Many years ago, I attended Basic Youth Conflicts. A phrase you’d often hear was, “Please Be Patient. God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.” He never stops working to change us to be more like Jesus. And He won’t be done until we see Him face-to-feet. “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6)
The work of changing us into the image of Jesus is like that of transforming a plain caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. There must first be the ridding of the old self-centered worldview to make room for a new God-centered worldview. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
Psalm 91 starts out, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1) Jesus referred to the secret place when He said, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6) The “hidden life” is very important to our growth in the Lord.
Much like the roots of a tree sinking down into the soil, unseen by man, so much of own growth takes place in the “secret place.” “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6–7)
But how does God accomplish the transformation? He changes us from the inside out once we submit our lives to Jesus. He put His Holy Spirit in us to enable us to change. A major difference between man’s religions and Christianity is that all of man’s ideas modify external behaviors in hopes it will earn them salvation. Only Jesus works from the inside out, by first giving salvation and then changing behavior. “Therefore, my dear friends, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)
Cooperating with the Holy Spirit in us, we are told to “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14–15)
God is both a Master metallurgist and blacksmith. Job realized that after God added enough heat to his life and scraped off the impurities that arose to the surface, he’d “come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10) Through various trials, God is refining your faith in Him into a gold-like trust. Peter said, “These [trials] have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:7) Like a blacksmith, Jesus knows exactly how to hammer a piece of ordinary metal (you) into a thing of beauty and functionality.
God is changing your desires from satisfying yourself to satisfying Him. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14–16)
God’s work is not limited to changing you. He also is working in His church “to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27) And He wants to use you in the process. “As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4–5)
As the Master builder, Jesus has fitted you into His church precisely where He wants you. This not only has application to the universal Church, but also to the local church in which He wants to use your gifts. Serving is done in many ways. It may be to greet people, ensure their safety, pray, give financially, keep track of finances, sit behind a camera, clean the buildings, lay out literature, perform music, or countless other significant jobs.
Whatever your service to your local church, God is working in you, too. When you bowed your knee to Jesus, He transferred you from Satan’s dark kingdom to His light-filled one. “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” (Colossians 1:13–14)
God’s plan has two parts: to draw you to Jesus for salvation and then to change you more into the image of Christ.
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