INTRODUCTION: I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need. Charles Spurgeon

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1 CARDIO: TRANSFORMED HEARTS, RENEWED MINDS, ALIGNED LIVES 2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 March 16, 2014 INTRODUCTION: I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need. Charles Spurgeon Jesus can meet all the needs of a surrendered heart. He desires for us to become one with Him, however, to become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. We must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of ever being worthy of God s consideration. Oswald Chambers Once we have done that, then the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Oswald Chambers speaking on the Surrendered Life: Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ? We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them. If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are in Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you. All 3 aspects of salvation; justification, sanctification, and glorification involve looking to Jesus. Speaks of my past, present, and future. Deals with Penalty of Sin Deals with Power of Sin Deals with Presence of Sin Paul s writings remind us that the moon looks into the face of the sun and reflects its brightness on a darkened world. Just as, we are to be occupied with the Lord Jesus and reflect His glory in this dark world of sin in which we live. glory of the Lord - primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, the honor resulting from a good opinion. Used of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation. What He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way He reveals Himself in these respects. 1 - Pastor Johnny M. Hunt Cardio: Transformed Hearts, Renewed Minds, Aligned Lives March 16, 2014

2 His grace, His power, His Divinity, the perfection of His character, His righteousness. We are to give due acknowledgement of the exhibition of His attributes and ways. It s His goodness, faithfulness, grace, long-suffering and glory. are being transformed into the same image a continual progressive change. A complete change which, under the power of God will find expression in character and conduct. Both behold and transformed denote continuous action, the result of our continuous beholding is our continuously being transformed. As the glory of Moses faded, the glory of Christians increases as we conform more and more to the character of Christ. In other words, if we continuously fix our attention on Christ as our ideal, we increasingly tend to become like Him. Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. We are transformed by time spent with the Lord by the Spirit of God. It requires beholding, not a casual look, it means a careful study. Same image like the Lord. We become like the God of love, grace, peace, righteousness. John Calvin that the image of God, which has been defaced by sin, may be repaired within us, the progress of this restoration is continuous through the whole of life, because it is little by little that God causes His glory to shine forth in us. It s a saint s desire for other saints Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. This is the ultimate goal of salvation. Romans 8:29 to be conformed to the image of His Son. Paul saw God s purpose as one of conforming into His glorious image. Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul had reduced the whole of sanctification to this simple and clear goal of doing one thing, pursuing Christlikeness. are being transformed it isn t complete yet; a process. 2 - Pastor Johnny M. Hunt Cardio: Transformed Hearts, Renewed Minds, Aligned Lives March 16, 2014

3 from glory to glory the more believers grow in Christ, the more He is revealed in their lives. just as by (from) the Spirit of the Lord the Spirit changes us into Christ s image. The work of transformation is God s work in us, not by the will or effect of man. I m renewed in my mind by the Spirit, yet there is a willing response on my part. 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Transformation is a spiritual journey with many similarities that we can describe as a normative life path, a map that can help people make greater progress if their goal is to become more Christ-like. Genuine transformation requires a long-term commitment, a solid partnership with God, the willingness to grow through pain and hardship, and the willingness to live a counter cultural life. Transformation as a process that enables us to gradually die to sin, self, and society in order to fully and profoundly love God and people. Transformation is the effort to become holy by fully submitting to God and consistently pursuing His will, being set apart by the blood of Christ to experience a unique freedom and a new identity through the power of that blood and the enduring guidance of the Holy Spirit. Problem: You re not likely to experience full transformation if you don t know what it is and are not devoted to its pursuit. Most Christians mirror cultural goals, desiring happiness, comfort, security, belonging and popularity. Few are focused on completely cooperating with God to experience the kind of whole life transformation described in the Bible and made possible only through a partnership with God. Many believers regardless of their level of spiritual maturity are entangled in more of a circular journey through a consistently progressive route. All of us at times encounter the frustration of regressing. Transformation is like a tug of war, where an individual has periods of sustained progress followed by periods of dramatic retreat to levels of lesser maturity and capability. While God driven transformation is more common among people who are engaged in church life than among those who are not, neither the length of time involved with churches nor the amount of hours devoted to church oriented activities bear much of a correlation to transformational progress. Simply attending church activities and classes does not guarantee or necessarily enhance one s transformational experience. Wholeness requires more than simply showing up and gorging on the religious activities menu. 3 - Pastor Johnny M. Hunt Cardio: Transformed Hearts, Renewed Minds, Aligned Lives March 16, 2014

4 STOPS ON THE JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION: 10 Steps: 1. Ignorance of the concept or existence of sin. 2. Aware of and indifferent to sin. 3. Concerned about the implications of personal sin. 4. Confession of and forgiveness of sin. 5. Commitment to faith activities. 6. Experiencing a prolonged period of spiritual discontent. 7. Experiencing personal brokenness. 8. Choosing to surrender and submit fully to God. 9. Enjoying a profound intimacy with and love for God. 10. Experiencing a profound compassion and love for humanity. Only 11% of adults get past step 5. Only 2% of adults get past steps 7. Most Americans never get beyond Step 3 (awareness and concern about sin and its effects, but cooperating with Christ to alleviate that problem.) Among those who get saved most never move past Step 5 (having invited Christ to be their Savior and then engaging in a lot of religious activity.) In other words, the majority never reach the 2 nd half of the steps. Barna also determined that most church programs are designed to help people get to step 5 but not to move further down the road to Christ-likeness. The single most challenging step is #7, that of brokenness. A person must be broken of these things: sin, self, and society. He noted that American culture serves as a strong barrier to people being willing to completely abandon themselves and the world in favor of listening to, obeying and enjoying God. He pointed out that a biblical pattern of spiritual development would require brokenness prior to a person being born again. Challenge: 4 - Pastor Johnny M. Hunt Cardio: Transformed Hearts, Renewed Minds, Aligned Lives March 16, 2014

5 18% (fewer than 1 in 5) claims to be totally committed to engaging in personal spiritual development. 14% (1 out of 7) say that their faith in and relationship with God is the highest priority in their life. As A Result: Few Christians are willing to abandon worldly objectives in favor of seeking godliness. Emphasizing that you get what you measure, you evaluate yourself in areas that you believe are important and generally ignore the rest. Barna asserted that neither churches nor individuals usually have measurement criteria for spiritual development that reflect the outcomes promoted by Jesus. Citing tangible fruit as a more desirable outcome than the factors often measured, such as attendance, giving, program completion, or even Bible knowledge, he suggested that Christians and communities of faith reconsider how they determine success and maturity in light of what the research has shown to be the characteristics of those who have reached the latter steps and exhibit more substantial evidence of holistic life transformation. Multi-Dimensional Growth: Focusing on Jesus exhortation that His followers must love God and people with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength, Barna noted that transformed individuals are those who have aligned their intellect, emotions, behavior, and spirit with the call and ways of God. Research also showed that people are transformed through a combination of experiences, knowledge, and relationships. The absence of any one of these can inhibit a person s growth. 5 - Pastor Johnny M. Hunt Cardio: Transformed Hearts, Renewed Minds, Aligned Lives March 16, 2014