Plenary on the Assembly theme

Ms Sarah Newland-Martin is the general secretary of the Kingston YMCA and the national general secretary of the National Council of YMCAs in Jamaica

Introduction 

‘Grace' is that quality in the heart of God that causes Him not to deal with us according to our sins or to retaliate against us according to our iniquities. God's grace pours out love, kindness and favour to all who will trust Him.

The Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible indicates that ‘transform' means "a change radically in inner character, condition or nature". In Romans 12:2 Paul exhorted Christians ‘not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." 

In order to experience a transformed life, the following are of great importance. 

1. Openness to God

Openness to God allows us to be frank with Him and become aware of aspects in our lives we know are wrong, such as: poor decisions, bad habits, behaviour that we are ashamed of, areas we want God to change, but where we may be fearful of His condemnation. If we have received Christ into our hearts, we have been declared His own, forgiven and now under His Grace. (But there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus … Romans 8:1). 

2. Accepting the invitation

God offers an open invitation for us to come in truth and humility. James 4:6 says "God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the humble." If we refuse to accept His invitation, there is no relationship. When we come to the Lord, He is willing to listen to us sharing our short falls in the areas mentioned and then He will meet us in that need with His grace. God is not demanding that we change ourselves. Instead He asks us to come to Him in honesty and faith and cast all our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:5-7).

3. Recognition for the change needed

The story in Luke 18:9-14 which speaks of the parable (told by Jesus) of the Pharisee and the tax collector, showed that the tax collector who stood some distance away beating his chest saying "God be merciful to me a sinner" was deeply conscious of his sin and guilt and in true repentance turned from sin to God for forgiveness and mercy. So it is for us, we need to be aware of where we fall short and instead of being defensive, able to say, like the tax collector, ‘Lord be merciful to me, a sinner." 

We can experience God's grace and transformation in our lives when we recognize our weaknesses and come to the throne of grace in truth and humility. When we are walking in God's wisdom, then we will recognize the change needed in our lives.

4. Acceptance of the transformed life

Hebrews 4:13, says "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Romans 5:20 says, "where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more." We must take God at His Word that His grace is there, in order to be able to receive it. There is absolutely one inescapable condition that must be met if grace is to change a person, and that is, God's grace must be believed. We have to respond to God with an answering trust. And He will act.

Lewis Sperry Chafer who wrote a comprehensive book on Grace says "The overwhelming testimony of the Word of God is that every aspect of salvation, every blessing of divine grace, in time and eternity is conditioned only on what is believed."

Personal experience

As a child I grew up in two institutions after being abandoned by my parents. I was born with both legs deformed - which were of no use.

The first institution was one which catered to children who were from destitute families, orphans, abandoned children and a small number of children with disabilities. I fell in the last two categories.

While growing up at these institutions, the late Professor Back spoke with the late Sir John Golding who had me transferred to the University Hospital and performed surgery to remove the legs I could not use. I was sent to another institution. This one had only children with disabilities. There were some 50 other children and 30 adults who were afflicted with polio after the epidemic in 1954 at that time. 

I strongly believe that these men were specially identified by God to do His work in my life.

Most of the children had a family of one sort of another - I had no one to call family. I felt rejected, alone and unwanted. Many times I was afraid of not being like the other children who had legs and who were visited by their relatives. Often times I was reminded by them that I had no one. They were mean at times to me. I felt like a ‘nobody' and this happened for a long time.

The transformation came when I could walk on peg legs before being allowed to use artificial legs; when I started going to high school and made to feel that indeed I was like anyone else, that I was a child of God, that I should not compare myself with others, that God made me unique with my unique role, with my own personalities, gifts, strengths and weaknesses. The day I walked through the waters of baptism in 1968 was the key point in my life.

I met my mother and father at age 24 and discovered that I had 6 brothers. 

I found then that when I became a Christian, Jesus began to transform me in His image. I was able to forgive my parents for what happened and my thinking became moulded by God's word which is "inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives" (2 Timothy 3:16a NLT). Indeed, knowing God's word is very important because it is the objective means by which I am able to evaluate the world and myself.

A relationship with God is more powerful than anything else in the world and under grace I have more than my own resources. I have God's Holy Spirit enabling me to do His will. I am able to acknowledge my weaknesses and keep bringing it back to God and continue to take personal responsibility for my sins, asking Him to asking Him to transform my life on a daily basis. 

Often times when I reflect on where I was and the various levels of transformation through which I have passed, I am deeply indebted to God for His limitless love in my life. As a result of my transformed life, the lives of many individuals have been positively impacted, in particular the young people.

Biblical characters whose lives were transformed

The following gives a brief account of some of the Biblical Characters whose lives were transformed: 

  • Saul (the original name of Paul) who was a prosecutor of the church became an apostle of Christ and a missionary of the early church (Acts 7:58-9:26; 11-25-13:9). 
  • David and Bathsheba - Although David was a righteous King, he was subject to sin, just like any other human beings. On one occasion when his army went to battle, David stayed home. This led to his great sin with Bathsheba. While Uriah, the Hittite, Bathsheba's husband was away in battle, David committed adultery with her. David repented and asked for God's forgiveness. His prayer of forgiveness is recorded in Psalm 51. 
  • Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector of Jericho who had grown rich by over taxing people. When Jesus visited Jericho, Zaccheaus who was ‘of short stature' (Luke 19:3) climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. Jesus asked him to come down and visited him as a guest. As a result of the visit of Jesus, Zacchaeus became a follower of the Lord, repented of his sins, and made restitution for his wrongdoing. Jesus showed that He came to call sinners to repentance. 

Self-evaluation

In evaluating our lives one can ask the following questions: 

  • How do I see myself?
  • Do I accept God's invitation?
  • Are there hindrances to my being transformed?
  • Am I ready to be transformed?
  • Is my life one of transformation? 

Conclusion

When we become followers of Jesus, God begins to transform us in His image. A key part of this transformation is the transformation of the way we think.

However, it must be noted that transformation is not a one shot experience but is likened to the salvation experience which is a process. We must guard against putting ourselves into a box by asking questions such as ‘Why me?' ‘Can I be changed?' The process of transformation allows us to ask, seek, and surrender our lives. 

Transformed lives depict an outward action of what happens inside as a result we should not wait for things to happen but instead we can pray for others such as our children, friends, fellow believers, missionaries and pastors.

One of my favourite Books in the Bible is Colossians which provides many steps in to living a transformed life.

In Col. 1:9-11, for example, we are told that the knowledge of God's will, results from praying and remaining in his word and in fellowship with him. It is only this kind of knowledge that will lead to spiritual understanding and transforms our hearts and lives.

As we experience nearness, love, righteousness and power through prayer and the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed into his likeness (2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3). In this age the transformation is progressive and impartial. When Christ returns, we will see him face to face, and our transformation made complete (1 Jn. 3:2; Rev. 22:4).