During one of the research team’s discussions regarding the Transformation sermon we heard recently the issue of the power of God verses our free will came up. We discussed that God is all-powerful but that God in His infinite wisdom gave us free will. God has limited his actions based on our choices. He has the power but he won’t change us against our will, we are not God’s automatons. However, the conclusion regarding God’s power is such that if we repent, choose to follow God and turn our lives over to him, he is so powerful that no matter what we have done, no matter who we have been he will transform us into godly people.
The problem, people don’t believe people change, evil will always remain evil. Our belief in God’s power is obliterated by our oft experienced disappointment in “that person” who said they changed only to slip back into their sins. Our belief is weak in this area. We hear it so often, “People never change.” We come to believe in the power of that mantra instead of the power of God. “That person” will never change.
We have to look at ourselves. We have to ask ourselves, will we change and believe that God’s power can in fact change “that person”. “That person” may have been wallowing in sin, “that person” may have done some horrible things, but God can change them if they turn their lives over to him. God’s power is in fact omnipotent, all-powerful over all things.
The solution, God can change us so that we can believe “that person” has really changed if we but believe. As one person mentioned during our research team discussion, we need to repent of our unbelief and ask God to change us, that we can believe God can change even “that person”. The problem is us, not “that person”. The problem that God wants to address is our own unbelief in his power, his love, his desire to bring everyone, even “that person”, to him.
“…that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” -John 3:15-17
Challenge: Who is “that person” in your life? Have you given up on God’s power to do even the impossible? Ask God to help you overcome your unbelief to believe in his power to change even the unchangeable.
This is a behind the scenes look at the research team. We discuss the up coming sermons, try to provide the pastors resources and answers to questions they may have and of course, write these devotionals. Sound like your thing? We can always use more people who love God, the Bible, and want to study them more.
