Written by Joel Deacon - Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Wollongong

FORMATION - PART 1

WE ARE ALWAYS BECOMING SOMEONE

On the back of our laundry door we have the classic height chart for our kids. Every few months they stand against the wall, pencil on their head, and we draw the next line. And every time, I’m amazed and a little jealous at how quickly they grow. But there’s one thing that never changes… my line. My height stays exactly the same.

And when I see that unmoving mark, I can forget something important. Even though my height is not changing, I am.

For our whole lives we are never static. We are always becoming someone. We are always being formed. From the moment we are conceived to the moment we leave this world, we are changing. Yes, our appearance changes. But on a deeper level so do our habits, our desires, our character and our soul.

C. S. Lewis once wrote that “the doors of hell are locked from the inside.” In The Great Divorce he imagines hell as the place where people slowly shrink into the worst version of themselves because they continually refuse God’s grace. And in contrast, heaven is the place where people are transformed into the likeness of Christ, becoming more solid, more real and more alive forever.

FORMATION IS NEVER NEUTRAL

In Romans 12:2 (ESV) Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

In the Bible, formation is never neutral. Our hearts, habits, desires and imaginations are always being shaped by someone or something. Sin, lies, idolatry, Satan, our flesh and the patterns of this world are working to deform us. But the gospel, God’s Word, the Holy Spirit and the people of God exist to form us into the beautiful and perfect image of Jesus.

MISSION AND MATURITY GO TOGETHER

The good news of the gospel is this: God not only forgives us, he changes us. He forms us into the people we were created to be, the people we long to become.

In Matthew 28 Jesus commands the church to go and make disciples, to baptise and teach people to obey all that he commanded. The Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to help the church do exactly that. But before we can help form others, we must be formed ourselves. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, grow in maturity and become more like him.

"Although God will grant Christlikeness to us when Jesus returns, until then He intends for us to grow toward it. We aren’t merely to wait for holiness; we’re to pursue it.” - Donald S. Whitney

QUESITONS:
1. In what ways are you being formed right now? Where do you see the Spirit shaping you, and where do you see the world pulling you away from Jesus?

2. How has God changed and formed you in the past? What does that reveal about the kind of person he is making you into?

CHALLENGE:

Spend some time thinking about who you want to be in 20 years and how Jesus wants to change you.