Breakthroughs and Transformation — A Convocation Message: Photogallery
President Steve Timmermans, Ph.D., delivered the Convocation message on Friday, January 20, sharing family stories of breakthrough moments leading to physical transformation to illustrate the words of 2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who turn to the Lord.
While breakthroughs are necessary for transformation, Timmermans said that transformation can be a long process.
“Mount Sinai was a breakthrough experience for the Israelites soon after they escaped from Egypt: God’s expectation made clear and immediate. But they needed 40 years in the wilderness to travel in the direction of God’s promises. … Look at verse 16: ‘But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.’ That’s a breakthrough experience: turning to the Lord, making a decision to respond to Christ’s call, and follow him…the veil is taken away. But keep reading to verse 18, and there we learn that this transformation is a process of ever increasing glory, changing from one degree of glory into the next.”
Timmermans concluded with this: “My hope is that in this new semester and new year, we as individuals and we as a community, living in God’s beautiful and broken world, more and more reflect God’s image, as we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”