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Trans Formation

by Damilola Oguntunde

Good morning Friend.

Today, by the Grace of God, I’ll be addressing an issue pertinent to our growth and development as believers. I hope you will be patient enough to read through this piece and I hope this helps your heart to stay anchored to TRUTH in the midst of various voices we seem to hear these days.

The word TRANS FORMATION is made up of two words; TRANSLATION and FORMATION. I’ll be taking these words apart and seek to share some profound thoughts on them as we progress on this discuss. Get ready to be enlightened and edified.

The word translation speaks of a change of location, a transfer, a transition, a transportation. The scripture that readily comes to mind is Colosians 1:13. There, we see how God delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. What happened here was a change of location. We were removed from the kingdom we were before, which is darkness and transported to the kingdom of God’s beloved son, which is a kingdom of light… vs 14. That’s a powerful transition isn’t it? Another scripture that bears witness to this is 2 Cor 5:17. If any man be in the LOCATION called CHRIST, He is a brand new species of creation that has never existed before. Glory!!! This is what describes our born again experience. In that moment of Faith in the heart and confession with the mouth (Romans 10:10), the most powerful miracle occurred; we became a NEW CREATION. What that means is that our spirit was quickened and made alive. Ephesians 2:1. Our spirit became United with God and got sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 1 Cor 6:17, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30. Our spirit is in complete union with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:16. Whatever your spirit says, the Holy Spirit says. This may be a bit difficult for some of you to chew on, but this part of you is perfect and is not subject to growth or decay. This is where the eternal life of God resides. Eternal life doesn’t speak of longevity of time, as no created human or angel will actually cease to exist, but that doesn’t mean they all possess eternal life. Eternal life according to Greek scholars, must not be defined with respect to time, hence it limits its essence. Eternal life speaks of the quality of life that is not subject to growth, progression or decay… it is forever IS. This is where FAITH operates from. Now our spirit possesses this eternal life. It is either dead or alive, and the moment it comes alive through the Word, which is Spirit, John 6:63 it becomes incorruptible. 1 Peter 1:23, James 1:18. Your spirit is created in the like manner as God, in righteousness and true, perfect and flawless holiness. Ephesians 4:24. Remember you still have your soul and your body… Just hold that thought, it becomes useful much later.

Now I’m about to make a huge statement of spiritual import; God’s biggest purpose for mankind was NEVER salvation… that is the salvation that happens the moment we get born again. God had a work he wanted to do in us, but couldn’t do it while we were in darkness, so he changed our location so he could begin the work in us. The change of location is not even the beginning of the work, it just had to happen for the real work to begin. When Real Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo for example, he wasn’t bought for the sake of being bought. The transfer was only a necessary passage to the real purpose of his purchase; To score goals and win trophies. It would be ludicrous for him to get overly excited about his transfer and the price tag hanging on his neck, then refuse to deliver the goals and trophies. The higher the price, the higher the expectations. Our transfer and price tag should further help us see the importance of the purpose of God ahead of us. There is no need for sight for a man in darkness, and the work God had in mind for man required sight for the man, so God changed the location from darkness into light so that He could begin this clandestine work He had ordained for every man. However, some men in light chose to still have their eyes closed. Hence, there seem to be no difference between a man who is in light with His eyes closed and a man who is in darkness and has his eyes open or closed… their realities are predominantly the same. This is why there isn’t much difference between an unbeliever and a carnal Christian. One’s problem is that he needs a new location, the other is that he needs light in his location. Change of Location I.e translation (Salvation) is not the purpose of God for mankind… So what is the grand purpose of God for mankind?

Romans 8:29 (KJV) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Ephesians 4:13 (ISV) Until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God’s Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.

I’m glad you asked… Romans 8:29, Ephesians 4:13, 2 Cor 3:18 helps us with that to a very large extent. The grand purpose of God for mankind is CONFORMATION. And the bridge between TRANSLATION and CONFORMATION is TRANSFORMATION. Translation is a change of location, transformation means the process of change in form and appearance, and conformation is actual change into another image entirely. Now what are we to conform to? Conform to the perfect image of Christ in ALL things. Till we get to a point where God looks at us, looks at Jesus and almost gets “confused”… Hehe. That is till there is no margin for improvement for us anymore. Remember I said our spirit was already perfect, but our soul and bodies are not. Our soul is being perfected by the renewing of the mind and our bodies have no hope of being saved until He returns to get us and give us glorified bodies. Sometimes our bodies receive the vital energy from our spirit for healings and miracles, Romans 8:11, we can also slow down the ageing process by frequent interruptions from the spirit, but it’s ultimately subject to decay. God however wants us to conform to this image of Christ, who is the perfect representation of His person and the brightness of His glory… Hebrews 1:3. Christ is that good, perfect and acceptable WILL of God. Romans 12:1-2. Everything is in motion towards Christ. We are all running towards Christ. We want to be like Him in our thoughts, words and actions. We want to literally duplicate Him here on earth. That’s the FATHER’S HEARTBEAT. To see people who will be like JESUS in everything. That is His grand purpose. Now the faster we make that happen, the quicker He will come get us. That is why He didn’t send us on a commission to simply preach and get people saved, He sent us to Baptize them into the communion of the Trinity by Teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever He has told us. Matthew 28:19-20 teaching them to be disciples; other expressions of Christ. This is the grand plan.

I hope you get where I am headed already. Any teaching or Gospel that seems to be overly focused on the salvation (change of location,) we have received and its inherent inalienable benefits, the insurance package against hell, guilt and condemnation that comes with it, is a myopic teaching that needs enlightenment. No doubt salvation comes with these inalienable benefits, but the purpose of these insurances is so we don’t have to worry about falling away and then concentrate on the work… not leave the work and start jubilating about the fringe benefits. 2 Peter 1:9 says that anyone who gets comfortable with carnality, fleshly desires, lust and complacency in the place of growth, anyone that refuses to grow virtues of knowledge, virtue, brotherly kindness, self control, love, godliness, chastity, patience, etc… such a person is blind and forgetful. The problem of carnal believers isn’t that they are not translated into Light, it is that while in the brightest possible light radiating from Christ, they keep their eyes closed. They keep forgetting that the purpose of God having their sins purged, was not for them to stay and stink in the mire of sin, but to see Christ afar and run towards Him. They that lack these things are blind and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that God has purged them from their old sins. So anyone who dances around the gate (entrance) of the Kingdom, screaming and shouting “I cannot lose my salvation, no matter what I do or don’t do, I didn’t get saved by good works, I can’t lose it by bad works…” should remember that he is closer to the exit door than the man who sees Jesus afar and runs towards Him. The same door with ENTRANCE is the same with EXIT. The more you run towards Christ the farther you run from the exit. Your entrance into the kingdom was an act of the will, the same with your exit, if you so choose. Sin has decietfulness according to Hebrews 3, if you stay long in the mire of sin having gotten saved and enlightened according to Hebrews 6, you will get deceived by sin and in no time choose sin above God’s amazing Grace. It wouldn’t then be God’s Grace that wasn’t strong enough to keep you saved and safe, it would be His commitment to honour YOUR choice (which got you saved in the first place) that will be responsible for your departure from the Faith. Sin itself as an act, is not strong enough to cost you your salvation, because good works in itself couldn’t get you saved… however, a continuous lifestyle of sin cushioned by a delusion of the doctrine of Grace will lead a man to be deceived by sin and then that man will choose darkness over light.

Hebrews 3:12-14 ( KJV) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

God’s respect for your choice has not changed simply because you got born again. He still respects your choice and if that choice is to leave His camp, as much as it would break His heart, He won’t stop you… And He’d probably walk you to the gates of hell, sobbing. His Grace is not a prison where you are held hostage against your own wishes. So to say once you’re saved, you’re saved forever is to annul another principle of choice which God holds very dearly. If you keep at the sinful lifestyle having the wrong teaching of Grace as your cushion, you just may get deceived and the sad thing about deception is that the victim NEVER notices when it’s happening.

Now… *sighs heavily*, this path that connects your TRANSLATION to CONFORMATION is called TRANSFORMATION. This process is called Metamorphosis, which is mirrored by the development phases of a butterfly. I’m sure we remember our basic biology yeah? There is first the egg stage, then larvae and then pupae before adult. What God saw when He designed the butterfly wasn’t the egg or larvae or pupae, what He saw was the Butterfly, what He made was the Butterfly and what He wants to see is the Butterfly. The Butterfly however cannot become the Butterfly until it passes through the stages of an egg, the larvae and the pupae. What God made you to be is the image of Christ and He won’t stop putting you through processes until you become that image of Christ. The challenge is not with the life but with the form. The egg has the same life with the butterfly but a different form. At translation, the life of God is infused into your spirit and it came alive, but only at the spirit level, God doesn’t just want His life in you, He desires to see His form in you. The egg moves to larvae, which is the caterpillar we all know; earth bound, wormy and very carnivorous (carnal). It can consume more than three times its size. Does that remind you of the carnal Christian? Subject to temptations, sicknesses, and always seeking for how to receive. Commitment from Church is far from him, ever ready to take an offence, always at the receiving end, never giving. The development moves to the pupae stage, where it enters into a cocoon for proper development. Though the cocoon is limiting, it is completely transforming. It is here it develops wings to fly and colours to shine. What does the believer do in this cocoon? His two primary growth engineering tools are Word and Prayer, especially the Pauline Prayers. The more He studies the Word and renews his mind to it, as well as pray the Pauline prayers, the more he develops wings to fly above the beggerly elements of this world by Grace and shines brighter in the fulfilment of his purpose. At first, the cocoon may seem limiting, where you can’t just do what you please, you can’t just say what you please or act how you please… never mind, you’re growing wings and developing colours, the Love of God constrains you and develops the character of Christ in you. Eventually pleasing Him becomes a delight and not a chore. For the believer however, we will keep oxilating between the pupae and adult stage until Jesus shows up. We will keep growing in the Word and Prayer and keep manifesting the life of God through our wings and colours.

This is the stage we must actively keep engaging. We must NEVER settle for less. Stop dancing around the gate and rejoice over elementary principles, grow unto perfection. Keep running brother, keep moving sister, whatever you do… KEEP CHANGING.

2 Cor 3:18 (KJV) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Please do well to share with those you know need this. God bless your heart.

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22 comments

Rita July 24, 2017 - 4:47 pm

Thank you p dams for the great insight you have shown us through your teachings, may God bless you richly.

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:50 am

Amen… Thank you Rita. God bless your heart

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Victory O. Osarumwense July 24, 2017 - 5:23 pm

Everybody must read this!! So blessed over again!!

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:51 am

Yes ma’am… That’s our mandate, to make Jesus and His work in our lives famous…

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Lawrence July 25, 2017 - 12:35 am

Oh! I’m really blessed discovering this truth from God’s word through you.
Gracias!

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:52 am

Bless God bro. It’s a privilege… God bless your heart.

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Adebiyi Opeyemi July 25, 2017 - 4:14 am

Thank you Pastor Dami. I’m so sharing this. More of God’s grace!

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:52 am

Bless God Ope. Thank you for that. God bless your heart.

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Oluchi July 25, 2017 - 1:36 pm

This is amazing. For us to be the duplicate of Christ is God’s heartbeat. God wants to look at me as Jesus and actually get confused. I desire that to happen in my life too. That Christ be fully formed in me. God bless you sir. May the Lord continue to use you to bless lives.

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:55 am

That’s my desire OlUcHi… Amen. Thank you for the prayers and kind words.

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Josh July 26, 2017 - 12:27 pm

2 Cor 3:18
I’ve been meditating on this scripture for a very long while, reading this has brought clarity. God bless you richly Sir.

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:55 am

Woow… Bless God. Amen

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Kanmigreen July 27, 2017 - 8:45 am

This is revealation. Thanks for allowing you be used to help build a household full of “Jesus” all over the world . As God continues to help you make the CHOICE to follow through is leading and teachings,so we be illuminated in our various pathway to Christ, so shall you be blessed in all your endeavors. I’m so blessed. Thanks

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:56 am

Amen and Amen. Thank you Sogo for the prayers and kind words. God bless your heart.

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Esther Ojeka August 20, 2017 - 11:46 am

Thanks P. Dams! God bless you sir! Word of life….

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Dami June 11, 2018 - 7:56 am

Amen and Amen. Thank you Esther. God bless your heart.

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Trailblazer lembrosticks June 11, 2018 - 8:42 pm

Weldone P. Dams

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Dami June 12, 2018 - 1:18 pm

Bless God. Thank you Sir.

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Adams July 9, 2019 - 6:17 am

Thanks sir. God bless you gaan

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Dami July 9, 2019 - 2:31 pm

Amen. Thank you Sir

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Nwokocha Love July 10, 2019 - 10:50 am

Wow! Deeply blessed by this. Everyone needs to read this. “Stop dancing at the gate, MOVE!”

Thanks for sharing sir, God bless you

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Dami July 10, 2019 - 12:03 pm

Praise God!!! Amen. Glad it blessed you dear!

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