God's Transformations

1Corinthians 1:27-29 - But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

This is how God works! We think we are so smart, so creative, so wise...but none can compare to the omniscient God, a God who knows everything. So often He gets hold of the lowest of persons, takes hold of their hearts and transforms them into what He originally made them to be.
There's a song the lyrics from which say:

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

This is what our amazing God does. I love the fact that He takes the weak and base things of the world. And we all fit into these two categories. In our own selves we are both weak and base in His eyes. We start out as that sinner, condemned and unclean in His eyes. Before you get your undies in a bundle, listen to these words: ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... [and] God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8)

I was surprised the other day when a friend made mention of the fact that Milwaukee's own claim to horrific shame, Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and ate parts of his victims, became a Christian in prison. We may look at ourselves and consider this man to have been a lot baser than we are, but let me tell you, in God's eyes sin is a sin. I asked how she know this for certain. She'd heard or read about it: And so God forgave even the basest of men. 

Jesus will do that. We cannot say one person deserves eternal life while others do not. Is it  fair that this man should receive forgiveness while another who lives an exemplar life but has never received the Lord as his Savior or one who has dedicated their life to serving God but still has not given their life to Christ as it is stated in the Bible? Yes. Again, before you get all riled up, God is the ultimate judge. 1Corinthians 4:5, Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart... 

Another example is Chuck Colson. Imprisoned for his part in the Watergate scandal, he received Christ and so boldly had his life turned around. He now developed Prison Fellowship ministry where Christ is shown to the inmates. God is incredible. We sometimes have to be at our lowest to be raised up in the eyes of God. It's ours for the taking. If we say we have no need of Him, we only fool ourselves. 

Why does God do this? To show others the power of God. To bring His glory in the circumstances. To show that something as amazing as the transformation of one's life could only happen through God's love, forgiveness and power. If we don't believe God can do what He says He can do, we show our ignorance...our foolishness, in God's eyes.

Jesus took fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes and transformed them. He passed on the religious leaders because they thought they had all the answers and could not get beyond their religious attitudes and laws. Sometimes I think that's part of our problem, thinking we know better. He wanted lesser people so those around him would see the difference in their lives. God is a God of second chances. He wants to see all transformed. We should be thankful for that.

This might be offensive to some but it's the way He separates the wheat from the tares. Many of Jesus' words were hard. It's why there will be only a remnant of followers in the last days. It's why He tells us His way is narrow. There will be many not able to hear this hard message. So many who will continue in their foolishness, as the Word tells us. A hard word? Yes. Who can understand it? Those with faith and who believe God is who He says He is. Even Jesus' disciples had a hard time understanding all He said:

John 6:60 - "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"