Reverse Petrifaction:  God’s Power to Transform

Ex Nihilo & Renewal – Abraham’s Faith

Abraham believed what is not normally possible, what is truly unbelievable in an ordinary sense:  He believed that God could bring out of nothing, ex nihilo – something, and also believed that God could give life to the dead.  (Read Rom.4:17)

What is easier, to kill, or to bring to life?  To build or destroy?  Positive change is much easier than negative change. 

In some ways, it is easier to start from scratch than to start fresh.  Reworking someone else’s mess is very frustrating and difficult!  Undoing another’s mistakes takes create wisdom and patience.

The Source – The Spiritual Realm 

The faith of Abraham was based on his acceptance that God can do ANYTHING!  Once we accept that God is the Creator, then we know that He can call into existence that which does not exist.  Something entirely new and never seen before can appear out of nowhere, when God is involved.  We cannot easily imagine a mind or Spirit that can do that, but obviously, everything had to have its origin somewhere, and that must be from another source than our own system.  The reason is that since we know that nothing comes from nothing, and that is a fact, then something – our entire universe – must come from something else.  To suppose that it came from another universe begs the question.  Eventually, you would have to agree that all matter, all physical things that we can see, taste, and touch, must have an alternative source beyond this closed materialistic system. 

Suffice to say, besides any common sense arguments or empirical evidence,  the Bible says that God created everything in six days, and we can prove the written books called the Bible must have come from somewhere besides men, and that leaves either the Devil, aliens, or God.  Which one do you pick?  Jesus was perfect, open to inspection, and did mighty works or miracles.  He told us that the scriptures were correct.  Who will argue with Him?  His resurrection proves that He spoke the truth, and His resurrection is a historical fact impossible for a reasonable man to deny.

For instance, is the whole world’s entire dating system based on the birth of a lying, dead Jew?

The Unlimited Creator

All of this limited and decaying, imperfect creation demands a perfect, incorruptible source.  Thus a Creator, an invisible, intellect is necessary.  But this lesson is not about such inferred and common sense reasons for believing in God.  Every child knows that something must have made such a wonderful, complex and very intricately designed ecosystem as this world and the infinite space and heavenly bodies within in which it is so skillfully and carefully placed as to allow life as we know it.  (Read Psalm 19 & 8)

God is.  End of discussion.  And He can create all things.  No committee of gods or powerful supernatural beings, or aliens, could have made the entire, codependent, inter-related and obviously bonded universe and planet Earth.  One great mind, one great designer and planner had to coordinate and make what is.  And again, the power to make all things had to be so fantastically great as to be infinite.  Perhaps that is why there are some many things, so many stars, bacteria, atoms, etc.:  To communicate the infinite power of an infinite God. (See Psalm 103:19 – 104:1-3, 5, 24,30-34)

Petrifaction

As impressive as God’s creative power is, to “call into being that which does not exist”, which means that by the mere exertion of God’s will, He makes things that never were before, I believe that the power to restore, to renew, to transform, is perhaps even more impressive, at least to my mind.  Fixing the broken and changing the unchangeable into a living thing is wonderful to contemplate.

All of this is to give you hope that you too can change, entirely.  That God can and does truly transform us from sinner to saint, from lost to found, from hopeless and hell bound to hopeful and heaven bound. That God can give live to the spiritually dead.

When we regard a piece of petrified wood, we are looking at something that once was alive, a part of a living tree that had roots, grew leaves, and gave out oxygen in return for absorbing carbon dioxide in the air.  Then it is buried in mud, full of minerals and the water and pressure and heat turn it into stone.  That is like each one of us.  We were born as living beings, in the image of God.  Actually, even before birth, we were such, as Ps.139:7-9 explains.  Our spirits were alive, with the same essence and purity as the Father who made them. 

Then, on the day we each sinned, we each died, spiritually. Read Romans 5:12-14,17.  Many suppose that this is about physical death.  Yes, the two are related, but spiritual death preceded physical death.  Nevertheless, physical death is called the last enemy in I Cor.15:54.  The corruptibility of our bodies is not God’s ultimate goal or plan for man.  Even the long life spans of the early, pre-flood patriarchs proves that man’s present short life span of 70 -80 years is not so normal as we might suppose.  Think of living nearly one entire millennium, or nearly 1000 years!! (Methuselah = 965 years.)

Can God give life to all the moldering dead?  Can dem bones rise again? Of course!  Nevertheless, this boggles the mind, like so many things about the abilities and actual works of God.  We do have several examples of resurrections before Christ’s:  II Kings 13:20-21; Matthew 27:51-53.  Then there is Christ’s, so well attested by so many witnesses. (I Cor.15:3-6)  We either choose to believe them or not.

But can you rise again?  Do you believe that you will be called up on that last day?  You do, good, then you are able to be a Christian.  But now I want to ask, do you believe that right now, you are already raised up and seated with Christ in the spiritual realms?  That your spirit is perfectly restored to life by the God who can make what is dead, live?  Yes?  Then let’s ask how your life demonstrates this miracle of conversion and transformation.

When you contemplate the state of your heart, do you acknowledge that God has the ability and the willingness, to totally rework you into the very image of Himself, which is perfectly represented by His Son, and made possible by the Holy Spirit.  After all, what is faith if not the belief that God can undo whatever evil Satan has done to us?  Or whatever evil we’ve done, or others have done, to us:  “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John.3:8b)  In other words, Jesus came to undo the bad things that the Devil did, to unfreeze the “frozen” people whom the Winter Queen froze in their sin. (Narnia, C.S Lewis)  This is “reverse petrifaction”.  Hard hearted sinners can be softened, if only they heed the warming, life giving message of Christ’s great love for them.  His resurrection was the dawn of the thawing heat to release them from Satan’s deathly grip on their sin-sickened, dead spirits.  God’s willingness to raise our bodies is the proof of His willingness to do this for us.  (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:12-14)

God’s regeneration power is seen in Christ’s resurrection.  His virgin proof also demonstrates His power to call into being that which does not exist.  Jesus was the first of His kind, a perfect man, God’s Son, God enfleshed.  But His resurrection proves His ability to transform.  Jesus died on the cross to make an offering for our sin, but also to prove, by His return to life, that God can miraculously transform us into His image.

Now we must work out this salvation, we must, by faith, walk in the power of newness of life.  We must prove our faith by our new lifestyles.  Every single day, we get to do this by overcoming sin and living with God’s love in our heart, gladly obeying His commands with awesome attitudes. Do you see it… the petrified heart now throbbing with God’s living love?  Look within, and believe.  God has done it, by His amazing power.  It must be an invisible heart, because the Spirit is invisible.  It must be experienced, not weighed and touched and handled in some laboratory.  You must learn of the new transformed heart by living a new, transformed life by faith.  Step out in faith, and do the impossible.  Overcome that besetting sin.  Learn that new language needed to communicate the gospel. Memorize the New Testament, one verse and chapter at a time.  Be Jesus to your generation, a source of life and hope and peace to all who you come in contact with.  Be firm in the face of compromise.  Be flexible in the times of testing of your patience.  Be hopeful about people’s ultimate potential despite temporary setbacks in them.  Go the second mile before quitting.  See the best in others who don’t see it in themselves.  Give back love and help for hurts and hate.  Walk on water today, by loving lavishly, giving generously, serving diligently, and overcoming evil with good!  You are a new creation.  You are God’s greatest miracle of transformation.  Go ahead agree with God.  He has done it.  He cannot fail.  When you were immersed, you were remade, remodeled, restored, redeemed, recreated, in absolute perfection!  Take that new self out for a test ride today.  See what you are really made of.  Step on it, go farther and faster than it humanely possible.  Go into warp drive and seize the day.  You are a son of God, and listen to this: 

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom.8:29,32)

So stop making excuses for failing.  Stop looking back and feeling guilty or unworthy.  Stop living in the past.  Stop treating others like they treat you. Stop being grieved to distraction by the failings of others, or because the world is so bad and evil.  Don’t focus on the evil around you, but on the power within you by the indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus our God!  Focus on your present position in heaven with Him.  Keep your eyes on the goal, the future glory reserved for you in that final day.  Focus not on what is wrong with the world, or on your failings, but focus with trusting faith on the present change that God has wrought for and through You in Christ Jesus.

Eliminate the words “I can’t” from your vocabulary.  Don’t deny your miracle of new birth!  Don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit by saying that God cannot declare you a son by adoption because of the lavish riches of His amazing grace for all sinners.  All sinned was paid for in full by the precious, perfect blood of Jesus.  So start saying “I can’ where others quit.  Power up and move in the Spirit to new heights of glory.  Be confident and stop fearing.  Fear not, O saint, for you have been given Christ’s own perfect victory.

Whatever rises up to keep you from praying, fasting, going, speaking, loving, forgiving, teaching, and doing the will of God in any way is nothing but a mirage.  This is God’s game, and we can play it to win.  He designed this massive, ultimate reality game for His avatars to always win.  Different levels, but same devil!  No new tricks in that liar’s game bag.  You have the new heart of a champion, an Olympians gold medal winning heart.  This is by God’s own doing.  Believe!  You are the right one.  He has chosen you.  You have heard His call, and you have said yes to that call in your voluntary submission by submersion in water for your sins to be forgiven and for His Spirit to indwell your mortal body as a guarantee of your present sonship and subsequent resurrection from the dead.

I challenge you, to prove God’s miracle of reverse petrifaction In your life by demonstration.  Think those new thoughts – over and over again – until they are second nature.  Do those new deeds, over and over, until they become new, positive habits.  Show what your are made of, and thus prove your faith and give glory to God.  He will assist and empower you all the way, and you will know by experience what kind of Spirit lives in you, what kind of man you really now are in Christ.  You will see the work of the Spirit and be further encouraged to walk even more diligently in the footsteps of Jesus.  Be transformed mentally, and let that help you move forward in every area of your life to glorify Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace in the coming New Year!