When a person meets Jesus through the process of conversion, according to Philip Yancey: “No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same.”1 This born again experience is so unique because the transformation process that happens to the new Christian is so amazing. J. C. Ryle explained it this way: “To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings, new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God, and ourselves, and the world, and the life to come, and salvation.”2
Imagine, loving things once hated and hating things once loved! But that’s exacting what happens to an individual who meets and falls in love with Jesus. Bad character traits, as we walk with Jesus, are transformed into new behaviors that not only bless our interactions with others, but bring us great joy, and oh yes, glorify God! Sam Storms gives us a beautiful picture of the kind of transformation a Christian can expect from his relationship with the Savior: “This is the glory and miracle of grace, that God, through the Holy Spirit, is able to transform a stubborn, rebellious, and unbelieving will into a passionate, obedient, believing will without violating the integrity of the individual or diminishing the voluntary nature of one’s decision to trust Christ for salvation.”3
And the reason a Christian, once he commits his life to Jesus, enters into a totally new transformed life, is because he receives a re-created or new heart, with new power and new desires. Randy Smith talks about the true conversion experience: “True conversion to Christ involves a miracle, a transformation, a born-again experience whereby one is given an entirely new heart with new power and new desires resulting in a new life.”4
Thus, when we meet Jesus, everything changes. We get a new heart, our mind gets renewed, and we enter into the most wonderful love affair imaginable – with Jesus! My friends meeting Jesus, not only yields a totally transformed life, but an eternal bond, that can never be broken, with our Lord!
1 Inspirational Quotes by Philip Yancey – page 6
2 TOP 25 QUOTES BY J. C. RYLE (of 374) | A-Z Quotes
3 This is the glory and miracle of grace, that God, through the Holy Spirit, is able to transform a stubborn, rebellious, and unbelieving will into a passionate, obedient, believing will without violating the integrity of the individual or diminishing the voluntary nature of one’s decision to trust Christ for salvation. – Grace Quotes