freeradicalsteve
Faith and transformation.
We can think of transformation like a metamorphosis, such as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. In this way, when scripture says that in Christ we are a new creation, are we or aren't we?
We may at times still think, feel and act like we did before, therefore it takes faith to believe that we are not the same person anymore. We must also remember that the Holy Spirit inspired the scriptures, so it is the Lord himself speaking to us.
Does the Lord have power to do what He's promised?
For many years I looked at the story of the unbelieving soldier in 2 Kings 7 and compared that with Abraham's faith in Romans 4. At the same time I was reading God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12. For many years I asked the Lord to bless me and make me a blessing.
Then one day I read Ephesians 1:3 (again for a about the 100th time) and the penny dropped. What I was asking the Lord to do he had already done in Christ.
The Bible contains many promises, some are conditional, the "if, then" promises. But many are not conditional, that is, we don't have to do anything to participate in them. This is where faith, literally taking God at His word, comes in. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
God's house is a house of faith. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. In Christ, all of God's promises are yes and amen (let it be so).
So when it comes to transformation, we can ask ourselves, "am I a new creation or not?"
Abraham looked at His impossible situation yet still took God at His word. On the other hand, the unbelieving soldier in 2 Kings 7 looked at his impossible situation and after hearing the promise of God declared, "even if the windows of heaven opened this is not possible".
God fulfilled His promise, but that soldier didn't participate in it. The opposite happened, he died.
2 kings 7 gives us a wonderful picture of being saved through faith, of what it means to be blessed in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ and to inherit all the riches that are in Him.
Samaria was the capital city of rebellion against God. Samaria was under siege (according to God's righteous judgement) and the people in Samaria were going to die. But the king called on the Name of the Lord, he was wearing sackcloth undergarments (there was a measure of repentance in his heart). The Lord answered the king with a promise.
So it is with us today. When the Lord shows us our rebellion and that we are deserving of death we see our true spiritual condition. We are like the inhabitants of Samaria. The Lord leads us to repentance and then extends to us a promise of salvation.
At that point we can be like Abraham and participate in that promise by faith or we can be like the unbelieving soldier and perish.
2 Kings 7 gives a wonderful picture of what it means to be saved by grace through faith. It also shows us that our spiritual transformation in Christ in instantaneous, although it may take us some time to realise it.
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