Who will transform - Philippians 3:20-21

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:20-21)

The scriptures use many metaphors to describe our corporate relationship with each other and with the Lord. For example, to the Ephesians, Paul describes us as the "the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12) and Peter, in his letter, describes us as "a chosen race" (1 Peter 2:9) and "a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2:9) Here, Paul refers to us as citizens of a heavenly kingdom. What is important to understand from these metaphors is that our life in Christ is not singular but corporate. We cannot separate our individual relationship with Christ from our corporate relationship with one another.

We presently live in a culture that views government as the supply of all we need. Many people look to government to provide cradle-to-grave care and protection for their lives. They have become dependents of the government rather than citizens of the commonwealth. Their participation in the union is only for what it can provide for them, not what they can provide back to the union. As citizens of God's kingdom, we must realize that it has become incumbent upon us to see, not only the rights and privileges of our citizenship, but also the duty that citizenship lays upon us. Our citizenship defines our duty towards God and each other. This is the same sense of duty which Paul refers to when he references the body of Christ, "the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:16) In our citizenship, we have a part to play in building up and strengthing the greater whole that is the holy nation of God.

Paul says that we are awaiting a savior from heaven. However, this ought to cause us to ask, "has he not already come? Was not Jesus our savior from heaven?" To understand this we must realize that salvation is a process that has a past, a present, and a future. Our initial salvation comes when we repent, believe the Gospel, and receive Jesus as our savior. At that moment, we are born from above and our spirit is made alive unto God. We are brought into relationship with God through the forgiveness and reconciliation of Christ. Next, God works in our lives to bring transformation in our souls. This saving work transforms our minds and teaches us new patterns of thinking and behaving, We learn to leave behind the past and to grow into the people we were created to be, Finally, one day, Jesus will return and save our physical bodies. Paul refers to this as our adoption. "And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:23) One day, we will be done with these weak and temptable bodies and will receive a glorified and heavenly body just as Jesus did in his death and resurrection. Our glorified bodies will bo longer be subject to death, disease, want, and physical limitation. In that day, our salvation will be complete and we will have come to realize the hope that, "we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

It is through God's power that this transformation of our bodies will take place. In other places, Paul describes this power as that which raised Jesus from the dead. However, here he describes it as that power that is able to bring all things into submission unto himself. This should cause us to consider, "what are those things that are holding us back? What are those things that are hindering and oppressing us? What are those things that are keeping us from fulfilling our new life in Christ?" Whatever they may be, they must all come into submission before the ultimate power of God. In that day, when our salvation is brought to completion, there will be nothing to stand in our way or to hinder us from our final adoption as sons and daughter of Christ. All our enemies will be subdued, all our demons vanquished, and all that oppose us will be silenced. In the end, there will only be victory and the victory will be God's.

David Robison

According to the pattern - Philippians 3:17-19

"Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things." (Philippians 3:17-19)

There is a difference between imitation and emulation. Imitation attempts to arrive at an exact copy of someone else while emulation seeks to achieve what someone else has achieved and to surpass it. We are not called to imitate other people. We frustrate the destiny of our lives when we try to live other peoples' destinies. As long as we are trying to be a copy of someone else, we will never become the person we are called to be. How often do we say to ourselves, "I wish I was like that person? I wish I had their gifts and talents? I wish I could minister like them?" However, when we think this way, we end up striving to be who we are not and loose the joy of finding out who God created us to be. We not only rob ourselves of the joy of being ourselves, but the world loses the benefit that comes from the uniqueness with which God has created us. We cannot be someone else, we must be ourselves.

Having said this, there can be value in emulating other people. The difference is that we are not trying to be them but rather trying to learn what they have learned, trying to understand what they have understood, and trying to decern the patterns that they have employed to make them successful in their endeavors. For example, if you are looking to strengthen your marriage, then it is prudent to look to emulate the patterns and wisdom employed by those whose marriage you would like to emulate. You're not trying to be them, but you recognize that they have found things that work and which may also work for you in growing your marriage. In the context of Paul's letter, he is saying, take note of those who have the faith and character which you desire for yourselves and follow their pattern of life. If we pattern our life after the world, then we will be like the world, but if we pattern our lives after those whose faith is exemplary, then we too will come to have exemplary faith and will become patterns for others to follow.

To this end, Paul describes those who are the antithesis of who we are to become. Here Paul speaks of those who are enemies of the cross. Perhaps a better translation of this Greek word would be haters of the cross. The intent of the Greek word is not so much that they are antagonistic against the cross as it is that they the hate it. They are not out to destroy the cross, but they reject its influence in their lives. Paul describes four characteristics of such people, of which, we will look at each in reverse order.

First, they set their minds on early things. Their lives are spent on the here and now, They have no interest or concern about anything transcendent, anything eternal, and anything relating to God or his Kingdom. Their lives are lived for themselves and their present wants and desires. They take no thought of God or of anyone else's need. Their needs reign supreme and it is after those needs that they earnestly seek.

Secondly, they glory in their shame. It seems tragic to me that we live in a time that glorifies, rewards, and congratulates those who sin has become public; whose sin we used to consider sinful and shameful. When people come forward with their open shame, we laud them as courageous and examples for others to follow. Is there any sin left for which our culture has not set about to exalt and to erase the shame of its stain? We live in a world that wants to throw off all vestiges of guilt, not realizing that the reason we often fell guilty is because we truly are guilty.

Thirdly, their god is their belly. Their only thought is for themselves. They are driven by their needs and desires. They lack the kind of self-control that would allow them to see others and the appetites that are higher than our flesh, such as an appetite for righteousness, goodness, and love. They know nothing of serving others. They serve only those things that serve themselves. They are truly lovers of self and lovers of nothing and no one else. Theirs is a lonely existence of self-indulgence.

Finally, their end is destruction. This destruction is not only and end in their life, but a daily process of corruption and decay brought about by their self-absorption in themselves. Not only will they one day find themselves in eternal destruction, but they live that destruction every day. Just as our resurrection is both future and an everyday reality, so is their destruction. Herein, is the key to discerning those lives we wish to pattern our own after, are they living a life of daily resurrection or are they living in daily corruption? Those whose life reflects the present and future reality of resurrection ought to be those lives we seek to emulate and the life we chose to live each and every day for ourselves. In the end, our emulation ought to produce in us a life that may also be emulated by others.

David Robison