THE BUTTERFLY HAS TO BECOME SOMETHING NEW

THE BUTTERFLY HAS TO BECOME SOMETHING NEW There’s something about the life cycle of a butterfly that has always reminded me of the new birth. It starts with an egg. A caterpillar hatches and immediately begins eating and growing. As it gets larger, it sheds its outer skin several times because its body literally outgrows it. Eventually the caterpillar stops eating, finds a place to attach itself and forms a chrysalis. This is where things get interesting. Most of us have heard that a caterpillar basically turns into mush inside the chrysalis. That’s an oversimplification, but there’s some truth to it. Much of the caterpillar’s larval tissue actually breaks down. At the same time, structures that were already developing inside it begin forming the adult butterfly. Its body is reorganized with wings, different legs and eyes, antennae and completely different mouthparts. It isn’t just a caterpillar growing wings. It undergoes metamorphosis. That word caught my attention because there’s a Greek word in the New Testament from the same root. μεταμορφόω, metamorphoō. It means to transform or change in form. Paul uses it in Romans 12. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...” Romans 12:2 KJV That word “transformed” is metamorphoō. Then you get to what Jesus told Nicodemus. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 KJV Jesus wasn’t telling Nicodemus to clean himself up or become a more religious version of himself. He needed a new birth. Paul says the same thing another way. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV That’s what makes the butterfly such an incredible picture of this. The caterpillar that enters the chrysalis doesn’t come back out as a better caterpillar. Its old form is broken down and something completely different emerges. The creature that crawled now has wings. Its entire way of living has changed. Romans 6 says our old man is crucified with Christ and that we are raised to “walk in newness of life.” There’s another part of the butterfly’s transformation that I love. When it first comes out of the chrysalis, its wings are still soft and folded. It hangs there while fluid is pumped through them, expanding the wings until they eventually harden enough for flight. That reminds me of sanctification. Being born again doesn’t mean God is finished working on us. We’ve been made alive in Christ, and He continues working on us as we grow. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works...” Ephesians 2:10 KJV Obviously, I’m not trying to get doctrine from a butterfly. Scripture gives us the doctrine. I just find it incredible that God designed a creature whose life gives us such a vivid picture of transformation. It begins crawling on leaves. Then comes the chrysalis, where the old form is broken down and reorganized. What emerges was made for an entirely different life. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” John 3:7 KJV That’s Christianity. Not fixing up the old creature. Becoming a new one. #MoreJoyMinistries