Man's Tl'ans{ol'mation€¦ · naturally are born mortal. All men are sub-ject to death; and all of man is subject to death. Jesus was born mortal in the physical likeness of men.

Man's Tl'ans{ol'mation

By

A\va G. Huffer

GOD '8 redemptive plan for mankind willfind its fulfillment in His glorious to-

morrow of eternity. God's entire universe willmove in harmony with His holy character andgive unqualified glory to His name. The be-lievers' redemption will have been completed.The redeemed will possess perfect immortalphysical bodies and perfect God-centeredmoral characters.

Man in his mortal and sinful condition isunsuited for God's perfect eternity. Beforeone can participate in the blessings of God'stomorrow, some changes must occur. Man'sphysical and character transformations arerequired. Man's character change will resultin a change of conduct and must be precededb~ a change of standing before God.

Need for Physical Change

M~m needs a physical transformation frommortality to immortality. In 1 Corinthians15 :50 we read, "Flesh and blood cannot in-herit the kingdom of God; neither doth cor-ruption inherit incorruption."

Man is born with a mortal physical body.He is subject to temptation, suffering, anddeath. He must rely upon food, oxygen, rest,and exercise to prolong lire. Mortal man is ina constant dying process. The cells of his bodyconstantly are decaying and must be replaced

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by new cells. At death, the process of decayhas overtaken the process of rebuilding.

Mortality, therefore, would be unsuited forthe endless years of eternity. Corruption can-not inherit incorruption. "This corruptiblemust put on incorruption, and this mortalmust put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15 :53).Man's physical nature must be changed.

Nature of Physical Change

When glorified, the believer's physical nat-ure will be immortality. Immortality is in-ability to die. An immortal person is one whois not mortal. He is not subject to death. Hecannot be tempted, cannot experience suffer-ing, and cannot die. In immortality, one neednot rely upon the so-called laws of nature forcontinued existence.

God alone is the original source of immor-tality. (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16.) All created thingsare subject to corruption and change. Mennaturally are born mortal. All men are sub-ject to death; and all of man is subject todeath. Jesus was born mortal in the physicallikeness of men. At His resurrection, however,Jesus became immortal. He was raised fromthe dead by the power of God and death hasno more dominion over Him.

Through Christ, overcomers will receive im-mortality. They will be like Christ in His glo-

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rified physical nature. He "shall change ourvile body, that it may be fashioned like untohis glorious body, according to the workingwhereby he is able even to subdue all thingsunto himself."

Time of Physical ChangeThe believer's change to immortality will

occur when Jesus returns to earth. At Christ'ssecond coming, the church will be completedand glorified. Christians who have fallenasleep in death will be resurrected to immor-tality. Christians who are living at the timeof His return will be changed into immortal-ity and will be glorified with the resurrectedsaints.

First Thessalonians 4 :16,17 presents thefact of Christ's return and the resurrection.- " The Lord himself shall descend fromheaven with a shout, with the voice of thearchangel, and with the trump of God: andthe dead in Christ shall rise first: then wewhich are alive and remain shall be caughtup together with them in the clouds, to meetthe Lord in the air: and so shall we ever bewith the Lord."

First Corinthians 15 :51-53 presents thenature of the resurrection-" Behold, I shewyou a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but weshall all be changed, in a moment, in thetwinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for

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the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall beraised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.For this corruptible must put on incorrup-tion, and this mortal must put on immor-tality. "

Need for Character ChangeThe Christian must experience not only the

redemption of his physical body but also thetransformation of his character and the refor-mation of his conduct. Man's characterchange must precede his physical change.Man must have a God-directed mind, beforehe can have a God-empowered body.

Man is born with a natural bent toward sin.He possesses a bias toward wickedness. Whenhe is faced with temptation, the balances ofdecision weigh heavy in favor of sin.

Man, at first, walked in fellowship withGod, recognizing His authority and obeyingHis w.ill. Then Adam chose Self instead ofGod. He rebelled against God's authority; herefused to obey His will. The original divine-human relationship was broken. Fallen manwalked alone. In choosing Self, Adam haderected a barrier between himself and God.Self isolates from God and seeks to occupyGod's position as ruler in life.

The Bible term used to designate the self-centered disposition that dominates the non-Christian is "the flesh" and its equivalent,"the carnal mind." When used in this man-

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ner, the flesh refers not to man's physicalbody but to the anti-God principle that gov~erns sinners' character and conduct.

Man sins, not because he has a physicalbody, but because he is governed by Self orthe Adamie nature. Christ was mortal beforeHe was resurrected to immortality, but Hedid not sin. Sin is the perversion, the misuseof God-given instincts. Self plus mortalityequals sin. Christ plus mortality equals right-eousness. When Self rules man's mortal phy-sical nature, sin results. When Christ controlsthe believer's life, righteousness is produced.

The Apostle declared, "To be carnallyminded is death; but to be spiritually mindedis life and peace. Because the carnal mind is.enmity against Goel: for it is not subject tothe law of God, neither indeed can be. So thenthey that are in the flesh cannot please God"(Rom. 8 :6-8). After listing the works of theflesh, Paul said, "They which do such thingsshall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal.5 :21).

A self-centered person would feel out ofplace in God's perfect eternity where all cre-ation will be God-centered and will glorifyand worship the Creator. Man's charactermust be changed.

Nature of Character Change

The center of the believer's life must be

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changed from self to God. His character mustbe dominated no longer by the flesh, but byChrist through His Spirit. When the livingChrist seated at God '8 right hand in heavendwells in him, the believer experiences a char-acter transformation. Working through HisHoly Spirit, Christ transforms the Christianinto His likeness. The believer can experiencea moral and character change only as he de-pends, moment by moment, upon Christ theTransformer".

Paul urged, "Walk in the Spirit; and yeshall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal.5 :16). He warned, "Now if any man have notthe Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom.8 :9). He said, "Christ liveth in me" (Gal.2 :20), and "We all with open face beholdingas in a glass the glory of the Lord, arechanged into the same image from glory toglory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Cor. 3 :18).

Change of Conduct

The transformation of man's character re-sults in the reformation of his conduct. Whatman does is an expression of what man is.Man's attempting to change conduct withoutchanging character would be like a doctorwho treated the symptoms of a disease but notthe disease itself. He who would rid his gar-den of weeds must dig them out by the roots.

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An effective change in a sinner's life mustbegin at the source of sin.

When character is governed by the flesh,conduct will be the works of the flesh. (GaL5 :19-21.) When life is dominated by Christthrough the Spirit, conduct will be the fruitof the Spirit. (GaL 5 :22, 23.)

As Self gives the non-Christian a biastoward wickedness, Christ through His powergives the Christian a bias toward righteous-ness. When the Christian is faced with temp-tation, the balances of decision weigh heavyin favor of righteousness. The victoriousLord enables the believer to he an overcomer.Someone has said, "Our responsibility is ourresponse to His ability." Permit Him to haveHis way in your life!

Change of Standing RequiredMan 'schange of character and conduct

must be preceded by a change of standing be-fore God. Thc believer must be in Christ be-fore Christ can be in the believer. One mustbe saved from the penalty of sin before he canbe saved from the power of sin. The branchmust be embedded in the. Vine before the liv-ing fluid of the Vine can flow through thebranch and produce the fruit of the Vine.One cannot have a living fellowship withGod's holy Son through His holy Spirit un-til he stands on holy ground.

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Man must partake of the results of Christ'searthly ministry before he can partake of theresults of Christ's heavenly ministry. WhatChrist has done for 1tS must precede whatChrist will do in us. Man must experience thebenefits of Christ's sacrificial death before hecan experience the benefits of Christ's trans-forming power. Before man can have a trans-forming fellowship with God's Son, the bar-rier created by man's sin in its relationship toGod's holiness must be removed. Man's stand-ing before God must be changed.

Every man stands before God in one of twopositions. He is "in the world" or he is "inChrist. " He is either a sinner under condem-nation or a forgiven believer justified beforeGod. There is no third possibility; there is nomiddle ground. If man is outside of Christ, heis a sinner without hope. If he is in Christ, heis a • hristian having the promise of a glori-ous eternal future.

The non-Christian stands before God as asinner under condemnation. The Judge of theuniverse has pronounced His verdict concern-ing the guilt of the human race outside ofChrist. He has declared: "All have sinned!None is righteous! The whole world isguilty! "

Every man naturally is born in the world.He remains so until he enters into Christ, thusacquiring a new standing before God.

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Change of Standing AcquiredThe sacrifice of Christ provides a basis

whereby man's standing before God can bechanged. Through His substitutionary deaththe claims of God's justice are met. God's ho-liness and -man's conscience thereby are satis-fied. The legal barrier between God and thebeliever is removed.

God changes the believer's standing beforeHim on the basis of Christ's loving sacrifice.'I'he Judge of the universe changes His ver-dict, "Guilty!" to "Not guilty!" Condemna-tion is changed to justification. God lifts thebeliever out of the world and places him inChrist when the believer accepts the salvationHe has provided.

Man's accepting God's salvation includesthree elements: repentance, faith, and bap-tism. Repentance is turning away from theworld. Faith is turning toward Christ. Bap-tism is entering into Christ.

Repentance means the recognition, regret,and renunciation of sin. Faith connects thebeliever with God through Christ and acceptsGod's gifts of grace. Faith opens the door andpermits Christ to enter one's life as Masterand Redeemer. Baptism is an outward actwhereby the believer shows that he is accept-ing God's salvation and is entering intoChrist. When one of these three elements ofconversion is mentioned in the Bible, the

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others are included or implied in the narra-tive .

.When one .has acquired his new standingbefore God in Christ, he has no condemnation(Rom. 8 :1), is a new creature (2 bor.5 :17),has assurance of answered prayer (John 15:7), and has hope of resurrection to immortal-ity (1 Thess. 4 :16).

Man's .Four ChangesMan's transformation, therefore, involves

four changes. First, man must experience a,.change of standing before God, from being in

the world to being in Christ. Then, he must- experience a change of character. Instead ofbeing' dominated by the flesh, he must be dom-inated by the power of Christ. Man's changeof character will result in his change of con-duct. Instead of producing the works of theflesh, he will produce the fruit of the Spirit.Then; the believer will experience a change inphysical nature, from mortality to immortal-ity, when Christ returns to earth.

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