The Transformative Power of Easter

This month’s newsletter will be a bit different. I’d like to share a few brief thoughts on one connection between Easter and our moral and spiritual transformation in Christ. Hopefully you’ll be encouraged by it!

As we go through Holy Week, reflecting on the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday, and then celebrating his resurrection on Easter Sunday, I’m reminded of an important connection between Christ’s resurrection and our transformation.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Romans 12:1-2 (NIV):

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Several years ago - as I write I realize it was actually 1991 - I discovered that the word translated as “be transformed by” is used in another place in Scripture, Matthew 17:1-2 (NIV):

Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

The word translated as “transfigured” here is the same word translated as “transformed” in Romans. This is a striking parallel! The degree of change in the appearance of Jesus when he was transfigured before some of his disciples is the same degree of change, in some sense, that is available to us as we follow him on the Way! Our greed can be transformed into generosity, our selfishness into self-sacrifice, our despair into hope, our bitterness into forgiveness, our pride into humility, our self-reliance into faith, and even our hatred can be transformed into love.

How can this be?

The answer has to do with Easter, with the resurrection, as we see in Ephesians 1:18-20 (NIV):

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

The power available to those who have faith in Christ to be changed is the same power that was at work in raising Jesus from the dead. The power of the transfiguration and the power of the resurrection is the power available to us for our own transformation in Christ. This is good news. Very good news. We can be changed, in deep, wide-ranging, and lasting ways. And we can then work for change in our world, as we partner with God in bringing about the redemption of all things.

Why don’t we see the effects of this transformative power in our lives, and in the lives of other Christians, more than we do? A good question, and one that I’ll address here in the coming months. For now, enjoy celebrating our risen King this Sunday. I hope your time of worship, community, and celebration is rich and life-giving!