#366 Kingdom: The Metamorphosis
metamorphosis >noun (pl. metamorphoses) 1 the transformation of an insect or amphibian from an immature form or larva to an adult form in distinct stages. 2 a change in form or nature.
Greek, from metamorphoun 'transform, change shape'
Mat 17:1 And six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
2Co 3:15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
The same Greek word is used when Jesus was “transfigured” before them on the mountain and our transformation which begins with the renewing of our mind. Our “transformation” continues as the “veil” over our face is lifted and we behold Him in His glory. Paul is making the point that Moses lost the glory in diminishing stages after the initial experience but we are destined to grow in glory and to retain the glory that we achieve in this life. The “transformation” is from one form to another and a complete change of nature. We might say that our “transformation” IS into His image and likeness. Within this process of “metamorphosis” we are to grow up in all things into Christ.
I am assuming we recognize there is a big difference between a “human” and a “born again human.” The next “change” is from being a “born again human” to becoming the “manifested sons of God.” That means to develop into His measure and stature and to His fulness. To ascend to the maturity that is able to accept and function in the responsibilities of the sons of the Kingdom. In 1 Cor 15 Paul says that as we bore the image of the earthly we must also bear the image of the heavenly. These “images” are not just outward but inward. Correcting our outward social behavior through social training is 100% different than experiencing a completely new inward Life that produces a “new” social life from within the new creation.
Since flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the Kingdom it is essential that we be completely changed from what we are to what He is. This “transformation” is essential to sonship and to priesthood ministry to God. To speak about the “manifested sons” BEFORE there is the “metamorphosis” within the inner man is premature. My theory is that we are changed from believers [as babes or as children] into sons by this “metamorphosis.” Babes and manifested sons may be of a radically different species [ by metamorphosis] even though they have the same origin.
In scripture we recognize there are two kinds of many things. For example there are two kinds of love. Philadelphia and Agape. There are two kinds of faith. Man’s faith and the God kind of faith. There is a natural faith and a spiritual faith. There are two kinds of sanctification. The separation from and the separation unto. Example; The sanctification FROM Egypt and the sanctification UNTO Canaan. There are two kinds of life, psuche and Zoe. There is created life, psuche and there is the uncreated Life of God, Zoe. There is the human that God cannot use in eternity and there is the “divine” that is the result of the “transformation.” This “Divine” is the union between Christ and man by the infusion of His Life through the Vine-branch
marriage!
The “marriage” or “union of Life” is between Christ, in His ascended state, and man in his state of metamorphosis. That means man being changed from glory unto glory by the Spirit of the Lord. { Robertson’s Word Pictures}
This “transformation” is not something from afar but is enacted by the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit working by their creative power within us. The “transfiguration” of Jesus on the mountain {metamorphosis} was a preview, exposing His inner man which became visible to those present. This reveals God’s desire to complete this metamorphosis corporately in the body of Christ because of His eternal purpose for the creation. This unveiling was exposing the New Christ Man that God requires for His eternal plan to be complete. This “unveiling” exposed the glory of Christ and what it means to grow up in all things into Christ and to be partakers of His glory. Growing in more knowledge of mundane things is the antithesis of partaking of His glory. The two Cherubim, [ the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit ] always observing the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Covenant, They, out of the midst of His Glory are busy perfecting sons to BECOME the Ark of His Throne. They will be “in His Throne” and He will be “enthroned upon the sons of God.” These “sons” will be perfected humanity [ wood] overlaid with the Gold of His Divinity. God will rule both in them, FOR them and through them.
Dan 7:27 'Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'
We should not overlook the fact that God’s government is enforced IN His church but then FOR His church. In other words those who are subject to His government subjectively will be the beneficiaries of His government objectively. Those who are under His Governmental Authority subjectively will benefit from His Governmental Authority in their behalf, objectively. His Government will overshadow all other Governments.
Those who complete the “metamorphosis” must be perfected BY HIS GOVERNMENT, subjectively. In other words this “metamorphosis” is not just an act of nature or automatic or without pain and suffering. We may be Christians by faith through grace but never experience the drastic change associated with the sons of God. This “change” must be a “governmental change” and one in which there is no doubt about who is ruling in the life. We cannot remove obedience to His Government because that is an integral part of the metamorphosis. Spiritual food and spiritual Light are also required for the completing of the metamorphosis.
In addition to this “metamorphosis” of believers into the manifested sons of God there is the transformation of believers into priests after the order of Melchizedek AND the metamorphosis of believers into the Bride of Christ. The metamorphosis is many faceted as it eventually affects every area of our life, both inward and outward. Passively waiting on some change to take place is not a brilliant move today. We must be actively seeking the Kingdom change [metamorphosis] from the mustard seed to a full grown tree. This “treasure” is hidden in the field of redeemed humanity but few there be that find it. Why? Only a few are actively seeking for it. Multitudes may be passively and ignorantly waiting for it to fall upon them or transferred to them by the laying on of hands. We should speak out against this ignorance.
Mat 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Less than blest are those who do not hunger and thirst for righteousness and they will never be satisfied. This is what we call “the law of opposites.” Both are true but when we state the opposite it becomes clearer.
Mat 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Those who are NOT pure in heart will not be blest and they shall NOT see God.
Mat 5:10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Those who have not been persecuted for their righteousness will lose out in the Kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The proud in spirit are NOT blest and they have no part in the Kingdom of Heaven.
When we look at the opposites it makes the seriousness of the Kingdom truth come to the forefront so we can recognize it. My point is this; Without a true metamorphosis from the old nature of Adam to the new nature of the Kingdom we are left with a religion that cannot help us become overcomers and inherit the Kingdom.
To just assume that all believers will inherit the Kingdom because they believe something about Jesus is the result of preaching “evangelical ignorance” as the gospel. Those who foster “kingdom ignorance” accuse us of taking everything in scripture as literal. They begin with the statement that God loves everybody [even the whole world system] and therefore, He accepts everyone. Why? Because He has reconciled the WHOLE WORLD to Himself through Jesus Christ. God no longer is counting their sins against them so everyone has a good standing before God because of Calvary. God no longer sees homosexuals and perverts. He just sees everyone as “reconciled to God” and accepted into heaven because of the sacrifice of Calvary. Personal experience with God is not necessary because we have already been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ!
Others preach that EVERYONE has been born with the “seed of God” inherent within them because God is the only source of life on the earth. Eventually this “seed” will grow and mature and bring forth the fruit of Christ in their life. Why? Because it was there from the day of natural birth.
Of course this concept flies in the face of scripture. He who has the Son has Life and He who does not have the Son does NOT have Life. In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of men. This Life, Zoe, is NOT inherent in man from his birth. Not even a seed of this Life. This Eternal Life must come into us or we are living in death. The metamorphosis is from death into Life, Zoe!
That which has passed through the metamorphosis has become a new species that is only related to the old species by a common body in which both are developed. The new creation IS a completely NEW creation and not a cleaned up and repaired old creation. When the body is laid aside there is no relationship and no fellowship between these two creations. The seed of one does not produce the Life of the other. That which is born from below cannot then get born from above as these are entirely different births from entirely different sources. One is natural the other spiritual. One from Adam and the other from God.
John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
That which is born of the flesh can NEVER metamorphose into spirit. Only that which is born of Spirit can metamorphosis into the sons of God.
The New Birth from above must eventually produce the manifested sons of God in order to fulfill the purpose of the new birth. The New Birth is NOT just to save us from hell but is a birth into God’s eternal purpose. The new birth that doesn’t result in a total metamorphosis into a totally new creation has failed in its purpose.
The error of teaching that the new birth is an end in itself is the result of not understanding that the new birth only permits us to see the Kingdom from a distance. A series of additional experiences permit us to enter the Kingdom. For example; Those who continue in the works of the flesh shall NOT inherit the Kingdom, even if they are born again from above.
What ultimately matters as our new Life in Christ gradually matures to sonship is not the doctrines we hold or the ministry we have done or the level of fellowship we have attained. It is not what we have left behind or our method of prayer or what we have denied ourselves. Our ultimate goal is union with God through Jesus Christ. This will never happen through some human effort or self reform or religious hardship. My theory is this; The goal can only be ultimately gained through the “metamorphosis” and that is NOT of ourselves but is wholly by the work of God in us. Continually surrendering to the process of being changed from glory unto glory by the Spirit of the Lord is the effective way to reach God’s ultimate purpose. Human intervention in the process will either ruin the process or delay it. There are spiritual dimensions that are far beyond human help by what we call “ministry.” There are areas of growth of the inner man that it is best to avoid human “help” and just trust in the divine intervention. In these areas my help does not come from the earth or from the mountains but my Inner Life and my help comes from the Lord.
We are transformed from glory unto glory by seeing Him in His glory. As long as we have a veil over our face that confuses the brilliance of His Glory we are delayed in our “metamorphosis.”
We may now ask THE question; What can man or ministry do to help us see His glory and be transformed by His Glory? Religion is the antithesis of transformation.