Tag Archives: 2 Corinthians 3:18

Metamorphoō

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I like this word. You may know the English form of it as metamorphosis and think of caterpillars becoming butterflies. Metamorphoō is a compound word formed from meta (G3326) and metaschematizo (G3345). Meta is translated as “with or among us” most of the time; metaschematizo means to “transform”. 

There are three forms of metamorphoō in the New Testament. Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2 use this word to describe Jesus’ change on the mountain when He speaks to Moses and Elijah. In Romans 12:2 it is used to describe our mind being changed to know the will of God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes our change as we look at ourselves and realize how we are looking and acting more like Jesus all the time.

The first time we see this type of change is in Moses when he received the stone tablets and went into the presence of God to talk with Him. This glorious change faded, and he had a veil to hide it from the people. (Exodus 34:29-35 and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18)  

Jesus was among us when He transformed on the mountaintop. This glory also faded, but I think He was still glowing when He was among the crowd and healed the boy. For sure the demon saw something.

Jesus was transformed again when He came out of the tomb as the true form of Himself. This God-Man (Christ Jesus) is who we are becoming as we change our thinking and acting to be the righteous people of God. I am thankful for the Father’s grace in this process, I could not do it without Him.

μεταμορφόω | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

G3339 – metamorphoō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) (blueletterbible.org)

The Bible and Science – Acceleration

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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 (NIV)

This may be a strange verse to start a devotion about acceleration. You can find words like quick, distance, faster, and many mentions of time(s) in the Bible but not acceleration.  Starting, stopping, changing direction, and falling is concepts that are found in many stories and verses in Scripture.  So, I started with Proverbs 25:2 because it is clearly something “kings” have searched out as a foundational base of the science of motion.

Acceleration covers speeding up, slowing down, falling, and changing directions while moving.  Another way to think about it is changing velocity over time.  Velocity is speed with a direction, that thought is better when you realize that when you have speed and are moving, you are going somewhere.  That is why you can have positive (going faster and faster) or negative (going slower) acceleration.  Not moving or not changing speed means no acceleration.  (“Science Minds” please bear with me as I will be “wandering” a bit.)

Since acceleration is not a Bible term I will give three verses that show aspects of that motion:

  1. Psalm 46:10 Be still and know God. If you are to “be still” it would make sense that you were moving. So, to stop in the Lord you are decelerating.  After you have spent time with Jesus and are ready to move you will accelerate
  2. 2 Corinthians 3:18 We are transformed with ever-increasing glory(NIV paraphrased) Glory to glory(KJV) Jesus meets you where you are in life, but He wants you to be increasing over the time you are His. This is an example of acceleration; gaining more of Him as you continue forward, in life, in the “Jesus life”.
  3. Deuteronomy 28:7 Come at you from one direction and leave in seven directions. As your enemies move at from one direction they will turn to flee from you.  That is an example of acceleration (changing directions). I can see them hitting angels that are shielding us and being turned aside. You could bring in several other laws of motion here but that may happen later.                                                              ∞ Jesus, help us to continue moving forward as we are spending time with You.