“The Portrait Of Changed Lives” (Part Three)

This week, we are looking at 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10, and seeing what it looks like when lives are transformed by Christ.  Monday we considered the source of that transformation—the gospel.  Yesterday we see how the people at Thessalonica responded to it. Today we see…

The Testimony of Transformation (vv.9-10)

• (9) For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, (10) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

The life-changing transformation that came from imitating Christ had some very noticeable effects, and those things became the testimony of the Thessalonian congregation!

• They turned to God- Well, this is always the first step. For the prodigal son and Nebuchadnezzar, it was when he lifted up his eyes. For Saul of Tarsus, it was when he cried, “Lord.”
• They turned from idols- an idol is anything that demands our allegiance, and they turned from all of them. It comes from the word eidon, that which is seen because idols were visible (Psalm 115), but God is invisible (Col.1:15)! It was for this cause that Jesus came, to show us the invisible God so that we would not be captured by some many idols.
• They served the Lord- “serve” is the verb form of doulos, meaning they served like bondslaves—people bought off the slave market for a price! And they served because they understood the surpassing value of what was spent for them—the precious blood of Christ. As we serve Him, we serve a God that is living and true, not idols that are dead and false.
• They awaited His return- they were waiting expectantly. What that means is that they believed Jesus meant it in John 14 when he said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself!” They believed it to the point where it changed their worldview to one of expectancy instead of resignation.

Notice how this compares to what we saw yesterday:

Work of faith = turned to God from idols!

Labor of love = served the Lord!

Patience of hope = waited for the Son!

Their lives had been changed to such a degree that it was noticeable! There was tangible evidence to support their claim of a changed life… talk about an extreme makeover!

A changed life! What does it look like?

Imitator of God

Receptive to the Word

Example of living faith

Proclaimer of truth

Servant of the Lord

How do we measure up to the transformation seen in the Thessalonian church? How much impact has knowing Christ made in your life? Put another way, how saved are you?

• Fire escape?
• Superficial attachment?
• Burning desire to live for the King?

Transformation means radical change on the inside that affects your outside. That is why it is the measure of a transformed life, not just a changed one!