Transformers

The Transformers are back in theaters.  Autobots, Decepticons . . . the machines we Gen Xers remember from our childhood.  Only now they’re in a movie sequel that cast Patrick Dempsey as the bad guy.  Really?  Not an ideal bad guy – but that’s another blog’s territory.  Since we saw the movie last weekend, I thought it would make an excellent blog title.  After all, isn’t that what humans really are – transformers?

We transform into different versions of ourselves at work, at home, with friends, with strangers.  We are constantly transforming our image to convey what we want a particular group of people to see.  Transforming like this is exhausting.  Wouldn’t it be nice to just relax and be the same version of yourself all the time?  But how in the world can that ever happen?

It’s actually pretty simple.  We have to return to our original image – the one we were created in – the Imago Dei – the image of God.  Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  So how do we reflect the image of God?  We live according to the greatest commandments: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  Here’s how it works:

When you love God, the depth of that love causes you to have a strong desire to please God.  When you realize that Jesus is enough, you also realize that his love completes you (to borrow a paraphrased line from Jerry Maguire).  This motivates you to then love the people around you – even the ones you wouldn’t normally be inclined to love.

The more you live this way, the more you transform into the Imago Dei – God’s Image (which was shown to us through the life of Jesus).  2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says, “^‭Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever‑increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  The Greek word translated “transformed” in that passage is in the present passive indicative form, which means that it represents continuous action received by the subject.  So, in plain old English, it means that once we choose to follow Jesus, the transforming happens to us continually.  It’s sort of like a seed – once it’s planted, the rest happens on its own as a natural progression of the nature of the seed.  It transforms according to the way God created it to transform, with no effort of its own – just the right conditions. (See the parable in Mark 4:26-29)

Paul is writing in 2 Corinthians about the great freedom of being transformed into the image of Jesus!  By becoming who God created us to be, we can finally stop working so hard to transform for every relationship we have.  Instead, we will convey one image – the Imago Dei that we learned by loving Jesus who taught us to love God and love others.  Then we are truly transformers.