The Monarch butterflies are beginning their Fall migration – have you seen the photos being shared on Facebook?  Apparently, there is a lot that even biologists don’t know about butterflies.  Have you ever wondered how butterflies emerge from their cocoons to know to delay their reproductive processes and instead prepare for a long journey?  Who tells them how to find enough nectar to sustain them in this strenuous flight, flapping their tiny wings to travel 100 miles each day?  What calendar guides them, as cold-blooded creatures, so they are not caught in weather that is too cold for them to fly?  What map are they given to find their way to the high mountains of Mexico? When in the caterpillar stage, do they understand what is going to happen when it weaves a cocoon around itself?  Does it have to work up the courage to let go of life?  Or is it driven by a deep hope toward a new life ahead, life in which it will not be earthbound, but will be given wings to fly?  Does it take courage to change, to be transformed?

Change is something we all need. It is an ongoing part of life. With its constant flux, life demands adjustments for our schedules and plans. Essentially, change is the new norm. But people’s spiritual lives call for more than slight changes to the calendar. Their lives are in need of transformation. As you know, transformation is not about trying harder or having a better life. The change people need is not simply about being a better person; that would be a gross misunderstanding of change and transformation. The gospel is bigger than simple moral "ism" and people need to understand the very nature of transformation. Sometimes, what we need is a universal translator that helps us understand words like “change” and “transformation.” The church can, at times, communicate the need for change in peoples’ lives, and it ends up understood as some low-level therapeutic, moralistic belief where a faraway God makes life better and makes you a better person. But that is not the gospel. We don’t want to produce good religious people. We see what becomes of good religious people from the encounters Jesus had with the Pharisees. God wants—as should we—to see people transformed at a spiritual level rather than a behavioral level. It's as simple as that. Though often thought of in the same sense as a New Year’s resolution, transformation does not come from decisions made on January 1. Instead, it comes from re-creation, the re-creation that comes from new life in Christ. The change people need most is not in their circumstances but in themselves. It is not the ability to try harder, but it is a life entrusted to Jesus.

So, when you think of “change,” translate it to mean “gospel change.” It is not the same thing as trying harder; in fact, there is no trying involved. Transformation occurs not because we "DO," but because Christ has “done.” There are three principles about the change we all need. 

1. Real change starts with new life, not just a new leaf. The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, HCSB). The very heart of the Christian faith revolves around change, but it is not turning over a new leaf—it is living out a new life! Christian transformation always involves something old passing away and something new taking its place. Spiritual change is needed by everyone. We are constantly in need of this change, no matter who we are. But too many people misunderstand the words. They believe, “If I change, then God will like me more.” The bid to be better accompanies the hope for divine blessing. But this is the false change that comes from religious idealism. It is a misunderstanding of the teaching of the gospel. Some seek change through obedience. “Religion says, ’I obey; therefore I am accepted.’ Christianity says, ‘I’m accepted, therefore I obey.’” And isn't this the very description of a true Christian? Because Jesus has accepted us we now WANT to obey Him! Our acceptance and subsequent change is affected by the work of Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection. His work causes my acceptance before God. Everything else leads to exasperation. Trying to “turn over a new leaf” is a temporary fix to an eternal problem and it leads to the frustrating, exasperating cycle of always looking for a new fix to our lives. Rules can modify behavior, but only the gospel can impart new life. We should never be satisfied with merely a 'new way' of life. Only a new life will suffice.

2. Real change is a process, not a destination. Nobody ever gets to a place of being everything God has called them to be on this side of eternity. It is part of why we yearn for eternal life with Him. Our life is one of growth, constant growth. The transformation we encounter because of the gospel is how God is shaping our lives to mirror Jesus. Paul wrote, “I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God is starting and completing the work of transformation in us. Real change happens at the moment of our salvation. We are daily being changed to be like Christ in how we live. Day by day, God wants us to grow in our knowledge and connection with Him. Peter wrote, “By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4). It is an overwhelming thought that God would share his “divine nature” with us. Honestly, when I do a quick evaluation of my life, I think, what a waste because I fail Him at times. God gets nothing out of this deal. But He is the giving, sending, sacrificing God who desires to root out my sinful nature and replace it with His own character. This humbles me so. By removing our wrongful human desires and replacing them with the divine nature of sacrifice, God sets our lives in a new direction. It is a new process we partake in that causes life to have true significance—reflecting God’s glory. To the Corinthian church, Paul wrote, “We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). When a believer sets their eyes on God, then life will be in the process of transformation. Transformation happens in a moment to secure a person eternally, but it is consistently happening moment by moment to change that person daily!

3. Change is letting go and grabbing hold. God doesn’t force anyone to change, but He calls us TO change. He says things like, “Be holy as I am holy,” and it sounds like an impossible task. But its possibility comes from the work of God and not the work of man. The transformation that comes to us spiritually empowers us to move from religious behavior to spiritual acceptance of God’s work. Paul put it this way: “But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard Him and were taught by Him because the truth is in Jesus: you took off your former way of life, the old man that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new man, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth" (Ephesians 4:20-24). We are called to put off the “old man” and take hold of the “new man.” But we all know that letting go of the familiar is difficult, even when the new that is offered is better. For some reason, it seems part of our psyche to resist change, even when it will help. We can choose whether to embrace it or resist it.” I believe it is critical to choose the kind of change that advances the work of God in us personally and in the world for the sake of his Kingdom.

Finally, the change we all need is the change offered by Christ and Christ alone. It is a transformation that we are privileged to serve as an ambassador for in this life. Though transformation is a process which works throughout our life, we will stumble and we will fall throughout the process, but if we keep our hearts dedicated to Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to forgive our weaknesses and failures when we sin, I am confident of this very thing, that, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).