Message summary: Christ continues to transform lives today and He is either transforming yours or waiting for you to call on His Name to do the transforming. We urge you to do so today!

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"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Yesterday afternoon following a chaplain visit we walked through the beautiful Hershey Gardens in Hershey Pennsylvania. Our tickets were a gift from friends at our 50th anniversary party we celebrated on May 30th.

According to the website: "Hershey Gardens opened in 1937 with Milton Hershey’s request to 'create a nice garden of roses.' More than 75 years later, the small rose garden has blossomed into 23 acres of botanical beauty providing visitors with unique experiences and enriching opportunities."

A popular feature of Hershey Gardens is the Butterfly Atrium. We enjoyed walking through the tropical-like room and seeing the wide variety of our favorite insect. However I didn't stay long due to the heat and humidity but Brooksyne lingered longer for photos, hoping to photograph the beautiful luminescent blue butterfly. But she was unable to do so since its wings were flapping so rapidly a clear still shot was impossible. You'd think these insects would get tired of flapping their wings like we get tired of moving our legs after a long walk.

The visit prompted a consideration of butterflies. Today we will have a Bible lesson based on Lepidopterology (thus the title of our message). "Lepidopterology" is the scientific study of butterflies and moths, focusing on their biology, behavior, ecology, and conservation. That's a word you probably won't be using every day!

I wondered if the Bible has anything to say about butterflies so I checked it out using the nifty concordance found on Bible Gateway. It doesn't use the word in any standard Bible translation.

But a word often associated with the butterfly is used. In fact it was one of the first really big words I recall learning in grade school; "metamorphosis". As most of you know that is the scientific word describing the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

The butterfly larvae feed for about two weeks developing into worm like caterpillars about 2 inches long. Next it will transform into a pupa (or chrysalis) and in about two weeks complete the transformation into a colorful butterfly. We were surprised to learn that most butterfly species live only one to two weeks.

Metamorphosis is actually a Greek word and Greek is the language used in the original New Testament. It is used in Romans 12:2 which is translated in English as "be transformed".

"Be transformed" (from metá = denotes change of place or condition + morphoo = to form from morphe = form, shape referring to the essential form of a thing.) It has the basic meaning of changing into another form and is the term from which we get metamorphosis, which in biology denotes the amazing change of a lowly worm into a beautiful butterfly. So the change in view here is not a superficial fluctuation of fashion or conduct but a vital change revealing a new life.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read of the process of "being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory".

The Apostle Paul describes the wonderful transformation that Christ brings, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). When a person turns to Christ a wonderful transformation takes place.

In one sense it's instantaneous. In another sense it's a life-long process. And the tremendous blessing is that our spiritual transformation prepares us for eternity in heaven. How good it is that our metamorphosis brings about more than just a temporal behavioral change and mindset; it also provides us with an eternal nature.

"Transformed" is present tense signifying that this is not a one-time event, not a single crisis experience, but a transformation that is progressively realized, a gradual process.

Romans 12:2 instructs, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".

We read this in a commentary:
    * God said: Let us form man in our image.
    * The devil says: I will deform man by sin.
    * The world says: We must conform man in our image.
    * Education says: Let us inform man by knowledge.
    * Society says: We will reform man by culture.
    * But only Christ says: I will transform man by grace.

Christ continues to transform lives today and He is either transforming yours or waiting for you to call on His Name to do the transforming. We urge you do so today!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber