THE GOD OF THE TURNAROUND

A STORY OF TRANSFORMATION

Of all the stories of transformations in the Bible, none is greater than the story of Paul. He came from a well-known, rich family. He was born a Jew, educated in the best school in Israel, and trained as a rabbi or religious teacher of Judaism. He had a good reputation among his community, but not among Christians. He became a violent enemy of the early Christian church. He hated Christ and His followers so much that he did his best to destroy the new religion by doing harmful things in the name of God from the Bible. 

 

One day, he met Jesus, and his life changed completely. His reputation was so bad that at first, no one believed he had really changed. People heard that Saul, who used to harm Christians, had turned to Christ. Over time, he proved to be genuine in his faith. 

 

PAUL’S LIFE BEFORE CONVERSION

Before Paul became a follower of Jesus, he was content with his career as a respected Jewish leader, and an avid Christian hater. He didn’t feel bad about hurting Christians and thought he was doing God’s work. He didn’t want to follow Jesus and didn’t feel like he needed to change. His religion made him happy, and he didn’t want anything else. He wasn’t trying to find Jesus, but Jesus was trying to find him. Only God could change someone like Paul, and that’s exactly what happened.

 

Acts 8:3 – “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” (NIV) This verse tells us that Saul (Paul’s pre-conversion name) went from house to house in a sort of reverse evangelism. His heart was full of murderous rage against anyone who claimed to follow Jesus of Nazareth. 

He was “breathing out threats against the Lord’s disciples” when he was on his way to Damascus to root out the new Christian movement in that great city (Acts 9:1-2). He approved of the stoning of Stephen. And when other Christians were put to death, he cast his vote against them. In his mind, the best way to defeat Christianity was to kill all the Christians.

 

He was a religious fanatic. A bigot. A zealot. A man wholly given over to his hatred of Christians. He would stop at nothing to prevent this new movement from spreading. Paul would tell his story this way because he wanted us to understand that he wasn’t what we like to call a “seeker.” He wasn’t seeking God. He was seeking for more Christians to be thrown in prison. He had no sense of his need for salvation and no inner voice calling him to come to Christ. 

 

It would be hard to imagine a more hopeless case. Would you bother praying for a man like that? He’ll never be saved. Or so it would seem. He was totally convinced he was right. He was totally convinced Christians were wrong. He hated Christianity and he loved Judaism. He was lost and didn’t know it. He enjoyed his life and wasn’t looking for something better. To put it simply, he was heading towards a very serious problem that would last forever. What he really needed, even though he didn’t want to admit it, was a powerful act from God to make him realize and acknowledge God. 

 

Not everyone has a story like Paul’s. However, I know many men who were far gone in sin before they came to Christ. Their testimony goes like this: “Do you think I used to be a really bad person? You don’t even know the worst of it. I was a terrible person, but then God found me and made me better. I can’t explain my life without talking about how God’s amazing kindness changed me.” 

 

There are men in our church, who if you knew their past, you wouldn’t want to be with them. We have men who have spent time in prison and women who have been involved in all sorts of immorality. We have people who have been on drugs. There are former crooks and adulterers. If you want to play “Name That Sin,” we’ll have winners in every category. Every church of any size could say the same thing. I often think it’s a good thing that we don’t know the naked truth about each other because if we did, some of us might choose to attend another church. This is the hard truth: all of us are SINNERS. No exemption. 

 

In the church, there are people from all walks of life who have done wrong things. But one thing we all share is that we’ve been forgiven and changed by Jesus. If you ask the people around you, they might say, “You won’t believe it, but I used to be really bad. When I was at my worst, I looked up and found the Lord waiting for me.” Anyone here who can relate?  When we were at our worst, we looked up and found the Lord waiting for us.

 

PAUL’S CONVERSION

Honestly, Paul deserved to be killed on the spot. He had killed many Christians. If we knew Paul and saw what He did to others, I am sure we would have condemned him to death. But God had other plans.

 

Acts 9:1-8 – “1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.  7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.” (NIV)

 

What we find in this story is the goodness of God “leading” Saul. Saul became a different person because his heart changed. He couldn’t change himself; he needed God’s power to help him change. Same with us.  We can’t change ourselves; we need God’s power to change us. Even though Saul had done many wrong things, God didn’t just punish him. Because It is never God’s goal to harm us. But it is His goal to reach us. God wants every person to have a change of heart and become a new person in Christ.

God was tracking him down from the very beginning of his life. God had his eye on Paul while he was still in the womb. While he was a toddler, God was watching his every step. During his teenage years, God kept him in sight. During the long years of rabbinical training, God was calling him to salvation. Paul didn’t know it, didn’t feel it, was totally unaware of it. In fact, couldn’t see it at all until after he came to Christ. Then he could look back and see God’s fingerprints in every part of his life. God was on his path, and when the time had fully come, God reached down, drove him down on the Damascus road, and brought him into His Kingdom. Paul’s whole life had been planned by God for just this moment. Nothing had happened by accident. All were ordained as part of God’s divine plan.

 

Maybe you have experienced this. Something happened in your life that brought an awareness that God is really real. And that God is good. As God is leading you to a change of heart, there will be others along the way. These people are the ones that God has strategically placed in your path that will help you. Or maybe you are being led by God to reach out to others. Remember that there are many “works” to be done for God. Some planted, some watered, but God gives the increase.

 

Saul was led to a change of heart. Acts 9:18 – “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.” (NIV) Being healed of his blindness symbolizes his conversion from Saul to Paul. A complete change of heart. A change to his identity in Christ. Maybe you have a dark past that you are ashamed of and think that God could never forgive you. That is a lie! Just remember Paul and all that he did. God forgave Paul and used him in a powerful way. If you are still alive, it’s not too late to stop doing wrong things and turn towards God.

 

PAUL’S LIFE AFTER CONVERSION

As we study Paul’s story, let’s focus on four Key Truths about the Power of Transformation:

 

1. The Christian gospel comes from God, not from man. The gospel is not a result of the work of a committee. The GOSPEL is based on the true historical facts surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These things were not made up. Anyone can check them out at any time. That’s why I keep on saying that the Bible is not only a spiritual book but it is also a historical book. The gospel is true because it comes directly from God.

 

2. Conversion is a pure miracle that depends on God alone. God takes responsibility for our salvation. God is responsible for saving us and making sure we know Him. He sets up situations in our lives so that we can get close to Him, even though we don’t always see it at the time. When we look back, we can see how God was gently bringing us closer to Him. Your challenges, health issues, and difficulties are God’s ways to get your attention and bring you nearer to Him. You are saved not because you did something special; it’s a gift from God. 

 

3. The worst sinners often make the best saints. God does not recruit heroes. Not many mighty are called, not many noble, not many powerful, not many great as the world counts greatness. God doesn’t go for the big names to populate heaven. God takes ordinary people and then does extraordinary things through them. But even that isn’t the full story. When God wants to recruit some frontline soldiers for His army, He goes into the enemy camp and rounds up a handful of the meanest, toughest, roughest, wildest-looking sinners He can find. The drug addicts, the adulterers, homosexuals, chronic liars, rebels, and thieves. Then God draws them to Jesus Christ, saves them, cleans them up, fixes them up, dresses them up, and then sends them out to do battle in the service of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

4. No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. If God can save a man like Paul, He can save anyone. This is an encouragement to those of us who are praying for friends and loved ones to come to Christ. Often our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. We pray for months and for years with no apparent result. But do not despair. What we see is not the whole story. No one would ever have predicted Paul’s conversion. Ten seconds before the light broke and the voice spoke, Paul’s heart was as hard as ever. But God turned a heart of stone to a heart of flesh! So keep on praying, keep on witnessing, keep on believing. You never know what God will do.

LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION:

1) Can you share a personal testimony or story of how your life has been impacted by God?

2) As you reflect on the power of God to save and transform lives, how can you share this message of hope and transformation with those around you?

3) What advice or encouragement would you offer to someone who is seeking God’s power to bring about positive change in their life but is uncertain or hesitant about where to start?