Our Metamorphosis Into God

OUR METAMORPHOSIS INTO GOD…By: DORA VAN ASSEN.



“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1;23. “Having been regenerated (begotten again) not from corruptible, but from incorruptible Seed through the living and indwelling Word of God.” Diaglott 1 Peter 1;23.


For you have a new life. It was not passed unto you from your parents, for the life they gave you will fade away. This new one will live forever, for it comes from Christ, God’s ever-living message to men. Yes, our natural life will fade as does the grass when it becomes all brown and dry. All our greatness is like a flower that droops and falls; but the Word of the Lord will last forever, and His massage is the GOOD NEWS that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1;23-25..The Living Bible.


I cannot say it any plainer than this: “In Adam all are dying.” 1 Cor.15; 22. LCNT. All Adam can do is bring forth death. Death is in his seed. It is corruptible seed having no eternal life. Death is in a baby at conception. David said: “In sin did my mother conceive me.” He was not slurring or degrading his mother; he was explaining the imperfection of the male SPERM and the female OVUM—both contain sin and death. All of us were born into this natural death realm in our own order. There is only one way out! “In Christ ALL are being made alive.” 1 Cor.15;22.


This is also a process, each in their own order. He same “ALL” that are dying is the same “ALL” that are being made alive in Christ. This is a gift of God which no man can earn. No man can sacrifice for it—or even believe for it. Faith is a gift of God! Eternal life is a gift of God! It is a quality of life that only Christ obtained through His death and resurrection. Eternal means age lasting or life for the ages. “He is the Lord eternal, invisible, immortal, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever & ever—the ages of ages, Amen.” 1 Tim.1; 17. LCNT.


“The Rock of Ages” a song we all love! Praise God, He is our ROCK! A rock is a natural thing and lasts only for a time. It is one of the most enduring things we know about our environment here on earth. We read of the “everlasting hills” and every one will be leveled and made smooth. These are all metaphors meaning strength and endurance. Christ is our strength, giving us inner strength and power to endure. We can depend on him in this natural life. He will never leave or forsake us in our time of need in this Old creation dying body. He is the incorruptible, immortal, deathless seed within us by which we are being born again into the New Creation Man.


THE TWO SEEDS

It all depends on the TWO SEEDS! 
1…In Adam all are dying because the seed is corrupt-mortal-dying. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul, which can die. Only Christ has immortality. 1 Tim.6;16.


2…The Last Adam (Christ Jesus) was made a life giving Spirit, which cannot die. Death has no more dominion over him. He arose an Immortal deathless SEED, able to reproduce himself in his creation millions upon millions of times. One in-Christed creation expressing the Father. Heb.1;3.3…It was all finished at the cross when he cried, “FINISHED!” He proved it when he rose triumphantly out from this whole realm of death into the glory of his Father. He ratified it when he returned as Lord & Christ to enter into his Spiritual Kingdom within the heart and mind of men as the Holy Spirit, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” 


The Holy Spirit and Christ are synonymous terms. They are ONE! “Christ is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” How does Jesus, the Christ enlighten every man that cometh into the world? He does it in and through you and me. And the spirit of man, is the candle of the Lord, and David said, “For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” Ps. 18,28.


While here in his earthly ministry, Jesus was the Light of the World. When his work was finished, he said, “ye are the light of the world.” We, the Body of Christ are the expression of God in creation today. We bring into visible manifestation all the work of God accomplished in and through his Son Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.


At the cross, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.” 11 Cor.5;19. How did he do this? In the death of Jesus, who was (the Word made flesh, the anointed Christ) God reached back in time to the first man Adam who had not only brought death into this realm, but had died, himself returning to dust, with all who died in him. This included those that were yet in the dying stage at that time; and then God reached forward in time to those in the invisible realm who were not yet born into this dying realm into which we are living now. “If one died for all, then were all dead: and he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” He died and rose again for all. We that have been made aware of this fact should be living for him. But this does not exclude the ones who have not been awakened to this truth.


They are included in his death and resurrection. He died for all and he arose for all. All will be awakened to this truth in their own time and season. “All shall know him, from the least to the greatest.” It was finished in his death and resurrection. The Body of Christ in the earth today is the visible expression of God’s love and mercy extended to all men. “God is so loving the world that he is still giving His Son to the world.” John 3,16. LCN. This is ongoing love! It never fails or lapses! It’s not on or off! It is a steady stream of light and love unto all. The sons united in the Body of Christ as one corporate man, are the Light of the world.


Christ in us is Life & Light unto the world. This is the true light awakening every man to what is already lying dormant in him from birth. We cannot give life, but we can give information and confirmation to the Christ already given to them in the spirit before they were born—a pre-birth Wisdom above and beyond intelligence. Christ speaking to Christ—Spirit witnessing to Spirit. While we are ministering Christ, letting our light shine into the world around us, a gradual change is taking place within us, by consuming the dead works caused by our carnal mind. “The carnal mind is death.” It can only think dead thoughts which bring forth dead works. These thoughts are consumed and exchanged into the Mind of Christ.


“How much more shall the blood (life) of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9;14 It was done in his death, now it is being made real in us as our conscience is awakened to his presence. The old mind is removed and the “mind of Christ” lays hold of these truths. Paul said; “Ye have the mind of Christ.” And exchange of mind takes place. This is true repentance—METANOIA in the Greek, means a repentance that cannot be repented of. We can never turn around and go back to the old ways of thinking. Repentance is a gift of God. (Acts 5;31 & 11;18) A man cannot change his ways by himself. It takes the Spirit of Christ within him to change his mind. There is a power working in man above what he can ask or think. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (metamorphosed) into the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord. 11 Cor. 3; 18.


According to the dictionary, metamorphosis means—a change in form, structure and function. Especially in the physical change undergone by some animals, as the tadpole into a frog—any change in character, appearance and condition. Because scientists use this word about insects and animals taking different forms in their metamorphosis, Christians have become afraid to use it; though surely we are having a change in our mind that is “metamorphosing” our vocabulary and character, even our appearance, as we are being born again by the Incorruptible Seed of Christ into a totally new creation, completely severed and different from the Old Creation. Once I believed that since we were born of the Seed of Jesus, that God was bringing forth a bunch of LITTLE JESUS MEN.

Now I know that in his resurrection Jesus made a change or was made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2;36) and is now living in me and in you. “Christ in you the hope of glory---Christ is our Life---And our life is hid with Christ in God---when he appears we appear with him in glory. Col.3; 3-4. We are now the Body of Christ, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He is changing this body from glory to glory into his very image. Just what that glory is I do not know, as “God gives everyone a body as it pleases Him.” 1 Cor.15: 37-38. “It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is!” 1 John 3, 1-3. Not as he was, Jesus of Nazareth, but The Christ, The Lord of Glory!


THE METAMORPHOSIS IN NATURE


The cycle of sowing and reaping is broken in Christ. Jesus was made both Lord and Christ. He was made perfect! He was made a priest after the order of Melchizedek. In order to do this the law had to be changed, also the priesthood was changed. Heb.7,11-22. We have many examples of this in nature. One illustration of this, known to most of us, is the metamorphosis of the tadpole into a frog. The tadpole comes from the egg. The frog comes from the tadpole. The tadpole is entirely different from the egg. The frog is entirely different from both the tadpole and the egg; though the cells forming the frog were lying dormant in the egg and also in the tadpole, until the time for its own metamorphosis into a frog. God has chosen this cycle of development in the perpetuation of certain of his creation. It is different with mankind. As I have said before, because Jesus may have been the seed, it does not follow that another Jesus is to be brought forth. For God will give that seed the body it pleases him to give it. 1 Cor.15,38.


It will not be the same old cycle, but it becomes a process through which we are brought to perfection. We have been created for this process of development—a formative process into a final perfection: being changed from glory to glory into his very image. When God said he would make man into his image and likeness, he did not mean according to one mold, all alike. The image and likeness of God encompasses a variety above the comprehension of man; and yet mankind will be in that VARIETY, thus able to manifest God.


METAMORPHOSIS OF A MOTH


We want to take the metamorphosis of a moth as an illustration of our own metamorphosis into God. There are 4 stages in a complete metamorphosis: 1…The moth lays the egg. 2…The egg becomes the caterpillar. 3…The caterpillar becomes the chrysalis. 4…The chrysalis becomes the moth. This completes the cycle, to be gone through over and over, in order to perpetuate the moth. This is not so with mankind! It is not a series of different lives lived at different times as in re-incarnation. Our lives come out from God, and we are all going through a process of development to bring us into perfection. I see that we have come through various eons for our growth and development. We read in Heb.2;14, because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, Jesus likewise took part of the same. In other words, it was our lot to pass through this life of flesh and for that reason Jesus also took part of it.


If we became partakers of flesh, then we must have been children before we became partakers of this life of flesh. This is not re-incarnation! It is the passing of one stage of development into another or a metamorphosis. In the illustration of the moth, I can see that we are now in such a process. We may take natural things to illustrate spiritual truths. Jesus did in his parables! In fact, we are instructed to do this in Romans 1,20. Let us not be afraid to accept the truth that scientists are bringing to light; things that are in harmony with the scriptures. A FORMATIVE PROCESS! “God FORMED man of dust!” Gen.2,7. A process that still goes on to perfection. In our illustration, the egg—is the first stage of development. It is fertilized, and the cells begin to grow. A strange event takes place!


A definite spot is formed in the egg from which the legs and wings of the moth shall grow called: The THORAX. From this spot a wave of determinism spreads out and directs certain cells into their specific roles to be performed in the future life of the larva or second stage of development. Soon there is a second wave that assigns other cells to their roles in the third and fourth stages. Remember, all this takes place while it is just an EGG. There are two clusters of cells. The first cluster controls the growth and development of the caterpillar. The second group which was formed is held in a dormant form and will have no effect or will do no work until the moth is formed in the body of the caterpillar. At this point the embryo appears to be only a ball of cells.


Yet in it the plan for development of two different life forms is laid out. The organism of the caterpillar and the moth in one tiny egg, yet separated, never interfering with each other, doing their own work at their appointed time. The first set of cells, controlling the caterpillar, act quickly, causing the caterpillar to emerge from the egg. This caterpillar grows and molts a number of times. It grows by its cells enlarging. It keeps the same number of cells. It has but one mission in life and that is to eat. It spends its whole life eating, for there is a time when the moth appears, when it does not eat. Here is one likeness to our own development. Some of us certainly like to eat everything God sends our way, so we “may know him and the power of his resurrection that we may grow thereby. Jesus said it was the time for our eating and drinking, for a time will come when we shall eat no more. For the water will have become a well of living water SPRINGING UP WITHIN US. We will be giving out to others, having become ONE with the SOURCE. Just before the moth begins to form in the caterpillar, all its inward parts turn to liquid. Haven’t we felt like our inward parts are being melted as we wait in his presence? Knowing the type of the caterpillar is true, we can rest assured that the time of our change is near. “Praise God!” Our redemption is drawing nigh!

At the proper time, certain glands in the head of the caterpillar tells it that it is time to die, and the caterpillar begins to die. Yet at the same time, messages are given to the moth that it is time to grow. Each set of cells begin to do their appointed work. The adult cells of the moth begin to grow and they use the dead cells of the caterpillar for their growth. The caterpillar loses all its legs, and in their place is only the long legs of the moth growing out from the thorax or middle part of the body. When all its members are complete, it is time to emerge from the chrysalis. It takes about 20 minutes for its wings to dry; and about 2 hours for them to develop into their full use. It is now a moth. The metamorphosis is complete. The moth has returned to its original state.


METAMORPHOSIS—OUR RETURN INTO GOD


“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things.” Romans 11,36. Source, Guide and Goal of all this is—to Him be glory for ever, Amen! Rom.11,36: New English Bible.


In this scripture we can readily see that God is the source of all things. All things are OUT OF GOD himself. Before the creation there was nothing—no-thing, only invisible spirit. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were (made) formed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” In other words, everything we see was once spirit—in the spirit mind of God. Just a thought before it was spoken into expression. Not only is God the Source but also the Guide of all things. God is controlling and directing all into his desired Goal, which is himself. All was breathed out of him; and all is being inhaled back into him! In his time and order! 1 Cor.15, 22-23. “As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” 1 Cor.15;49. “As we have worn the likeness of man of dust, so we shall wear the likeness of the heavenly man.” 1 Cor.15, 49. N.E.B. This is a guarantee that all who have worn Adam’s likeness (body) of dust shall also wear the likeness (body) of the second Adam, Christ.


In other words, the very fact that we are clothed in fleshly dust bodies is the guarantee that we shall be changed into his very image—a Heavenly Light Body! Only those who are mortal shall put on immortality. Death is swallowed up of life. 11 Cor.5;4. 1 Cor.15;54. Therefore we are not discouraged! Though the outward man is decaying, yet day by day our INNER MAN is being renewed; while looking at the things that are not seen, for we know the things we can see are passing away. This outward body that we can see is not eternal, it is dying. It is the INNER MAN, the one we cannot see that is eternal, being the very seed of God and cannot die. It is the gift of God given to all creation.


“For we know that if the tent of our earthly dwelling be taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, aionian in the heavens (our inner Christ-mind realm). 11 Cor.5,1. This is assured to all, we already have it, though many are unaware of it! They have never been awakened to this fact. Just living in their carnal mind which is death. This is the true definition of death. Jesus said: “Let the dead bury the dead”. The pall bearers at this funeral Jesus was referring to, were as dead as the man lying in the casket which they were carrying to the grave. Lack of understanding or ignorance of the spiritual things of God is death. “Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Eph.5;14.