CHANGES

Things change. People change. Change is a part of life. There is a kind of change that is merely outward. The leaves fall, governments rise and collapse, fashions drift across the decades, and songs once sung by one generation become anthems for another. Humanity has always stood in the middle of upheaval, hearing the unsettling rhythm of transition.

David Bowie sang, “Turn and face the strange changes.” The line endured because it touched something universal. Deep within man is the realization that life never remains still. Yet the Bible tells us there is One who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). All around us the earth trembles with instability, but at the center of all things stands Christ, unshaken and eternal.

The tragedy is that many believers want resurrection without death and transformation without surrender. But God never alters a vessel merely by decoration. He changes by crucifixion and life. The Lord strips away confidences in the flesh so that what remains is entirely of Himself. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The old man resists this divine process. We cling to habits, ambitions, identities, and wounds because familiarity can feel safer than holiness. Yet the Spirit presses onward. God is not committed to preserving our self-life. He is committed to conforming us to His Son (Romans 8:29).

Even the disciples struggled with this principle. They wanted a kingdom of visible glory while Christ spoke continually of the cross. Peter rebuked the Lord for speaking of suffering, and immediately the Lord exposed the source of such thinking. Heaven moves through surrender before exaltation (Matthew 16:21-25).

We often imagine spiritual growth as accumulation when in truth it is frequently reduction. The branches are pruned “that they may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). There are chambers of the heart where Christ has not yet become Lord, and the Spirit patiently shines His light there. Sometimes the deepest changes come quietly, almost painfully, through years of hidden dealings known only to God.

The modern world celebrates reinvention, but Christ speaks of rebirth. Those are not the same thing. A man may alter his appearance, his politics, his social standing, even his vocabulary, while remaining untouched inwardly. But when the Spirit of God lays hold of a soul, there is an inward revolution.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The Lord changes not merely what we do but what we desire. He rearranges the inward architecture of the soul. Old appetites lose their mastery. Eternal things begin to outweigh temporary things. The believer starts to discover that the greatest liberty is not freedom to indulge self but freedom from self.

There is also a corporate aspect to these changes. Throughout the Word of God, God moves His people from one stage to another. Abraham leaves Ur. Israel leaves Egypt. The church leaves the upper room and moves into the nations. Again and again the Lord disrupts settled places because spiritual stagnation is death.

“Forget those things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3:13). Many of the Lord’s people live in yesterday’s experience while speaking nostalgically about former visitations of God. But the Spirit is always pressing toward fullness in Christ. The cloud moved in the wilderness, and Israel had to move with it (Exodus 40:36-38).

Perhaps that is why songs about change continue to resonate through the generations. Humanity senses that everything is shifting beneath its feet. The world changes. Bodies age. Nations fracture. Technology reshapes the way men think and speak. Yet beneath all these outward revolutions is a deeper spiritual question: what kind of person are we becoming? The issue is never merely change itself but whether Christ is being formed in us (Galatians 4:19). One change leads toward emptiness. Another leads toward glory. One is the restless instability of the world. The other is the slow and painful transformation of the Spirit.

And in the end, the greatest change of all awaits the people of God. “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Creation itself groans for that unveiling (Romans 8:22-23). Every lesser transformation points toward that final consummation when corruption puts on incorruption and mortality is swallowed up by life.

The Lord is moving His children steadily toward His eternal purpose. The process is often uncomfortable. Sometimes bewildering. Sometimes lonely. But none of it is wasted. God is after something deeper than temporary happiness. He is after Christ fully revealed in His people.

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Lord Jesus, carry us through every change that comes by Your hand. Deliver us from clinging to what You are trying to crucify. Teach us to welcome the inward work of Your Spirit even when it is painful. Form Christ within us more completely. Keep us from settling into spiritual stagnation, and move us onward into Your eternal purpose. When the world trembles with uncertainty, anchor us in the unchanging reality of Your life. Prepare us for that final glorious change when we shall see You as You are. Amen.

BDD