It was about 30 years ago that I became an Ohio State football fan. Hailing from Michigan and a Wolverines devotee, this was hitherto unthinkable and completely unforeseen. But as our son Matthew grew up here in Columbus, his home team loyalties grew fast and deep. So I took him to a few OSU football practices, where some players signed autographs and engaged him in conversation; he even returned balls for the kickers on an occasion or two. Eventually, I found myself thinking, “How do I root against these guys? They’re treating my son like their kid brother.” My transformation was incremental: Initially, I’d root for Ohio State except when playing Michigan, but even this sole exception eventually changed. Over time, my Michigan regalia dwindled while my OSU garb grew.
Our spiritual transformation, likewise, moves us steadily from what we were to who we are. Paul reminds the Corinthian church of their own before-and-after: “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”1 Their sin had once defined these believers, but their inner change—from what they had been to who they were now—had begun through cleansing, purification, and a right standing before God in Christ. Note the passive voice: God was the changer; the believers were the changed. This grace would continue to them as it now does to us.
All mankind has this one purpose in life: to bring God glory.2 Yet on our own, every single one of us fails, in that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”3 And if our sin nature glorifies God at all, it is only in that it magnifies his holiness by contrast. We know God does not turn a blind eye to sin, so is it His heart to distance us for our falling short of His majesty? No, the Lord’s gracious response is to make us “more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”4 This is selfless love, a forgiving love, a love we must open ourselves to understand and humble ourselves to receive. For we must be changed, and by God’s grace we are.
Father, you have included in Christ all who believe in Him. Thank you for making us more and more like Him. Fill us to overflowing, that people would see Jesus in us and seek Him for themselves. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NIV, emphasis added
2 Isaiah 43:6-7
3 Romans 3:23 ESV
4 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
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Paul Nordman—Author 