Gospel will always act with the self in mind first.

Paul Tripp tells the story of the time he saw a handmade nine-string guitar in a music store. It was the most beautiful sounding guitar he ever heard. When he told his mother about the guitar, his parents decided to buy it for him. Eventually, he became the proud owner of that guitar. One time his wife was having a fire safety talk with the family. She turned to him and said, “Paul, if a major fire broke out on the main floor of our house, what would you do?” Without a moment’s thought, he responded, “I would run into the living room, grab my guitar, and get it out of the house!” He recounts, “I will never forget the look on the faces of my family, or the silence that seemed to last about a year. Finally, one of my children asked, ‘What about us, Dad?’ My embarrassment and shame were deepened by the look on Luella’s face that asked the same question.” (Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, 72-73) We are no different than Paul apart from the love of Christ controlling our selfish hearts. Husbands, during a conflict with your wives, does the love of Christ control your anger, or does your selfish heart control you during that conflict? Wives, when you want to see your husband change something you deem needing change, what controls you, the love of Christ through the Gospel, or you ‘need’ to see him different because of what you assume is the better way? Why do you work as hard as you do, is because the love of Christ controls your motives to show you how you can glorify Him with your work, or is it because you need to prove yourself to your boss, your friends, your parents that you really are successful and worthwhile? Why do you strive to be the center of attention? Why do you talk so little and share so little? Why are you so critical of others? Why are you always melancholy and prone to despair? The fact of the matter is, you control yourself rather than allowing the love of Christ control your heart. And in doing so, you are on the road to destruction. Jerry Bridges is absolutely right when he says: “We cannot exercise love unless we are experiencing grace. You cannot truly love others unless you are convinced that God’s love for you is unconditional, based solely on the merit of Christ, not on your performance.” (Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace, 132)