Metamorphosis

This past week I preached on Acts 26:9-15.  The sermon was called, A Confounding Conversion.  The idea was that Paul, an unlikely candidate to follow Jesus, not only ended up following Him, but was specifically called out audibly by Him, (in the impressive "Hebrew dialect" might I add).

During my preparation for the sermon, God led me to an old illustration that I had not used in a long time--the process of metamorphosis.  In biology, metamorphosis signifies a complete change of form.  That is, once the process is complete, a seemingly entire new organism emerges.  In the recognized case of the caterpillar, for example, it changes from a creepy, crawly, insignificant insect to a beautiful fluttering butterfly.  In one form, the insect gets squashed beneath our shoes and in the other, it causes us to stop and recognize beauty.  Without question, an amazing change has taken place.

The idea with this illustration is that when it comes to salvation, man experiences a bit of a spiritual metamorphosis; we change from one state to another.  Science has shown that caterpillars actually partially die, and use a remnant of cells in order to later fully live.  Jesus has said, "he who has lost his life for My sake will find it" (Matt. 10:39b).  In order to fully live (John 10:10), we need to die to ourselves, trusting Jesus for true life.

Paul understood what this meant.  Of all the Christians in his day, he had perhaps the most abhorrent resume.  In Acts 26:9-11, he listed the horrendous things that he had previously committed against believers.  These included: locking them up, casting a vote for their deaths, punishing them in synagogues, forcing them to blaspheme, and pursuing them to foreign cities.  The idea was, after meeting Jesus, he changed.  Like I said on Sunday, "When you meet Jesus, there will be a change.  If you haven't changed, then chances are you haven't met Jesus."  Jesus calls us to a new life.  Our inward change forces an outward change.

Paul expressed an evident change in his life after meeting Jesus.  He had experienced a spiritual metamorphosis.  He changed from a life of law to a life of grace; a life of sin to a life of righteousness; a life of hate toward a life of love.  When people looked at him, they knew that he wasn’t the same Pharisee and son of a Pharisee that he used to be.  They knew that he no longer sought to lock up the saints, cast votes for their death, punish them in synagogues, force them into blasphemy, or even pursue them into foreign cities.  Instead, they saw someone else, someone who was enraptured by the very man that he once preached against.

Instead of prison, Paul desired to see the world set free, for he said, “I wish that all who hear me might become such as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29).  Instead of casting votes for death, he desired to see men have life, for he said, “I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers” (26:6).  Instead of punishing the saints in the synagogues, he hoped to see churches overwhelm the cities with worship, for he has written, “the church is the pillar and support of truth for the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15).  Instead of forcing Christians to blaspheme the name of Christ, he trusted in His name as the source of truth, for he wrote, “[Jesus] is the one in whom we have redemption, [and] the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14), and instead of pursuing Christians in foreign cities, Paul hoped that they would take the message of Christ into all the world.  He wrote thirteen epistles in hopes to encourage churches and people to do just this.  There is no doubt that Paul demonstrated a life that was changed by meeting Jesus.

Today, let us walk in the "newness of life" (Rom. 6:4) that Paul did, knowing that Jesus has the power to change us from a state of imminent death to a state of bountiful life.