Being Transformed into His Likeness

II Corinthians 3:18, “We all…are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord…”

μεταμορφοὐμεθα—To transform, to change the inward reality to something else.

Do you think a caterpillar has any idea of what it will one day become?

I wonder what a caterpillar, if it had higher order thinking skills, would contemplate all day long?  What would fill its thoughts—the immediate surroundings of dirt and sticks…leaves and more leaves…predators and survival?  Does it have any idea that one day it will feel the loft of wind under its wings, dance among flowers, and astound people with its beauty?  Does it know that it will be transformed?

Would it make a difference?

Honestly, for the caterpillar, I don’t think it would.  I think a caterpillar’s hunger compels it to faithfully eat and eat until its time to form its chrysalis, regardless of any existential awareness. Its formidable appetite is an integral part of its inner transformation process.  Can you imagine what would happen if caterpillars demanded to know the end plan before they ate another bite? 

We’re quite different than caterpillars—in most ways.  We do think about our surroundings—the stacks of clothes to fold, bills to pay, obligations to meet, children to guide, marriages to nurture…along with the predators of illness, age, and violence.

But, like the caterpillar, perhaps God is also transforming us in the midst of our circumstances—to be more like Christ.  Perhaps our circumstances around us are exactly what we need for our transformation into His likeness.  Even the mundane, the fear-producing, and the overwhelming.

As God’s image bearers, we do think about the future and we want to know the bigger picture of God’s plan.  What’s the purpose of all our struggles?  Paul writes in II Corinthians 4:17, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  This is what Paul encourages the early Christians to focus their attention upon.  “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (verse 18).

Knowing how our future compares to our present puts our day-to-day troubles into perspective.  We can walk in the certainty that while we are daily being transformed into greater Christlikeness, we will also be eternally transformed.  One day we will no longer plod through a world of sin and conflict, but we will experience an eternal glory that far outweighs it all.

Perhaps caterpillars do know that they will transform into a beautiful butterfly and that’s why they eat with such fervency.  Maybe they know that living their caterpillar stage of development well contributes to their inner transformation.  

Do we know that we are being transformed?  Are we living this season of our lives well--with grace, compassion, faith, and kindness?

I wonder if butterflies cross our paths to remind us that God is in the transformation business—bringing beauty from the overlooked, building strength from our struggles, and weaving His glory into our present and our futures.  If God can change a caterpillar into a butterfly, how much more gloriously will He transform those who love Him?