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The Bible tells us to beware of false
disciples, false teachers, and even
false Christs. How can we tell the real
from the counterfeit? Two words in the
Greek New Testament help us understand
the difference.
Today we hear a lot about
transformations. Home remodeling is now
"an extreme makeover for your house."
Many women (and men) spend lots of money
on "makeovers" —
a new look —
a new hairstyle —
a new wardrobe —
a new
attitude —
a
transformation.
Businesses
talk about "reinventing" or
"repackaging" themselves. When you think
of Western Union, what comes to mind?
Probably telegrams. But the telegram is
no more. After sending messages around
the world for over 150 years, Western
Union handled its last telegram in
January 2006. The Internet, cell phones,
and inexpensive long distance calling
made the telegram obsolete. So Western
Union had to reinvent itself to survive.
The company now advertises itself as the
fastest way to send money anywhere in
the world. It underwent a
transformation.
Transformations in the Bible
Several
passages in the Bible
speak of transformations. But these
transformations aren't the products of
Madison Avenue, the health spa, or
corporate boardrooms.
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The Apostle Paul writes
in Romans chapter one about unbelievers
who change the glory of the
incorruptible God into images of various
kinds, and worship them.
Man tries to do a "makeover" with God.
Man wants to create a god
in his own image.
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The Bible also tells us
that believers in Christ are undergoing a
transformation during the course of our
lives, and we shall experience a final
transformation when we see the Lord
Jesus Christ face to face. That is the
"ultimate makeover"!
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The Bible also warns us
to beware of false disciples, false
teachers, and even false Christs, who
transform themselves into something
they are not.
Five
Key Passages
In this series, we'll
look at five key passages on the theme
of transformations. We'll see that not
only does God have the power to
transform us, He also has the power to
transform Himself. Two of the five passages
speak of transformations relating to the
Lord Jesus Christ. One deals with the
transformation He underwent when He came
into this world. The other describes a
transformation that took place while He
was on this earth.
Two other passages tell
us about the transformation of believers
in Christ. One deals with the
transformation we undergo in this life,
and the other speaks of the
transformation we will undergo in the
life to come.
These first four passages
will form the backdrop for the last
part of our series. We'll look at a
fifth passage that speaks of counterfeit
transformations carried on by Satan and
the false teachers who act as his agents
— and how the
Bible says we
are to discern between the real and the
counterfeit.
The
Bible's Use of Words Is No Accident
As
we begin, we need to understand that in
the original language of the New
Testament, two different root
words appear in the passages we'll
consider. These two words are variously
translated "form" —
"transform" —
"conform" — or
"transfigure." One is the
Greek word morphe, and the other
is the word schema.
The use of
these particular words in different passages
is no accident. God the Holy Spirit, the
Author of every word of the Bible, moved
the human writers of Scripture to use
exactly the words He intended, to convey
exact meaning. Understanding which word
is used in each case will help us better
understand the meaning of the five
passages we'll examine.
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