1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Here is the great promise of God, to be made perfect. We shall be transformed into a state of being which cannot be corrupted any longer. Sin will not be present in our bodies nor in our presence. Sin will no longer hold sway over us.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

This verse speaks to our present condition but when we are removed from this world and transitioned into the next, sin is removed, we walk with Him and cleansing will no longer be required.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This is the promise we all look forward to receive. While it is our greatest promise, it is not our only promise and as such we should not ignore those promises in favor of this one last thing. The promises of God in us are not meant just for us. They are made to us to find the other captives and to set them free.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Years ago we had a house fire. I never liked the kitchen galley we had and took the opportunity to design a whole new open floor plan kitchen. We made all the decisions and we ended up with what we wanted.

That is not what happens in Romans 12:2 in the way of renewing of your mind. Yes it is a renovation but it is more like the television show Flip or Flop. The couple buy into the renovation but then leave and have nothing to do with the project. Everything is left in the hands of the contractors, the flippers.

The flippers discover and handle problems. They strip out the rotten and replace with healthy. They deal with everything that is a problem and bring the structure up to code. This is more than just throwing a fresh coat of paint but rather stripping everything down to the bones and making everything sound.

Once we have accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts the renovation process begins. We do not move out but the Holy Spirit goes about doing the same thing in our minds like the flippers. The first thing that has to happen is exposure of weaknesses, rotten attitudes and habits. These are foundational problems that prevent us from presenting our new image which is Christ in us.

In many ways I’d like to hang a sign around my neck at times which says “under new management, excuse the mess while we renovate”. While I have been pleased with what has been changed so far He is not through with my renovation.

Perfection coming soon.