Transformed

 By Clifton Angel

  To the church at Rome, Paul wrote: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:1–2). “Transformed” in the Greek is “metamorphao,” from which we get our word “metamorphosis”. Our greatest illustration of physical metamorphosis is the caterpillar transformed to a butterfly. Using this physical illustration, let us make spiritual application. 

  After transformation, there is more maturity. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet 2:2). “For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:13–14). 

  After transformation, there is increased activity. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due sea-son we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Gal 6:9–10). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15:58). 

  After transformation, there is greater beauty. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things” (Rom 10:15). “Christ … loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25–27). “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). 

  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17). “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27).

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/

God is Love (Part 1)

By Clifton Angel   The Apostle John wrote, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). In the same writing, he continued, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (4:16). This love, which exists by God and emanates from God can be—and, should be— experienced and exhibited by man. Using the word “love” as an acronym, let us note four characteristics of this great love.    God, Who is Love, is long-suffering. Paul wrote that the exhibition of this love results in the same, “Charity suffereth long … endureth all things” (1 Cor 13:4, 7). Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (1 Pet 3:9). Contextually, Peter wrote of God’s faithfulness to send His Son to return for His people as He promised (cf. John 14:1–6). We do not know when that day will be (cf. 1 Pet 3:10); however we can be confident He will return. Peter notes the time that transpires until then is evidence for his long-suffering and His desire for us to turn to Him.    On the occasion that God gave Moses’ a special law for His special people and had him record it a second time (cf. Ex 19–34), He granted Moses a most magnificent experience combined with an eternal exclamation: “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering (emphasis mine, CA), and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Ex 34:6–7). What an amazingly, loving God we serve, extending His grace and mercy through His long-suffering (cf. Num 14:18; Psa 86:15; et al.)    We can know Him by loving like Him, and we can begin loving like Him by being long-suffering with others (cf. Eph 4:2; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 4:2). Do you know God? Do you love like God?

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/

God is Love (Part 2)

By Clifton Angel
  “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Continuing with the word “love” as an acronym, let us note the second of four characteristics of this great love. God, Who is Love, is vicarious.   To be vicarious is to take the place of another—to be a substitute. A similar term found in the New Testament is “propitiation.” The Apostle John wrote, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Jesus being our propitiation indicates that He took our place with a perfect sacrifice that could atone for our sins. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).   Truly, the crucifixion of Christ was the penultimate propitiatory moment when He “his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). However, the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus was purposed in the mind of God before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20a), and began to be borne out at His conception and birth into this world (1 Peter 1:20b). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only be-gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5–7). “Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17, ASV).   To contemplate the sacrificial life of Christ which led to the sacrificial death of Christ is to recognize our responsibility as sacrificial followers of Christ. Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus commanded, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Do you know God? Do you love like God?

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com

God is Love (Part 3)

By Clifton Angel
  “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). Continuing with the word “love” as an acronym, let us note the third characteristic of this great love. God, Who is Love, is everlasting.   When children do not get their way, they are quick to accuse their parents of not loving them. It is a childish and selfish accusation that implies the parent’s love for their child has ceased and is not everlasting. Yet, the opposite is actually the case.! “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24). Discipline is a exercise of parental love. Likewise, and on a grander level, God exhibits His love toward us through discipline. God through the prophet Jeremiah prophesied to His own special people, whom He would punish, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). The Hebrews penman wrote to Christians in and around Jerusalem who were contemplating leaving Christ to go back to the law of Moses. Citing from Proverbs 3:11–12, he warned: “Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:5–7).  Are we ever tempted to think that God has stopped loving us? In moments of loneliness, suffering, grief, persecution, disease, and death, there is a great temptation to accuse God of not loving us. I’ve often read these words from my colleague: “I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” This sentiment originates from God. Despite our despair, grief, sin, and disbelief, God still loves us. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In fact, the only person/thing that can separate the Christian from the love of Christ is one’s own self. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).   “From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). God is everlasting and His love is everlasting. Do you know Him? Do you love like Him?

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/

God is Love (Part 4)

By Clifton Angel   If you have followed along with our “God is LOVE” article series, you know that we skipped the letter “O” in our acronym. Truly, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). With the word “love” as an acronym, we have noted that God, Who is Love, is long-suffering, vicarious, and everlasting. We purposely saved the “O” for the end because of its application to us. God, Who is Love, is obliging.    In the classic sitcom “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” Steve McQueen plays the character Josh Randall, who is a horse-back-riding, sawed-off-rifle-carrying, bounty hunter. In the show, he would often say to someone who helped him: “Much obliged to ya!” Randall implied that he was grateful and indebted to his helpers. God’s nature of love obliges us to have the same love. “The love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Cor 5:14).    We are obligated to love God. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). Jesus said, “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ASV).    We are obligated to love our Christian brethren. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. … Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. … If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother  whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:7–8, 11, 20).    And perhaps the most difficult, yet the most illustrative nature of this love, is that we are obligated to love our enemies. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10). Jesus said, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). Similarly, Matthew recorded Jesus’ words in this manner: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on  the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:43–45).    God, Who is LOVE, is long-suffering, obliging, vicarious, and everlasting. Do you know Him? Do you love like Him?

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/