Tag: butterfly

  • The Butterfly Bush and New Creation

    While walking along the banks of the Vedder River on Saturday, we came across large patches of these pretty flowers. They reminded me of lilacs although I knew they weren’t. A quick search showed they were butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), sometimes called summer lilac.

    They originated in China or Japan, were introduced into BC gardens, where they promptly decided they loved the climate and areas around riverbanks. They are now considered an invasive species.

    The butterfly bush blooms through most of the summer, and the long flower stems produce abundant nectar. That makes it very attractive to butterflies and bees.

    Of course, learning the name made us think of butterflies. I didn’t notice any while we were walking, but still they were on my mind. Butterflies are fascinating creatures. They start as fuzzy little caterpillars, pupate in a cocoon and emerge as beautiful, winged insects. They are delightful to watch and gardeners go to great lengths to attract them.

    That transformation made me think of our metamorphosis as Christians.

    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

    Believers have heard it so often that it has become passe. I think we’ve lost the wonder in what Paul is telling us.

    We are freed from the clutches of death to spend forevermore with Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and seal us as belonging to God.

    The Lord (who knew us before we existed) continues to work in us to shape us into the image of Christ. He gifts us with faith and spiritual gifts so that our lives have purpose and bear fruit.

    It’s amazing stuff. A caterpillar becoming a butterfly is amazing. A sinner saved is so marvelous that the heavens rejoice.

    Rejoice in His great love for us.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I found butterfly bush blooming along the Vedder River this week. It got me thinking about how becoming a new creation in Christ is its own kind of transformation.

    TAKEAWAY

    If you’re in Christ, you are already a new creation, not a work in progress waiting to become one.

    You’re no longer enslaved to sin. The freedom Paul describes here is meant to feel as decisive as a caterpillar’s change into a butterfly.

    The Holy Spirit lives in you as proof you belong to God, an identity that doesn’t depend on your own effort.

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  • Profound Change: The Journey to New Creation

    Profound change along the journey

    A caterpillar entering its cocoon stage undergoes a profound change. It has no idea that it will emerge as a butterfly or a moth. Something similar happens to us at two points in our lives. 

    When we are born again, we are a new creation, and we have been justified – that is, all our sin is paid for. Through this life, we are increasingly made more like Jesus. That’s the process of being sanctified – set apart and being made holy.

    When we die or Jesus takes us home, we are freed to be everything He created us to be, that is, glorified. Made ready to dwell forevermore in a fully perfect and holy realm with a perfectly holy and loving God. That’s a period of profound change.

    Because of the stain of original sin, every human born (except Jesus) is a sinner by both our very nature and our actions. We are unable to change nature or to do enough good works to cleanse our own record.

    That’s why we need a savior. Believers understand that truth.

    We often struggle in our faith walk because we fail to understand that process. Being born again with a clean slate doesn’t mean we are sinless, perfect people. We struggle against our flesh and the enemy.

    That’s why Paul could cry out 

    I find then the principle that in me evil is present, in me who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?  Romans 7:21-14

    He understood our struggles well. We fail to do what we ought and default to what we shouldn’t. We grow frustrated. Fortunately, the Lord knows and has given us the Spirit and His Word to work with and in us. 

    He has given us the Body of the church to practice our skills of being Christlike and to grow in spiritual fruit.

    The Lord has not abandoned us in the battle.

    Paul understood where the victory lay. It sounds almost cliché, but the victory truly is in Jesus, and the battle does belong to the Lord.

    Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:15

    There is uncertainty in the ending of life as we know it, and perhaps unpleasantry in the time leading up to it. But, never forget that for the believer it is followed by something much better than we can even imagine, for longer than we can comprehend.

    It will be a profound change for the better.

    Don’t despair that you’ve not reached the state of perfect Christ likeness yet. Don’t give up because you have stumbled.  Remember that He is in control and He will guide you and make you everything you were ever designed to be.

    That’s a change to look forward to.

    Kevin 

    Check thes posts

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    SUMMARY

    Even in our struggles, God is transforming believers into what He designed us to become. The process may feel uncertain now, but for those in Christ, it ends in glory.

    TAKEAWAY

    • Justification makes us forgiven in Christ.
    • Sanctification shapes us through the struggles of this life.
    • Glorification will finally free believers from sin forever.