Invitation
The Gospel is an invitation. It is a royal proclamation of what God accomplished for the world. Within that proclamation is an invitation to believe this Good News. Until we accept that invitation, we can’t even see the Kingdom.
Exchange
After accepting that invitation, our citizenship papers are rewritten. We now have legal rights and a view to see that citizenship fulfilled (John 3:3). We have not undergone an upgrade, but our eyes become open to an exchange—his life for ours, making us a new creation.
Transformation
Transformation is the ongoing process of entering the Kingdom (John 3:5). The same faith and the same power that allowed us to recognize and accept the invitation for the exchange, enables us to be transformed. The more mature we become in the Kingdom, more becomes accessible to us.
Transformation happens within the midst of life’s circumstances and life's circumstances make way for the process to continue, over and over again—producing an overflow that invites others into the process.
The Process
Life isn't always quite that simple. In fact, sometimes these processes overlap in such a way that it's difficult to discern one from the other. What's important is that we continue to accept each invitation, recognize each exchange, and allow the life it produces to change us and the world around us.
His life in us is the hope of glory (Col 1:27). Glory is when the atmosphere around him affects the atmosphere around us.
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