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Transformed into His image
An artist in Florence, Italy, once asked the great Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo what he saw when he approached a huge block of marble.
“I see a beautiful form trapped inside,” he replied and it is simply my responsibility to take my mallet and chisel and chip away until the figure is set free.
Colossians 1:27 speaks of the hidden figure inside each believer, longing to be set free: “Christ in you, hope of glory.” This beautiful form is inside those who follow the Lord like a possibility, a potential. The seed has been planted, the idea is there, and God uses affliction like a hammer and a chisel, chipping and cutting to reveal His image in you. God chooses as His model His Son, Jesus Christ: “For whom He (God) foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).
What does this sculpture look like? God uses suffering to purge sin, strengthen our commitment to him, force us to depend on His grace, bind us together with other believers, produce discernment , foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, spend our time wisely, stretch our hope, make us long for truth, teach us thankfulness in times of sorrow, increase our faith, and strengthen character. It’s beautiful image!
When Christ is revealed in you, it is a unique sculpture. It is what patience, self control, kindness, and hatred of sin looks like on you. Your suffering is divinely hand-tailored to suit exactly what patience looks like on you. We are transformed into the image of Christ.”
” …are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord”(2 Corinthians 3:18).