Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (28 page)

These approaches are unable to deal effectively with the problem of a person’s iniquity and heart corruption, and they cannot transform a heart. Let’s further explore these themes by looking at three popular concepts of “self-realization” that can hinder our full surrender to God.

On the surface, the following concepts don’t appear to be negative ideas. Yet, we will see that when they are taken to their logical conclusions, they oppose God’s will because they empower the fallen ego and lead people to focus on self. Ultimately, therefore, they are substitutions for surrendering to God. In contrast, Christ commands us to “crucify” the “self” and the sinful nature, so that we will be able to genuinely love God and other people and serve others in His name.

1. “Know Yourself”

The first concept is “know yourself.” We often hear this idea in the media and from psychologists and counselors. Discovering who we truly are is, of course, a good thing; however, the idea here is generally to evaluate ourselves solely in relation to ourselves and other human beings. If we do this, we will always have a limited view of ourselves, and we will miss the essence of who we are. We must see ourselves in the light of our Creator and the way in which He has made us and desires for us to live. To know ourselves in merely a human sense gives us a temporal, earthly, fallen perspective of who we were meant to be. Moreover, it does not tell us all that we can
become
in Christ!

We are eternal beings. And, when we are born of God, we become His children and begin the process of being conformed to the image of His Son Jesus. We are transformed into the likeness of the One who is the most beautiful, holy, pure Person who ever lived. When we look at ourselves in Him, we know who we really are—and what God’s transformation process is making us into. Any other image than that is a distortion of true humanity as God intended it to be.

2. “Accept Yourself Just as You Are”

This idea encourages people to accept everything about themselves—good and bad—without feeling a need to change, so that they adopt the perspective that says, “This is just who I am.” But how can we accept the sinful nature, which is addicted to fleshly desires, lies, unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, strife, and many other evils? How can we accept “self” when it is full of conflicts, contradictions, guilt, fear, and egocentrism? To accept ourselves in such a state is unthinkable! If you were somehow to stand outside of yourself and then ask yourself if you could accept living under the conditions I just described, your answer would certainly be an emphatic no. Yet this is what people are being encouraged to do. The saddest part of this situation is that when they try to do this, many people find that they are unacceptable to themselves. Life becomes unbearable to them.

At first, we might think that a diet of “self” and ego tastes sweet and satisfying; but when we begin to digest our selfishness, our “stomach,” or inner life, becomes bitter! This is because we were created to surrender to God and to give of ourselves for the sake of others. We were not made to merely indulge our own desires and preferences.

Why do we become angry with other people? Often, it is because they have interfered with what our “self” wanted. Why do we lie? Because our “self” wants to maintain its position, security, and reputation, no matter what. Why do we participate in sexually immoral acts? Because we seek to please the appetites of the corrupt “self.” Why do we experience envy? Because someone else has received what our “self” wanted. The aforementioned negative attitudes and sins are merely the fruit of a “self” that refuses to surrender its control to God. Lack of surrender is the root of many sins; the sins themselves are external symptoms of the internal heart condition. When we deal only with the symptoms, we show that we are ignorant about the true culprit behind them.

Is it ever valid to “accept yourself”? Yes, when you have been born again and your heart is being transformed continually by the presence and power of God. For example, when someone surrenders his heart to Christ for the first time and receives salvation with the forgiveness of sins, he may say that he feels a peace he has never experienced before. There is peace within him because his spirit has been renewed in the image and likeness of Christ, and the process of dying to his sinful nature has begun. Only when we are being
“transformed…from glory to glory”
(2 Corinthians 3:18) can we be at peace with God and with ourselves.

In contrast, to tell people to accept their old egocentric, selfish nature is to ask them to deny the work of the cross and the grace of transformation that are available through God’s Holy Spirit. What would be the need for Jesus’ death and resurrection if we could solve all our problems by just accepting ourselves—sin and all—rather than by experiencing the new birth and the tran

3. “Express Yourself”

The third concept, “express yourself,” also places the ego at the center of life. Such an approach often feeds the sickness it is trying to cure, because many of the problems that human beings face are a consequence of expressing their own selfishness and egocentrism to others. The “self” imposes its needs (whether valid or invalid) on others, asserts its point of view, and demands various rights and benefits.

Moreover, when the views and needs of a person’s ego run counter to the sovereign will of the Creator, that individual will reveal his rebellion as he expresses himself.
“For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”
(Luke 6:45). We live in a society that generally accepts such practices as abortion, homosexuality, and cohabitation as rights related to “freedom of expression” and “diversity.” Yet, if someone expresses an opinion against these practices, he is often regarded by others as discriminatory. Because many people have enthroned the ego in their heart, they are not willing to tolerate anyone who points out that their behavior is against the will of God. They resist being led toward repentance and surrender to the Father. In fact, in many nations, it seems that the fallen human ego has obtained so much clout that laws have been instituted to defend it.

Surrender Leads to Deliverance

The major flaw in the foundation of the above three concepts is their claim that the answer to people’s problems—such as depression, emotional wounds, broken relationships, and generational curses—is found within the “self.” But the true solution to these issues is the transformation of the heart, which comes by surrendering ourselves fully to God.

The crucified self is a blessing. It is a means of deliverance that allows the “new man”—the redeemed and sanctified self—to fulfill the charge of Isaiah 60:1:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the
Lord
is risen upon you.”

When we continually surrender to God, He continually works
in us and through us.

Clayton is a Haitian student who was trapped in drugs, delinquency, and sexual immorality until he surrendered to an invitation to return to faith in God. The following is his testimony: “I come from a dysfunctional home, so I was raised by my grandmother until I was ten. She took me to church and taught me the fear of the Lord. However, when my parents brought me to live with them, my life completely changed for the worse. My father was a drug dealer, and I adopted his lifestyle. I had weapons, girlfriends, money, and fame as a motorcyclist—and my life was headed directly to perdition. I grew up with such a perverted mentality that I even led my friends to practice bestiality. The desire to have intimacy with horses consumed me, even when I was with my girlfriend.

“On a certain occasion, some drug dealers placed a price on my life and on my cousin’s life. We were really afraid. We were under so much stress that we would smoke a quarter pound of marijuana every night. I didn’t want to know who was going to kill me, so I would make every effort not to be aware of anything so I could stop thinking about it. I remember saying, ‘Christ or death!’ I used many different drugs, abused alcohol, and viewed pornography. I lacked purpose, and I didn’t have a way out. I was a waste of oxygen.

“When I turned eighteen, I didn’t want to live anymore, so I decided I would take my own life. One day, I came across a girl I knew who stopped and said, ‘Come with me. Let’s go to church.’ She had given me the same invitation many times, and I had always arrogantly refused. I don’t know why, but, that time, I stood up and followed her. And, that day, I exited my dark world and entered the light of God. As I crossed each street on the way to the church, I felt as if the weight of the world was being removed from my shoulders and was falling to the ground. I have never looked back.”

Denying oneself in obedience to God is a sign of surrender to Him.

Christ said,
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it”
(Matthew 16:24–25). Is this command hard to accomplish? It is—if we try to do it in our own strength, rather than allowing God’s supernatural grace to work in our heart so that we may fulfill it. Jesus’ admonition demands total surrender, requiring everything of us, but it is for our own well-being.

The issue is not really
whether
we will surrender ourselves but
to whom
we will surrender. The sinful nature demands our full surrender, too. It requires more than just our time, loyalty, trust, resources, or service; it demands that we surrender to it—spirit, soul, and body—in order to serve selfishness and egocentrism on a path in which we will be consumed by sin until we are ultimately destroyed.

The sinful nature demands that we surrender to it—spirit, soul, and body—in order to serve selfishness and egocentrism,
which will ultimately destroy us.

We will never enter into the fullness of God’s presence, with His anointing and power, unless our “self” surrenders. We will never experience higher dimensions of God’s glory until our ego dies. How much of God’s presence and glory do you want? The degree to which you are willing to die to “self” depends on the strength of your desire for more of God. The person who is truly dead to his ego doesn’t have self-centered desires, and he doesn’t fight with others over egocentric matters. Instead, while death to “self” is taking place in him, new dimensions of God’s glory are continually being revealed to him.

Blessings and Benefits of Surrendering Our Heart to God

Let us now review the major blessings and benefits of surrendering our heart to God.

1. The Heart Increasingly Becomes a Holy Dwelling Place for God’s Presence

Surrendering our heart to God allows the Holy Spirit to work His transformation in us. When we yield to God, we are changed into genuine people. Our heart becomes transparent, and we stop hiding from Him, which Adam and Eve did when they sinned and forfeited their communion with their Creator. (See Genesis 3:8.) The more we surrender to God and die to “self,” the more God will fill us with His presence, so that we become a holy dwelling place for Him. (See, for example, Ephesians 2:19–22.)

2. We Are Able to Know the Lord Better and to Manifest His Nature

Paul wrote,
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus…; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”
(Philippians 3:8–10). There is no way to know God intimately—no way to know His true person and nature—without surrendering our egocentric heart, which is full of selfishness and pride. Additionally, we will not be able to manifest God’s likeness—thereby experiencing and manifesting our own true nature—if we do not relinquish our self-centeredness.

Surrendering to God does not involve practicing religious rituals, physically punishing ourselves for sin, or trying to crucify the sinful nature in our own strength. It has to do with yielding our will and placing “self”—with all of its demands and rebellion—on the cross. We can live for God only by His supernatural grace, but we can’t fully do that until we “die” by grace, so that the life of Christ can rise in us as the “new man,” redeemed from sin and death.

The area in which you are struggling is the area that you have not surrendered to God. Surrender now!

3. We Receive a Greater Measure of God’s Power

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection”
(Philippians 3:10).
Christ’s resurrection, with all its power, occurred after He surrendered Himself to God, taking our sinful nature on Himself on the cross so that we could be liberated from sin and death. Similarly, a person who lives in full surrender to God, continually denying the “self,” will always carry within him a great measure of supernatural power. Most men and women who have walked in God’s power have learned to surrender to Him; they have understood that without spiritual sacrifice and
“the fellowship of
[Christ’s]
sufferings”
(Philippians 3:10), there can be no power. This principle was signified in Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and
He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him
.
(Matthew 3:13–16)