Remodeling

The Lovely Joanne and I have been working on the house again. This time it's the bathroom floor. There was a growing smell in the room, coming from moisture under the linoleum along the edge of the tub where things had become a bit grotty (that's English slang for "dirty, moldy, generally yucky"). I pulled out the linoleum, hoping just to replace it, but the more we looked, the more we found that needed fixing -- a classic "mushroom" project.

Remodeling usually goes like that. You may think it's a minor project, but you still have to explore what's rotten or weakened or broken, figure out what needs replacing and decide on new materials. That's all before you can even begin making the room a different shape or choosing new fixtures. And sometimes, you have to tear out everything and start all over.

Have you ever considered that this is what God is doing with us? In technical terms, we are 'reborn' or 'regenerated' when we come to see Jesus as our Savior, and surrender our lives to him. We are, in spiritual terms, a new creature, as 2 Cor 5:17 says: "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" But this isn't a fresh coat of paint -- there's a lot more work involved.

The ongoing process of remodeling continues for the rest of our lives. We will have times of testing. Romans 5:3 says "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance." We will have times that we're concerned we may not come out alive, as Paul describes in 2 Cor. 1:8: "We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it." (He gives more detail of his personal trials on behalf of the gospel in 2 Cor 6:3-10.) But during that process, we also have solid building materials put into us -- for instance, the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). And we are 'built on Christ' as Col 2:7 says: Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

That's the process of living in Christ. As God's Spirit continues to remodel our thinking, our emotions and our habits, the old smell goes away and the 'fragrance of the knowledge of Christ' grows (2 Cor 2:14). In the end, when we meet God, all the old, fleshly stuff will be swept away for good, and 'our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies' as 1 Cor 15:53 says. Then the physical remodel will be complete, but the rest of eternity will be spent learning to know and love Father, Son and Holy Spirit more and more deeply.

Thanks to God, for his incalculable wisdom and grace in renewing us in the image of Christ!