Today during my time with Jesus I was reminded of how small we sometimes think of salvation and it was connected to these house flipping shows. I was reading 1 John 3:2-3 and was struck by what John writes. He says, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." John is revealing the greater elements of salvation in Jesus. Salvation is more than a rescue of the soul, it is the complete and total renovation of the person. Just like the house flipping shows, Jesus is interested in changing the entirety of being. Think about the process of the house flipper and how it relates to salvation.
Buy
The first step is to actually purchase the property/house. In all its messiness, roughness, and despair, the flipper buys the house. Sometimes they may have to go to great lengths to get it. What drives them to buy the property? Well, you could argue the return value of money. But, think about even more of what drives them. They see the house for what it really is...or could be. Jesus did the same for us. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus bought our lives from sin and death. Galatians 3:13a states, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,". Redeemed means to buy back. He laid His entire life down to buy us back from the curse of sin. He saw us in all our messiness, roughness, and despair and saw us for what we could be in Him! Our belief in who Jesus is as God and what He did on our behalf is the first step in salvation. Sometimes though we leave it there.
Renovate
What good does the un-renovated house do for the flipper? Nothing. It needs restoration. Plus, what satisfaction does the flipper really get out of not renovating the home? None. Jesus is not satisfied leaving us where He finds us. Because He sees the potential of what we can become in Him, He begins the work. He finds things that need to be removed, some things that need a new touch, and brings new items into the life of the believer to make the restoration complete. What's interesting about the flipper shows is that each one has a "signature" or "fingerprint" of who they are on the house. Jesus does more than just leave a "signature". According to John in the primary verse, we actually become like Him! We don't entirely know what that looks like, but we know its a promise to all believers. Paul says,"I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."(Phil. 1:6) Jesus will never quite on the renovation process of us. The process is more than just our hearts or little parts of our lives, but it is all of us. What a glorious work of God!
Present the Final Product
One day, when we stand before God, Jesus will stand next to us and present His final work to the Father. Even more, we should look forward to that final product of who we become too! We get to even be a part of the process of renovation. Our pursuit of the holy by fixing our mind and heart on Jesus allows us to be involved in the renovation of our lives with Jesus. Only when we carry a mindset on Jesus and the future can the things now be so greatly affected.
